Deep inside the vulcano

The Ilímaussaq complex in South Greenland is a rugged, barren mountain landscape. To earth scientist Charlie Beard, it is no empty terrain, but a record of Earth’s history. The rocks hold the story of what happened here a billion years ago. If you know what to look for, the landscape tells you exactly how this place came into being. That knowledge has suddenly become important.

China’s grip

Greenland is currently attracting a lot of attention due to its wealth of rare earth elements, which are essential for the energy transition. They are found in wind turbines, electric cars and the screens of your smartphone. Without these metals, it will be difficult to move away from oil and gas.

The problem: the world is heavily dependent on China. More than half of these metals are mined there, and almost all of them are processed there. When China temporarily restricted exports in 2010 following a conflict with Japan, prices soared, causing concern worldwide. Since then, the search for alternatives has accelerated, and attention is increasingly turning to places like Greenland.

Inside an ancient volcano

Around a billion years ago, magma with a unique chemical composition - rich in rare earth elements and halogens such as chlorine and fluorine - formed here along a rift in the Earth’s crust. As it slowly cooled, some minerals absorbed these metals, while others rejected them, concentrating the metals in the leftover melt. Erosion has now exposed these ancient magma chambers at the surface. We are actually standing inside an ancient volcano, explains Beard.

The point is to understand where in the world these types of deposits form.

From field to lab

The fieldwork in Greenland is just one part of the research. It is not so much about mining in Greenland but about understanding the environments where these kinds of deposits can form. In the lab at Utrecht University, Beard and his colleagues replicate the process. He compares it to cooking, but at temperatures of around 1,000 degrees. Small quantities of powder are heated under high pressure, revealing how minerals grow and how metals are distributed, concentrated, and trapped.

Just as geologists discovered in the 1970s how to predict where oil could be found, Beard hopes to do the same for rare earth elements. By identifying patterns in temperature, pressure and chemistry, he hopes to predict where such deposits occur. By helping to diversifying the global supply for these critical metals, his team’s work aims to make the energy transition faster, cleaner, and more resilient to geopolitical risk.