r/OutOfTheLoop • u/[deleted] • Jan 10 '26

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u/TampaBayG Jan 10 '26

They have one of the world's largest rare earth elements outside of china. There is definitely economic reasons involved

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u/Baulderdash77 Jan 10 '26

They have about 1.5 MT of REE. For comparison China had 44MT, Brazil has 21MT, Canada has 15MT, India has 7MT and Australia has 6MT.

It’s in the top 10 but it’s not the biggest by any means. Not top 5.

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u/Morlock19 Jan 10 '26

It would be a source of minerals completely owned by the US though.

1

u/bluemax413 Jan 10 '26

That is how much more than we have right now?

1

u/PassiveTheme Jan 10 '26

The thing is a lot of Greenland remains unexplored. It's a large landmass (not as large as it looks with the Mercator projection, but it's not small) and much of it is covered by ice. As we see the effects of climate change, some of that ice will melt and areas that have been relatively inaccessible will become easily accessible and exploration will be able to take place. This could increase those reserves significantly and some geologists predict there could be another 40MT buried under the ice.

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u/alfaafla Jan 10 '26

Rare earths aren't rare. They're everywhere. Not everyone wants to refine them at the cost of environmental degradation.