
Amaroq Minerals, which mines for gold in Greenland, has secured international backing in an oversubscribed fundraising round, underscoring rising interest in Arctic resources.
Greenland and its mining sector are attracting investors following a consistent push from US President Donald Trump to take control of the self-ruling territory, which is under the Kingdom of Denmark. French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland in Nuuk on Sunday and has said he wants to help counter any “predation".
Amaroq conditionally placed about 53-million new common shares at 85 pence apiece, raising about £45-million ($61-million), it said on Thursday. About 90% of the funds came from a broad range of institutional investors from the UK, the US and mainland Europe, Amaroq said.
The Toronto-based company plans to use the money to expand production at its Nalunaq gold project in south Greenland, advance technical studies, develop a new operations hub in the western part of the island and intensify exploration efforts. The new shares will account for 11.7% of the company’s enlarged capital. Amaroq is listed in Toronto, London and Reykjavik.
Several US investors have already explored opportunities in Greenland’s underground, while the island’s Minister for Mineral Resources, Naaja Nathanielsen, recently urged the US and the European Union to raise investments in the mining sector, in an interview with the Financial Times.
EIFO, Denmark’s state-backed export and investment fund, was among investors in Amaroq’s funding round, raising its stake in the miner with a 100-million-krone ($15.4-million) pledge.
“Greenland is a strategic priority for EIFO, and we aim to increase our activity,” Peder Lundquist, the head of the fund, said in a press release. “We see this investment as an important part of our strategy to support the development of critical minerals and advance sustainable economic growth in Greenland.”