The last time we checked on Greenland, the region was being targeted by billionaire investors who hoped to develop rare earth mining capacity and access minerals critical for electric vehicle operation.
Now a Canadian company has bought the rights to explore a mineral deposit and challenge China’s domination of these resources.
The Canadian rare earth processor Neo Performance Materials plans to buy the rights to explore a mineral deposit in Greenland that contains the rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium, which are used to make magnets for electric cars, wind turbines, and missiles.This project is the company’s first step into mining and part of a strategy to create dual supply chains for magnets inside and outside of China. Neo hopes the mineral deposit will eventually supply its rare earth separation plant in Estonia.“I think it makes all the sense in the world from an operating perspective to be looking to secure our upstream,” CEO Constantine Karayannopoulos said on an investor call earlier this month. The firm also wants to build a magnet plant in Estonia.The US Geological Survey estimates that in 2021 about 60% of rare earth elements were mined in China. After they are mined, ores containing a mixture of rare earth elements are concentrated. The concentrated ore has to be separated into individual oxides and processed into rare earth metals. Finally, those metals are used to make magnets.
Officials for the company indicate that the goal is to have the mine running in two to three years.
It will be the company’s first major mining project. CEO Constantine Karayannopoulos said that by opening the mine, he hopes to shield the company from volatile rare earth prices, which have shot up in recent years due to supply disruptions and strong demand.“We’re at the mercy of the market,” he said.Karayannopoulos called it “business, not geopolitics.” But in recent years, rare earths have attracted the attention of policymakers in Washington, Beijing and other capitals given their importance to the global high-tech supply chain. The U.S., Europe and Japan call their dependence on China’s rare earths a “national security risk” and have sought to diversify their supply.But such efforts have struggled, as mines in other countries have run into opposition or failed to get off the ground after fluctuating prices scared investors away.
Plans also include a new magnet manufacturing plant in Europe.
Neo is also pursuing plans to break ground on a greenfield rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing plant in Estonia that is intended to provide European manufacturers with the permanent magnets needed for electric and hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, and energy-saving electric motors and pumps.The Sarfartoq Project also is a key element of Neo’s “Magnets-to-Mine” vertical integration strategy.
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