ASX-listed explorer’s share price jumps after Trump comments

US president-elect Donald Trump has lit a fire under the share price of an ASX-listed rare earths minnow locked in a bitter dispute with Greenland by refusing to rule out using force to take control of the self-governed Danish territory.

Energy Transition Minerals’ (ETM) share price jumped more than 52 per cent to almost 8c in trading on Wednesday on the back of Mr Trump’s comments. [The ETM share price is up more than 86% over the past week as of 11am Friday.]

Asked if he could give an assurance he would not use military or economic coercion as he tried to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Mr Trump said: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security.”

ETM’s flagship Kvanefjeld rare earths project in southern Greenland is in an area with year-round direct shipping access.

The company boasts the project has potential to surpass Lynas Rare Earths as the most significant Western source of materials essential in electronics, renewables and military applications. The Greenland government moved to block ETM’s exploration licence after the company had invested about $150m in Kvanefjeld, and has since been accused of employing stalling tactics in a dispute with the company that is bogged down in three separate legal proceedings.

The company, which has offices in Perth and Melbourne, is involved in arbitration proceedings against the governments of Greenland and Denmark via a tribunal seated in Copenhagen as well as cases in the Greenland High Court and the Supreme Court of Denmark.

The Greenland government purports that a law banning uranium mining prevents the granting of an exploitation licence for Kvanefjeld, which as a rare earths deposit contains some uranium.

ETM stock was trading at about 2c late last year when Mr Trump started becoming more vocal about his designs on Greenland as part of a broader expansionist agenda he has promoted since winning the US election in November.

Mr Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Denmark if it rejected an offer to buy Greenland, which he rates as crucial to US national security amid growing tensions with China.

Denmark has said Greenland, an island territory, is not of sale.

In response to an ASX query about a spike in its share price issued last week, ETM said there had been significant global media coverage that stemmed from Mr Trump describing ownership and control of Greenland as an “absolute necessity” for the US.

Mr Trump has since doubled down on the comments made last week in a social media post announcing the appointment of PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his choice for US ambassador to Denmark.

ETM said the Trump comments had been reported in online stockmarket forums and in other commentary around the company, and combined with upcoming elections in Greenland, scheduled for no later than April 6, indicated more positive investor sentiment about the prospects for Kvanefjeld.

The company said it had been in a number of discussions about acquisitions and strategic partnerships, but the talks had ended or were at a preliminary stage.

Chinese rare earths giant Shenghe owns a 9 per cent stake in ETM and is set to process ore produced from Kvanefjeld. It is understood links to Shenghe and another producer, China Northern, were a factor in the Australian government’s decision last year for Yuxiao Fund and four associates to reduce their shareholdings in ASX-listed rare earths player Northern Minerals.

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hit back at Mr Trump on Tuesday, saying: “I don’t think it’s a good way forward to fight each other with financial means when we are close allies and partners.

“Greenland is not for sale. We need to stay calm and stick to our principles.”

Panama also hit back, saying it would not give up control of the Panama Canal, which was handed to the Central American nation in 1999 after being built and owned by the US.

Mr Trump’s latest comments on Greenland coincided with his son Donald Jr arriving in the mineral-rich territory, which sits between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, on a private visit where he is not scheduled to meet government leaders.

This article first appeared in The Australian.