Greenland Mines has signed an updated letter of intent with Reykjanes Investment, securing a contractual first right of refusal over the Helguvík industrial site on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula as the company advances plans to integrate mining assets in Greenland with downstream processing infrastructure in the North Atlantic.
The agreement provides an option to access an established brownfield industrial complex rather than constituting a final investment decision, mining approval or mineral processing permit. The site comprises approximately 60,000 m² of industrial land, around 10,000 m² of existing industrial buildings and access to as much as 40 MW of electricity.
The infrastructure option supports the company’s strategy of combining its Greenland mineral projects with processing capacity in Iceland, creating what Greenland Mines describes as a North Atlantic Critical Metals Corridor linking Arctic mineral resources with renewable energy, deep-water port facilities and access to European and North American markets.
Brownfield Site Offers Existing Industrial Infrastructure
The Helguvík site provides industrial land, harbour facilities, electrical grid access, existing buildings and the potential to accommodate heavy industrial equipment. Located adjacent to one of Iceland’s deepest harbours, the complex is also situated near Keflavík International Airport and the town of Reykjanesbær.
According to preliminary logistics assessments cited by the company, bulk carriers could transport concentrate or intermediate materials across the approximately 400 km sea route between the Skaergaard project in southeast Greenland and Helguvík in roughly 30 hours.
While the logistics arrangement does not eliminate the technical challenges associated with establishing a mineral processing chain, it provides a potential route for transporting material from Greenland to a site with established industrial infrastructure and substantial power availability.
Renewable Energy Supports Processing Plans
Electricity supply is a central consideration for the proposed downstream strategy. Iceland’s power system is generated almost entirely from renewable energy sources, primarily hydroelectric and geothermal generation.
The Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency reports annual electricity production of 14,195 GWh from hydroelectric facilities, 5,916 GWh from geothermal resources and 5 GWh from wind generation. IRENA data show total Icelandic electricity generation reached 20,245 GWh in 2023, with approximately 70% produced from hydroelectric power and 30% from geothermal sources. For energy-intensive mineral processing, renewable electricity has implications for operating costs, carbon emissions, customer requirements and alignment with supply chain objectives of European industrial consumers.
Project Aligns With European Critical Minerals Policy
The proposed infrastructure strategy coincides with implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to strengthen European supply chains for materials used in renewable energy technologies, digital industries, defence applications and aerospace manufacturing.
The legislation establishes 2030 targets requiring at least 10% of annual consumption to originate from EU extraction, 40% from EU processing and 25% from recycling. It also seeks to limit dependence on any single non-EU country to no more than 65% of annual consumption for strategic raw materials. Rare earth elements are identified as strategic materials under the legislation, while the European Commission expects EU demand for rare earth metals to increase significantly by 2030 and 2050.
Existing Facilities May Reduce Development Requirements
For Greenland Mines, the Helguvík option is intended to reduce capital requirements and permitting complexity associated with future downstream processing. The brownfield property includes existing roads, electrical grid connections, industrial buildings, harbour access, water infrastructure and established foundations. Its former furnace building measures 8,376 m² across five floors and contains bridge cranes, a former 33 MW electric arc furnace, 33 kV incoming electrical supply stepped down to 400 V, fibre-optic communications infrastructure, compressed air systems and freshwater boreholes.
Although these facilities could lower some early-stage redevelopment requirements, any future mineral processing operation would still require engineering redesign, environmental assessment, financing and community approval.
Environmental Legacy Remains a Consideration
The industrial complex incorporates infrastructure from the former United Silicon metal plant, which operated during 2016–2017 before production ceased following environmental and operational issues, including dust and emissions affecting nearby communities.
Greenland Mines has stated that it does not intend to restart that type of operation and instead plans to focus on modern lower-impact mineral processing supported by stakeholder engagement and compliance with Icelandic environmental standards. The company has indicated that future permitting will require detailed process design, emissions management, waste handling systems, environmental monitoring and regulatory review.
Rare Earth Acquisition Expands Development Portfolio
The company’s strategy also includes the planned acquisition of the Sarfartoq Nd-Pr rare earth project in southwest Greenland. In May, Neo Performance Materials announced an agreement to transfer the company holding the Sarfartoq rare earth licence to Greenland Mines for total consideration of US$35 million, comprising US$20 million in cash and US$15 million in Greenland Mines shares.
The transaction also provides Neo Performance Materials with equity exposure and potential offtake rights covering up to 60% of future ore or mineral concentrate production from the project. The Sarfartoq deposit is enriched in neodymium and praseodymium, rare earth elements used in permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines, defence equipment and high-efficiency electric motors. Greenland Mines plans to reopen the Sarfartoq exploration camp later in 2026 to undertake mapping, data verification and environmental baseline studies in preparation for documentation supporting an exploitation licence.
The project has previously been the subject of drilling programmes, metallurgical testing and a 2011 preliminary economic assessment, although updated technical studies remain necessary to evaluate mineral resources, grades, metallurgical recovery and project economics under current market conditions.
Skaergaard Remains the Company’s Primary Asset
The Skaergaard project continues to serve as the company’s principal mining asset. According to Greenland Mines, the project hosts a NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate dated November 2022 containing 11.4 million ounces palladium equivalent (PdEq) indicated resources and 14.1 million ounces PdEq inferred resources.
The company notes that these estimates represent mineral resources rather than mineral reserves and that no preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility study or feasibility study has yet been completed for the project.
The Helguvík infrastructure option forms part of the broader development strategy surrounding Skaergaard, although further resource definition, metallurgical testing, environmental studies, engineering, permitting, financing and commercial agreements remain necessary before the projects can advance toward production.
