Billionaires set up treasure hunt in Greenland to find green minerals

The Future. Billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Gates are funding a mining operation on the west coast of Greenland in search of rare-earth minerals needed to build EV batteries. If the mission is successful, it could give the world a vast repository to jumpstart EV-battery production and hopefully lower costs.

Most Sustainable Game

CNN reports that a group of billionaires is putting their treasures toward… a treasure hunt.

• The group is financing an exploration carried out by mining company KoBold Metals and Bluejay Mining in Greenland’s Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula in search of EV-powering minerals.
• Thirty geologists, geophysicists, cooks, pilots, and mechanics are on the hunt, using soil sampling, geographic mapping, and AI tools to find the best place to start drilling next summer.

KoBold CEO Kurt House said, “we are looking for a deposit that will be the first- or second-largest most significant nickel and cobalt deposit in the world.”

Melting riches

Ironically, mining for minerals in Greenland is only possible because of climate change melting the ice sheets.

• As a result, Greenland now has times of the year when ice isn’t present, which means heavy equipment can be shipped into the country, and the minerals can be shipped out.
• The melting ice is also revealing areas of land that have never been touched and have the right conditions for mineral deposits.

None of the mining is being done without the support of Greenland’s government (which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark). The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland has done several of its own land surveys and “recognizes the country’s potential to diversify the national economy through mineral extraction.” In other words, there’s big money here.