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Billionaires Fund Greenland Scavenger Hunt as Ice Loses

2022-08-08T23:01:40.003Z


The club of billionaires take advantage of the melting of Greenland to find the rare metals needed to build electric vehicles and batteries to store renewable energy.


Nuussuaq, Greenland (CNN) --

Some of the world's richest men are funding a massive treasure hunt, complete with helicopters and transmitters, off the west coast of Greenland.


The climate crisis is melting Greenland at an unprecedented rate, which, in a twist of irony, is creating an opportunity for investors and mining companies who are seeking a treasure trove of critical minerals capable of fueling the green energy transition.

A vast ice-free zone in Greenland, which could become ground zero for the metals needed to solve the climate crisis.

A group of billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates, among others, are betting that beneath the surface of the hills and valleys of Disko Island and Greenland's Nuussuaq Peninsula there are enough critical minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles.

  • 'Definitely a concern': Scientists worried about rapidly melting Greenland ice

"We're looking for a deposit that is the first or second largest nickel and cobalt deposit in the world," Kurt House, CEO of Kobold Metals, told CNN.

The disappearance of Arctic ice, on land and in the ocean, highlights a unique dichotomy: Greenland is ground zero for the impacts of climate change, but it could also become ground zero for the supply of metals needed for solution of the crisis.

The billionaires' club is financially backing Kobold Metals, a California-based mineral exploration company and

startup

, company representatives told CNN.

Bezos, Bloomberg and Gates did not respond to requests from CNN for comment for this story.

Kobold has partnered with Bluejay Mining to find the rare and precious metals in Greenland that are needed to build electric vehicles and massive batteries to store renewable energy.

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Thirty geologists, geophysicists, cooks, pilots, and mechanics camp at the spot where Kobold and Blujay search for buried treasure.

CNN is the first media outlet to obtain a video of the activity taking place there.

A worker at Kobold Metals in Greenland.

The coast of Greenland.

Teams are taking soil samples, flying drones and helicopters with transmitters to measure the subsurface electromagnetic field and map the rock layers below.

They are using artificial intelligence to analyze the data and determine exactly where to drill already next summer.

"It is worrying to witness the consequences and impacts of climate changes in Greenland," Bluejay Mining CEO Bo Møller Stensgaard told CNN.

"But in general, climate changes have made exploration and mining in Greenland easier and more accessible."

Stensgaard said that because climate change is making sea ice-free periods longer, teams can more easily ship heavy equipment and ship metals to the world market.

The melting of sea ice around Greenland has made it easier for the mining industry to bring equipment in and materials out.

The melting of land ice is revealing land that has been buried under ice for centuries or millennia, but could now become a potential site for mineral exploration.

"If these trends continue in the future, there is no question that there will be more accessible land and some of it could have potential for mining," Mike Sfraga, chairman of the US Arctic Research Commission, told CNN.

  • Microscopic 'Jungle' Accelerates Greenland Ice Sheet Melt, Scientists Say

Greenland could be a major hub for coal, copper, gold, rare earth elements and zinc, according to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.

The Greenland government, according to the agency, has carried out several "resource assessments throughout the ice-free land" and the government "recognizes the country's potential to diversify the national economy through mineral extraction."

Sfraga said such a pro-mining stance is not without consideration for the environment, which is central to Greenland's culture and livelihood.

"The Government of Greenland supports the responsible, sustainable and economically viable development of its natural resources, including the extraction of a wide range of minerals," said Sfraga.

A Bluejay Mining employee digs during exploration for critical minerals in Greenland.

Stensgaard noted that these critical minerals "will provide part of the solution to meet these challenges" posed by the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, the disappearance of Greenland's ice, which is causing sea levels to rise, is a major concern for scientists studying the Arctic.

"The big concern for the Arctic sea ice is that it has been disappearing for the last few decades and the forecast is that it will potentially be gone in 20 to 30 years," Nathan Kurtz, a NASA scientist who studies sea ice, told CNN.

"In the fall, what used to be year-round Arctic ice cover is now only going to be seasonal ice cover."

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-08-08

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