Greenland’s Minerals: The Harsh Reality Behind the Glittering Promise

More than a decade ago, a team of Canadian miners searching for diamonds in western Greenland stumbled upon a curious sight on the horizon—a massive white hump. They dubbed it White Mountain. What they discovered was a treasure trove of anorthosite, a salt-and-pepper colored mineral used in everything from paints to flame retardants. Fun fact: it’s also what gives the moon's surface its ghostly glow.

The White Mountain deposit isn’t just a small find; it stretches for miles in every direction. As Bent Olsvig Jensen, the managing director of Lumina Sustainable Materials, put it, “only God knows how deep it goes.” Jensen’s company is currently mining the site, backed by European and Canadian investors. But before you imagine trucks full of cash rolling out of Greenland, let’s pause—this is no easy feat.

Jensen explained that mining in the Arctic comes with its own set of brutal challenges. The region’s weather isn’t exactly friendly, with fierce winds grounding helicopters, pack ice blocking ships, and temperatures dipping to a bone-chilling minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. At those temperatures, even hydraulic fluid in the digging machines turns into something resembling butter.

Seated in Lumina’s modest offices in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, while wet snowflakes pelted the window, Jensen added some much-needed reality to Greenland’s reputation as a land of untapped mineral riches. Despite dozens of exploration projects, the island currently has only two active mines: Lumina's anorthosite operation and a small gold mine.

It’s clear that while Greenland’s mineral potential is vast, turning that potential into profit is a Herculean task. For now, the dream of mining riches glitters in the Arctic air, but those chasing it have to brave more than just the cold—it’s a fight against nature itself.