Whole-rock geochemistry on pegmatite occurrences in Greenland and their potential for critical raw materials – with a focus on lithium

Lithium, abbreviated as Li, is listed as one of the critical raw materials for the European Union (EU) in 2023 (European Commission 2023). Lithium is widely used in Li batteries for electric cars, mobile devices, and lithium minerals as a flux in glass and ceramics industry, where it lowers the melting point and viscosity of silica, and is applied as a flux additive for iron, steel, and aluminum production (USGS 2020b; 2022b). Lithium is therefore an important metal for the green energy transition. It is a highly reactive ion and is present in small amounts in crustal rocks (20 to 70 ppm by weight) and in seawater (0.14 to 0.25 ppm) (Dye, 2024). Higher concentrations of Li are found in granites and granitic pegmatites, often in one of the minerals: spodumene, petalite or lepidolite, however Li is also concentrated in brines and Salar deposits. The world's top five Li-producing countries are Australia, Chile, China, Bolivia, and Argentina, where the three countries Chile, Bolivia and Argentina are known as the Li Triangle, which are producing Li from Salar deposits (USGS 2020b; 2022b). The Greenbush mine in Australia is the largest hard-rock producing Li mine in the world, here Li is extracted from spodumene. China produces Li from brines and hard-rock mines (USGS 2024). With the growing demand for Li, there is an interest in finding new sources. Greenland is underexplored for Li, and mineral exploration companies request Li data from Greenland. This report aims to describe the potential for discovering Li in Greenland. To do so, pegmatitic rocks from Greenland have been studied. Pegmatitic rock samples from Greenland were collected from the GEUS rock archive and analyzed for their whole rock major and trace element geochemistry. A total of 28 pegmatite samples were analyzed from different areas in Greenland (see Fig. 1).