Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Arctic Island and Mining Magnets)

Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: Arctic Island and Mining Magnets

Arctic Island and Mining Magnets

Context

The world’s biggest island has huge resources of metals known as ‘rare earths,’ used to create compact, super-strong magnets which help power equipment such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, combat aircraft and weapons systems.

Background

In the tenth century, Erik the Red, a Viking from Iceland, was so impressed with the vegetation on another Arctic island he had found he called it “the green land.”
Today, it’s Greenland’s rocks that are attracting outsiders - superpowers riding a green revolution.

Mining Magnets

As Greenland’s ice sheet and glaciers recede, two Australia-based mining companies - one seeking funding in the United States, the other part-owned by a Chinese state-backed firm - are racing for approval to dig into what the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) calls the world’s biggest undeveloped deposits of rare earth metals.
Each Greenland mine would cost about $500 million to develop.
The Greenland sites are less than 16 km (10 miles) from each other at the southern tip of the island.
The country may ultimately back either project, both, or neither, but for those Greenlanders open to mining, the two proposals boil down to a choice between one mine that would not produce radioactive material, and another that would.

The first mine, a private initiative from an Australian geologist, would not involve nuclear material.

It has won preliminary environmental approval, but it needs cash and a processing plan.

The second one has already spent more than $100 million preparing to mine, has proven processing technology through its Chinese partner, and won initial political support from Greenland’s coalition government.

But its plans include exporting uranium, a nuclear fuel, and it recently ran into strong opposition, including from residents of the nearby town of Narsaq.

Greenland’s Economy

Greenland, a self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, has a gross domestic product of around $3 billion - similar to Andorra and Burundi.
With its people living mostly on fishing and grants from Copenhagen, capital of Denmark.
Greenland’s position near the eastern flank of the United States makes it a sensitive location.

Can be a Curse

China is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, so it can import uranium from Greenland. But since the fuel is used in nuclear weapons, that would be sensitive.
Neither of the Greenland projects would be pollution-free. Both plan for mined rock to be locally crushed and separated into concentrates to send for final processing.