NUUK (Reuters) – The promise of a resources boom has Greenland’s locals both eager and anxious, while the European Union sees it as a battleground with China, but the island is still a long way from producing anything.

Retreating ice is exposing huge deposits of iron ore, rare earths and hydrocarbons, but it has yet to launch a single major mining project, and oil and gas production is a decade away at best.

NUUK, March 13 (Reuters) – The promise of a resources boom
has Greenland’s locals both eager and anxious, while the
European Union sees it as a battleground with China, but the
island is still a long way from producing anything.

Retreating ice is exposing huge deposits of iron ore, rare
earths and hydrocarbons, but it has yet to launch a single major
mining project, and oil and gas production is a decade away at
best.

NUUK (Reuters) – Aleqa Hammond looked set to be Greenland’s first female prime minister on Wednesday after winning 42 percent of votes in elections on a platform of greater control and heavier taxation of foreign mining.

The opening of the country of 57,000, which is a quarter the size of the United States, to foreign miners has sparked a backlash from its traditional Inuit people, many of whom fear both Chinese influence and environmental damage.

NUUK, March 12 (Reuters) – Voters in Greenland’s capital
braved heavy snow and crowded into its one polling station on
Tuesday in an election which pits economic development against
concerns over the environment and Chinese influence.

With sea ice thawing and new shipping routes opening in the
Arctic, the former Cold War ally of the West has emerged from
isolation and gained geopolitical attention thanks to its
untapped mineral wealth and potential offshore oil and gas.

NUUK, March 12 (Reuters) – Voters in Greenland’s capital
will stream into the town’s one polling station on Tuesday in a
national parliamentary election in which mining, Chinese
influence and the environment are core issues.

With sea ice thawing and new shipping routes opening in the
Arctic, the former Cold War ally of the West has emerged from
isolation as a geopolitical interest for governments seeking a
share of untapped minerals and potential offshore oil and gas.

NUUK (Reuters) – Kuupik Kleist’s earliest memories are hunting whales with hand-thrown harpoons. Now, as Greenland’s prime minister, he is feted by Chinese and European leaders as he opens up its untapped mineral resources.

A verdict on this country’s transformation comes on Tuesday, when this island – a quarter the size of the United States and with only 57,000 mostly Inuit inhabitants – holds a general election.