FORGE, Korea, and What It Means for Greenland
FORGE Opens a New Policy Frame
On February 4, 2026, the United States convened the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington and launched FORGE — the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement. The framework was presented as a vehicle for deeper allied coordination around critical mineral supply chains, and South Korea took the chair through June 2026.
The structure itself is designed to operate differently from earlier efforts. Vice President JD Vance described a preferential trade zone for critical minerals, protected through enforceable price floors, while outside analysis has described FORGE as an attempt to turn coordination on prices, trade, and investment into a strategic asset. Success is far from guaranteed. But the administration is clearly trying to move beyond loose coordination and toward something more operational.
South Korea is chairing the opening phase of FORGE through June 2026. Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has formally designated 33 critical minerals for economic security management, with molybdenum among them. RAND’s analysis of South Korea’s supply chain vulnerabilities also selected molybdenum as one of four minerals for dedicated case study treatment.
That context changes the backdrop for what happened at PDAC twenty-six days later.
Greenland Steps Onto the PDAC Stage
On March 2, Greenland was given its own platform at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto. Greenland Day, co-hosted by the Government of Greenland and the Greenland Business Association, was framed around Greenland’s business landscape, legislation and procedures, infrastructure, access to qualified labour, and local supplier networks. Greenland Resources presented its Malmbjerg molybdenum project in East Greenland. The same day, Canada announced a conditional C$7 million contribution toward Malmbjerg’s feasibility study, and Canada and Greenland signed a non-binding Joint Declaration of Intent on critical minerals and energy cooperation.
The strategic framing around Malmbjerg did not end at PDAC. On April 1, Greenland Resources announced a binding eight year off take agreement with SSAB, adding a major Nordic steel buyer to the project’s growing industrial profile.
The allied framing around Malmbjerg is not limited to FORGE and PDAC. In December 2025, the European Commission’s RESourceEU Action Plan specifically mentioned Greenland Resources’ Malmbjerg project as a priority project already receiving support, as the EU moved to fast-track strategic raw-materials projects and mobilise up to €3 billion in backing over the following 12 months.
Why Malmbjerg Now Looks More Strategic
In the new FORGE context, PDAC gave Greenland a different kind of visibility. The focus extended beyond geology to business conditions, infrastructure, labour, and supplier participation, the practical ingredients of long term industrial development.
FORGE provided the policy backdrop. PDAC gave Greenland the stage. With South Korea in the chair, molybdenum on Seoul’s strategic minerals list, and Canada stepping forward on Malmbjerg, Greenland’s East Coast now sits more clearly inside the allied supply-chain conversation than it did even a few months ago.
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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