Why billionaires like Bezos, Gates are funding ‘treasure hunt’ in Greenland

The fast-melting ice of Greenland has presented a unique opportunity to mining companies.

Some of the world’s richest men are funding a ‘treasure hunt’ in Greenland, hoping to find critical metals beneath the island country’s melting ice.

The glaciers of Iceland are melting at an unprecedented rate – an effect of climate change that has presented a unique paradox. Mining companies and investors believe that beneath the ice, there is a treasure trove of minerals and metals that can power the green revolution and solve the climate crisis. For the first time ever, the melting ice has made it possible to explore potential mining sites that had otherwise remained buried for centuries.

Billionaires like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg are therefore backing KoBold Metals and its mission to find critical minerals that can be used to power millions of electric vehicles.

"We are looking for a deposit that will be the first- or second-largest most significant nickel and cobalt deposit in the world," Kurt House, CEO of KoBold Metals, told CNN.

The California-based mining exploration company has partnered with Bluejay Mining for the ‘treasure hunt’ in Greenland.

A crew of 30 geologists, geophysicists, pilots, mechanics are cooks are currently camping at a site where they hope to find rare and precious metals. The crew is using helicopters and drones with transmitters to study the subsurface, reports CNN.

Using artificial intelligence, the team will then analyse data to decide where they will begin drilling – hopefully as early as next summer.

"It is a concern to witness the consequences and impacts from the climate changes in Greenland," Bluejay Mining CEO Bo Moller Stensgaard told CNN. "But, generally speaking, climate changes overall have made exploration and mining in Greenland easier and more accessible."

The rising demand for electric vehicles has led to a scramble for nickel, cobalt and lithium that are used in EV battery manufacturing.