Canadian company looking for lithium - has found interesting deposit near Nuuk

Brunswick Exploration does not only have exploration activities in Canada.

In 2024, the company, which is based in Montreal, moved into Greenland with several exploration licenses at Paamiut, Nuuk, in the Disko area and around Uummannaq, where companies are looking for occurrences of the metal lithium.

Exploration on the east coast

In 2026, they will focus on the east coast to map the occurrences near Clavering Ø and Hudson Land, which are located approximately 360 kilometers north of Ittoqqortoormiit and approx. 200 kilometers from Greenland Resources' project at Malmbjerget.

– We began our exploration for lithium in Greenland in 2024. Lithium is not something that has been explored very much before, so we first explored the west coast from Uummannaq in the north to Paamiut in the south. Later this year, we will start exploring the east coast around Clavering Ø and Hudson Land. In addition, they are aiming to carry out drilling around Nuuk in the fall of 2026, says CEO Killian Charles, who participated in a panel discussion on Greenland's mining potential during the PDAC conference in Toronto on Sunday.

Interesting occurrence near Nuuk

The company has not immediately found lithium in quantities that can be commercialized at Uummannaq and the Disko area, so those licenses will probably be returned to the self-government.

The Ivisaartoq area approx. 90 kilometers northeast of Nuuk has proven interesting, so they are continuing their exploration here. Lithium is not found as a pure metal in nature, but is bound in minerals especially in granite. Lithium is used, among other things, in batteries, and therefore demand has increased significantly in recent years.

The EU must get involved

According to Killian Charles, the mapping of lithium in Greenland is also about showing the outside world, including the EU, that there are great opportunities in Greenland in relation to lithium, which is on the EU's list of critical raw materials.

– We entered Greenland from the perspective that we wanted to show that there are these metals in Greenland and that lithium projects can be economically viable. Lithium will be able to supply Europe and meet the EU Commission's objectives of reducing dependence on lithium imports from China and other countries. The challenge, however, is that the EU is not very good at supporting companies in the exploration and development phase. And that could be a challenge in the long term, says Killian Charles, who believes that there needs to be much greater focus on creating momentum in the initial phases of mining projects.

Authorities need to step up

According to Killian Charles, capital for mining is often risk-averse in the early stages of a project. And if the authorities' permits or political decisions drag on, it may mean that investors withdraw, thereby losing the project's momentum. Perhaps prices will also fall, which in turn means that buyers will also disappear. And in the global competition for raw materials, countries with fast approval processes may be the ones that attract projects, while the EU, for example, which has long approval processes, will have more difficulty in realizing projects in practice.

– This is a huge challenge for the industry, says Killian Charles.

In addition to the licenses in Greenland, Brunswick Exploration has several exploration projects in the James Bay region of Quebec, Canada.