How Utah is Better Than Greenland

It’s even a hot topic in Southern Utah. If the conversation about Greenland’s raw materials is really a conversation about supply-chain security, Utah has a quiet but important role to play—especially on minerals, not geopolitics. Greenland is often discussed for future supplies of rare earth elements, graphite, and platinum-group metals, but those projects face major hurdles: remote terrain, limited infrastructure, and slow timelines, not to mention the European Union not too happy about the US being involved.

WHERE IS SPOR MOUNTAIN?

Utah can’t “replace” Greenland’s rare earth story, but it can reduce U.S. dependence elsewhere by scaling minerals where Utah is unusually strong—starting with beryllium. The U.S. has a single primary beryllium mine, and it’s in Utah at Spor Mountain (Juab County, west of Delta/near the Thomas Range, about 3 ½ hours from St. George). That deposit has historically supplied a huge share of global beryllium and remains the country’s critical domestic source. Beryllium matters for aerospace, defense, electronics, and precision components—exactly the kinds of industries policymakers cite when discussing “critical minerals.”

BRINE MINERALS PLENTIFUL

Utah is also a brine-minerals state. Along the west shore of the Great Salt Lake (Tooele County/Rowley area), brines have been used to produce magnesium—an input for lightweight alloys and industrial chemistry—though the sector has faced regulatory and operational disruption. And in the Great Salt Lake Desert near Wendover (Tooele County), Utah produces potash from subsurface brines—important for fertilizers that keep U.S. agriculture resilient.

Bottom line: Greenland may be “tomorrow’s” mineral frontier. Utah already supplies today’s hard-to-replace U.S. minerals—especially beryllium from Spor Mountain—and that can meaningfully offset strategic risk while Arctic projects crawl forward.