After the Greenland deal, an economic detail surfaces: a U.S. company bought the Sarfartoq rare-earths project in September for $2.05 billion

Just 17 days before President Trump announced the U.S.–Denmark–Greenland security agreement, the American company Greenland Mines had closed its purchase of the Sarfartoq rare-earths project in southwestern Greenland — a project that could produce more than a third of the world’s rare-earth magnet supply outside China.

On September 1, Greenland Mines, a NASDAQ-listed company headquartered in North Carolina, closed the deal to acquire the Sarfartoq Rare Earths project. The company announced plans to produce NdPr oxide — a compound of neodymium and praseodymium used in magnets for electric cars, wind turbines and defense capabilities — in volumes equal to about one-third of what is refined globally outside China.

The project is valued at $2.05 billion, while the preliminary purchase had been announced back in May at $35 million — a sign of potential new economic ties between the U.S. and Greenland. The company’s president, Bo Møller Stensgaard, welcomed Trump’s security agreement: “Greenland is becoming one of the most strategic regions in the world… the same strategic importance extends to the critical minerals needed for defense, advanced technology and energy security.”

On Friday, Trump announced that the U.S., Denmark and Greenland had entered an agreement giving Washington “perpetual control” over Greenland’s security, while barring U.S. adversaries from having bases, military presence or sensitive investments on the island without Washington’s written approval. All three governments are expected to sign the agreement next week at the UN General Assembly in New York.

On Saturday, Copenhagen and Nuuk stressed that the agreement would not undermine the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen wrote on Facebook: “Next week could be a good week — for Greenland, Denmark and the U.S.” Neither side has published the text of the agreement, and no economic details have been officially mentioned.

Reuters reported ahead of Trump’s announcement that the parties were close to a deal that would allow components of the U.S. president’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system to be placed on Greenlandic territory — a detail linking the agreement to the strategic race for the Arctic.

Source: New York Post