Mining company suing Greenland for billions hires former Danish foreign minister

DR reports that Australia’s Energy Transition Minerals has brought on two high-profile Danish figures: former foreign minister Jeppe Kofod and former ambassador Friis Arne Petersen, as advisers while it fights a massive compensation case against Greenland.

The mining company, formerly known as Greenland Minerals, is seeking 80 billion Danish kroner (about $11.3 billion) in damages from the Greenlandic government after its controversial Kvanefjeld rare earths project was effectively halted by a 2021 ban on uranium mining.

Energy Transition Minerals had held exploration rights in southern Greenland since 2007, but the uranium ban introduced after the parliamentary election that year ended hopes of developing the mine—one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits.

The company recently lost its attempt to bring the dispute to private arbitration and will now pursue its claim through the courts, filing cases in both Greenland’s High Court and the Copenhagen City Court.

In a statement, Kofod, who served as Denmark’s foreign minister from 2019 to 2022, said the project could “create lasting value for Greenland” by generating local employment.

“But that requires trust and a shared understanding of how it should happen,” he said. “I believe there’s a path forward that respects both local concerns and broader societal interests.”

Petersen, who previously served as Denmark’s ambassador to the United States and China, has also joined the company’s advisory ranks.

Both the Greenlandic government and Energy Transition Minerals maintain they have strong legal positions as the billion-dollar case moves toward the courts.