How Critical Metals and 60° North Greenland Grew Closer Over Time

The March 23 announcement did not come out of nowhere. It looks more like the next chapter in a working relationship that had already been developing in public since at least September 2024.

The Relationship Was Already There

Back in September 2024, Critical Metals announced that drilling had commenced at the Tanbreez rare earth deposit in Greenland. The company described the program as 14 diamond core holes totaling about 2,200 meters, aimed at advancing feasibility work and the project’s development roadmap. Just as important, it said the program was being conducted by the Greenland drilling contractor 60 North Greenland. At the time, that looked like what it was: an early-stage operating relationship, one contractor among the many moving parts that gather around a serious project. Looking back now, it reads differently. It reads like the beginning. 

By July 2025, 60 North Greenland was still there. Critical Metals said a new 2,000-meter resource drilling program had commenced at Tanbreez and described it as being spearheaded by its experienced Greenland drilling contractor, 60 North Greenland. It showed continuity rather than coincidence. This was not a one off field season appearance or a name dropped once and forgotten. The same local operator was still in the chain as the company pushed the project forward. In project development, repetition matters. People keep using the firms they trust, especially in places where weather, transport, local knowledge, and plain old reliability can make or break a season. 

From Drilling to Infrastructure

Then in January 2026 the relationship moved beyond drilling. Critical Metals announced that it had formally approved construction of an Arctic grade pilot plant and multi use facility in Qaqortoq, and said the works would be executed under a full turnkey contract awarded to 60° North Greenland. By then, the work had expanded well beyond drilling. Critical Metals said the contract covered engineering, permitting, logistics, construction, and commissioning, with the pilot-plant section scheduled to be ready for use by May 2026. At the same time, Critical Metals said it had purchased a property in Qaqortoq to serve as a local office and operational base. By that point, 60° North was no longer just a drilling contractor around Tanbreez. It was helping carry a broader slice of the project’s local execution. 

From Contractor to Strategic Asset

So when Critical Metals announced on March 23, 2026 that it had entered into an agreement to acquire a majority shareholding in 60° North Greenland, the move was significant, but it did not come out of nowhere. The release said 60° North would also enter into a collaboration agreement with Tanbreez to support infrastructure development and local operational capacity around the project. In other words, what had begun publicly as contracted fieldwork now appears to be moving closer to ownership and integration. This does not look like a cold acquisition of a random local name. It looks like the formal consolidation of a relationship that had already been getting deeper in plain sight. 

That is what makes this more than a routine mining company release. It is also a business story, and a Greenland business story at that. Healthy commercial relationships often develop this way. Not through one dramatic leap, but through repeated work, growing trust, and a track record built over time. A company shows up, does the job, comes back, takes on more responsibility, and eventually becomes valuable in a different way.

Whether or not this specific transaction turns into a classic “reward for a life’s work” story for the people behind 60° North, it does point to something other Greenlandic companies will understand immediately: local capability, built patiently and proven in the field, can compound into real strategic value.

That is especially true in Greenland, where competence is proven in the field. It is physical. It is seasonal. It is about boats, camps, drilling, freight, helicopters, machinery, permits, housing, and getting things done when the conditions are not forgiving. 60° North’s own public materials reflect exactly that sort of company. It markets shipping with its own vessels, including a landing craft and hotel ships, alongside helicopter coordination, transport by land, air and sea, diamond core drilling, and consulting based on decades of local experience. That is not the profile of a decorative local partner. That is the profile of a company built to be useful in the real Greenland. 

Time passes quickly in project development. In September 2024, the Tanbreez story still carried the feel of heady early momentum: fresh drill holes, core coming up, and a development roadmap still being sketched in optimistic language. Eighteen months later, a lot has happened. The same local contractor that first appeared in those early drilling releases is now the subject of a majority-stake deal. Seen that way, this week’s announcement is not just about Critical Metals getting closer to 60° North. It is about a business relationship doing what the strongest ones sometimes do: moving from contract, to trust, to something larger.

GreenlandEnergy.com is an independent news and analysis site covering Greenland’s energy, critical minerals, and Arctic industrial development. For corrections or feedback: press@greenlandenergy.com

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