The U.S. government is considering investing in a company’s critical minerals mining projects in Greenland, its CEO has told CNBC, ahead of high-stakes talks between Washington and Danish officials over the island’s future.
The projects are run by mining company Amaroq, which operates in South Greenland and is involved in extracting or exploring gold, copper, germanium and gallium, among other critical mineral deposits.
Discussions with U.S. government bodies about the potential investment opportunities are ongoing and haven’t been finalized, Amaroq CEO Eldur Olafsson told CNBC in an interview.
Deals could involve “offtake agreements, infrastructure support and credit lines,” Olafsson added, though he declined to comment on what specific projects the U.S. government was interested in.
When asked to comment, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told CNBC: “The United States is eager to build lasting commercial relationships that benefit Americans and the people of Greenland.
“President Trump reiterated the importance of Greenland to U.S. defense and underscored his commitment to the relationship by designating Governor Landry as Special Envoy to Greenland.”
CNBC approached the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for comment but had not received a response as this article went live.
Olafsson’s comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up talk of acquiring Greenland, which he sees as integral to national security, following a dramatic military operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.
European nations have been scrambling to respond to escalating rhetoric about Greenland from the U.S., which has refused to rule out military action.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to meet with officials from Denmark next week to discuss Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.
Greenland’s critical minerals
The White House sees Greenland’s deposits as a potential way to break China’s dominance in the critical minerals space.
Rare earth companies with projects in the Arctic island surged earlier this week on U.S. comments about acquiring the Arctic island.
Trump has mainly emphasized national security when discussing Greenland in recent days, but former national security advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News in January 2025 that U.S. interest in the island was about “critical minerals.”
Some experts have cautioned that extracting critical minerals from Greenland isn’t economically viable due to the harsh conditions and lack of infrastructure, but Olafsson told CNBC that it was realistic with proper planning and logistics.
He compared the process to significant critical minerals mines in Russia and Alaska, which, he said, were built in similar conditions.
He said that “one of the biggest challenges in any mining project is usually some [transporting minerals] long distances on land,” but added that many of Greenland’s mineral deposits were near “deep fjords,” meaning they could be easier to ship.
Climate change has transformed some parts of Greenland, with ice melting to reveal wetlands, areas of shrub and barren rock.
This has made some of the island’s strategic minerals more accessible for mining firms.