The Critical Minerals Expo North America in Atlanta this October will include a speaker and several exhibitors with direct links to Greenland’s emerging rare earth supply chain.
The conference takes place October 28 and 29 at the Cobb Convention Center. Its preliminary agenda includes a discussion titled “Expert Overview of North America’s Critical Minerals Supply Chain: Where Are We Going?”
Organizers project at least 150 exhibitors, 60 speakers and 1,500 visitors. The exhibition and conference are free to attend.
The session will feature Constantine Karayannopoulos, president of Kloni Inc., former CEO of Neo Performance Materials and a director of the Critical Minerals Institute, alongside CMI Co-Chair Melissa Sanderson. CMI Executive Director Tracy Hughes will moderate.
Karayannopoulos was Neo’s CEO when the company acquired the exploration license covering the Sarfartoq rare earth project in southwest Greenland.
After Greenland approved the license transfer in April 2023, Neo completed the acquisition and secured rights to purchase up to 60 percent of future ore or mineral concentrate from the project.
In the company’s announcement, Karayannopoulos said Neo believed “the Sarfartoq project in Greenland is a strategic asset that uniquely complements Neo’s European rare earth magnet growth strategy.”
He also said Neo expected to become the project’s primary customer and expressed support for the Greenland government’s vision of mining as a source of economic development, employment and growth.
Karayannopoulos has continued to advocate coordinated mineral supply chains outside China. In a July interview presented by Mackenzie Investments, he said China had developed and executed an industrial strategy extending decades into the future while the rest of the world was still trying to catch up.
He called for governments, industry and capital markets to work together to develop shared processing capacity. Under the model he described, several mineral projects could supply a regional processing hub, helping producers secure customers and retain more of the supply chain’s value.
The approach closely resembles the Sarfartoq strategy he advanced at Neo: connecting a Greenland rare earth deposit through an offtake agreement to Neo’s rare earth separation and magnet manufacturing operations in Estonia.
The Sarfartoq connection remains current. Greenland Mines said on August 27 that it expected to complete its $35 million acquisition of Neo North Star Resources, the project’s license holder, before September 1. Neo will become a strategic shareholder in Greenland Mines and retain nonbinding offtake rights covering up to 60 percent of future Sarfartoq concentrate production, according to the company’s latest project assessment.
The conference’s exhibitor roster provides further Greenland connections. Flash Metals USA and its parent company, Metallium, are both scheduled to exhibit.
Drew Horn is CEO of GreenMet and chief strategy officer and cofounder of AmForge. The West Virginia Secretary of State listed Horn and Flash Metals USA President Steve Ragiel among the participants in the proposed processing hub and said project officials planned mineral offtake agreements involving Greenland. Canadian Manganese, GreenMet, AmForge and Flash Metals later established the North American Critical Manganese Alliance.
Horn previously told Greenland Energy that GreenMet and Flash Metals had agreed to process Greenland rare earth and niobium material through the West Virginia project. Horn did not identify the Greenland source project in that statement.
SGS is also exhibiting at the Atlanta conference. SGS Canada conducted metallurgical testing for Sarfartoq in 2026, with the results incorporated into Greenland Mines’ latest project assessment.
Although the preliminary agenda does not appear to include a session devoted specifically to Greenland, the published program already connects Greenland mineral projects with wider discussions about North American processing, allied supply chains and rare earth security.
Greenland Energy will attend the conference and report on developments relevant to Greenland.
GreenlandEnergy.com provides independent analysis of Greenland’s energy landscape, critical minerals development, and Arctic geopolitics. For corrections or feedback: press@greenlandenergy.com
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