Greenland Resources signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for long-term molybdenum supply with the Swedish company Scandinavian Steel AB for the European market.

Greenland Resources is developing the Malmbjerg porphyry molybdenum deposit in Greenland. The 2022 definitive feasibility study of the project shows a planned 20-year mine life to produce 15ktpy of molybdenite concentrate.

Molybdenum is a key alloying component in alloy steels and over the last two decades demand growth has been largely met by rising supply from lower-cost by-product molybdenum recovered from large porphyry copper mines. According to Project Blue data, copper by-product molybdenum has grown to account for over two-thirds of global supply and the supply-demand balance of molybdenum is now directly linked to developments at copper porphyry deposits.

Conventionally, forecasts have predicted that copper mines will continue to make inroads into the molybdenum supply market share and keep the industry healthily supplied, however, Project Blue’s outlook sees several hurdles along the way that will potentially hamper this low-cost supply. Towards the end of the 2020s, our data suggests that primary molybdenum mines are set to make a comeback and retake some market share as a result of these hurdles.

The question for the Malmbjerg project is if its advancement can leverage the copper industry challenges and political critical-material directives to offer a secure source of primary molybdenum supply to the European market. If successful by the end of the decade, the project could account for around 5% of global molybdenum demand.