Japan to Send Delegation to Greenland to Assess Rare Earth Mining Potential

The Japanese government will send a team of experts to Greenland in the summer of this year to study the potential for mining rare earth elements and other strategic minerals, the Nikkei daily reported. According to the report, the experts will consult with the Autonomous Government of Greenland and inspect mine sites currently being prepared for rare earth extraction. Japan is taking this step in an effort to diversify its sources of rare earth supply amid the global market’s heavy dependence on China. Currently, China accounts for approximately 70 per cent of the world’s rare earth production, including dysprosium, a mineral that is a critical component in electric vehicle motors. Nikkei reported that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates Greenland’s rare earth reserves at 1.5 million tonnes, placing the territory eighth in the world. Based on this potential, Japan plans to study the types of resources available, the size of the reserves, and production costs in order to assess the feasibility and scale of investment that Japanese companies could undertake in the future. In November 2025, a joint delegation of Japanese government and private sector representatives visited an operating feldspar mine in Greenland. According to Nikkei, the Japanese side assessed that the mine still holds business potential despite operating in an environment with extremely cold weather conditions.