Greenland to introduce ban on seabed mining  

Greenland Parliament has unanimously passed a resolution to introduce a ban on seabed mineral extraction, RMF24 reported Friday.  

The news comes a day after US President Donald Trump announced “massive oil, gas and mineral exploration” was set to begin on Greenland.  

Trump described the Danish Arctic island, which is run by a semi-autonomous government, as “our new and beautiful Greenland” in a social media post that hailed what he said were US gains from a security deal signed in September. 

The resolution stipulates the memorandum on deep-sea mining is to remain in force until the end of 2029, RMF24 reported, with the possibility of extension for further two-year periods. The legislation is expected to be passed in the first half of 2027.  

Greenland has been caught up in a confrontation with Trump who has been saying since 2019 the US should buy or take the strategically located and mineral-rich island for security reasons. On several occasions, he refused to rule out force. 

Greenland has one of the world’s most significant underexplored critical mineral endowments, positioning the territory at the center of critical minerals and defense supply chain strategies. 

The Tanbreez property in Greenland, with a 28.2 million tonne TREO resource, has been ranked as one of the world’s top rare earth projects. Rare earth explorers are drawn to Greenland to dig into what the US Geological Survey calls the world’s biggest undeveloped deposits of rare earth metals. 

While the US signalled in September it is nearing approval for permits to mine the deep sea, the specter of seabed mining being allowed to commence has alarmed many environmentalists due to concern it could cause irreversible biodiversity loss. 

Parts of the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere are estimated to contain large amounts of potato-shaped rocks known as polymetallic nodules that contain the building blocks for electric vehicles, weapons and electronics. 

Scientists at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have discovered that some metal-rich rocks recovered from the deep ocean can spontaneously combust when exposed to air and processed, raising unexpected safety concerns for a potential new mining industry.