Posted on 03/09/2013 6:38:04 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Greenland's prime minister warned the European Union he could scrap a preliminary deal intended to safeguard the bloc's access to his country's huge mineral resources, saying Brussels has failed to follow through.
"I don't understand the behavior of the (European) Commission," leftist Kuupik Kleist said on Wednesday in his office...
Kleist's comments to Reuters signal Greenland may be increasingly willing to play off rival powers from Brussels to Beijing that are drawn by its minerals as global warming opens up sea routes and mining prospects.
Kleist, who grew up harpooning whales from a remote village in northern Greenland, faces a general election next week which is widely seen as a referendum on his opening up of the country to foreign investment, especially in minerals and oil.
To the dismay of many European politicians, China has been eyeing investments in the former Cold War ally of the West, which include iron, zinc and the rare earth minerals that are crucial for technology products such as smart phones.
EU Vice President Antonio Tajani flew to Greenland last year to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) over its raw materials. Greenland has large deposits of 6 of the 14 raw materials seen as crucial to European industry.
The document was aimed at improving European access to Greenland's minerals. Some diplomats said it was effectively about ensuring Greenland did not lock in mining contracts with just one country, such as China...
There was little surprise the memorandum with the EU was signed in the same month as Chinese President Hu Jintao -- leader of the world's most populous nation -- paid a three-day visit to Denmark , with just over 5 million inhabitants. It was a visit that many observers said was chiefly about a stake in Greenland.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Kleist's comments to Reuters signal Greenland may be increasingly willing to play off rival powers from Brussels to Beijing that are drawn by its minerals as global warming opens up sea routes and mining prospects... To the dismay of many European politicians, China has been eyeing investments in the former Cold War ally of the West, which include iron, zinc and the rare earth minerals that are crucial for technology products such as smart phones.
I would be surprised if there isn't a great deal of untapped mineral wealth there, but if they are counting on Global Warming to open up access, they may have to wait a while...
The unfortunate cold, hard facts of life are that the Americans will want to protect the Arctic sharks first.
Unfortunately, we have farmed out just about everything but our bodily functions...
no, we didn’t farm it out ~ we handed it over to the machines. didn’t you see the news that American costs of production have fallen so much we are now in head to head competition with China and their underemployed hundreds of millions of people. http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/is-us-manufacturing-coming-back/
/bingo
Port facilities would be built, but good point, the Chinese would build (and have authority over) a major shipping facility capable of handling the volume. I haven’t checked to make sure, but Greenland doesn’t have the kind of natural harbors found in, say, Spitzbergen:
http://www.planetware.com/i/map/N/spitzbergen-svalbard-map.jpg
US production costs falling?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2994976/posts
The Chinese have a northern harbor which has taught them how to work with ice ~ beyond the technology they have the experience to make it work.
In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Greenland warns EU may miss out on its mineral wealth, SunkenCiv wrote:
Port facilities would be built, but good point, the Chinese would build (and have authority over) a major shipping facility capable of handling the volume. I haven’t checked to make sure, but Greenland doesn’t have the kind of natural harbors found in, say, Spitzbergen:
Greenland is a self governing dependency of Denmark. During the height of the cold war, Thule, way up on da icecap dere we operated a early warning radar station which was energized by a nuke generator.Spitzbergen aka Svalbard is administered by Norway and they sort of internationalized it. Rich in coal the Germans operated the coal mines during WWll as well as tried operating an airfield there. I think in the pang of keeping the artic pure during the glowbull warming panic the Norwegens lost their weggen and stopped that along with a lot other of activity . The mine shafts are being used for save the vorld native seed collection storage and the island is being used for metrological studies and magnetic field studies.
Another budding socialist paradise, cool. ;’)
Thanks mosesdapoet.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/09/us-nyse-disasterplan-idUSBRE9280F020130309 ~ and yet another point ~ even the New York Stock Exchange is preparing to give it all up to the machines!
I take it Greenland is the only place that expects to benefit from global warming? It seems to me that the climate in Canada and Russia would become more pleasant, too.
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