Perth geologist who briefed White House welcomes Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland

The colourful Perth mining veteran sought out by the White House before Donald Trump first suggested buying Greenland six years ago has welcomed the US president elect’s renewed interest in the Danish territory.

Mr Trump used a rambling media conference overnight Tuesday to again float the idea of a US purchase or military takeover of Greenland for strategic motives, saying we “need Greenland for national security reasons”.

However, the self-governing island is also rich in critical minerals that are seen by the US as potentially important in breaking China’s stranglehold on key rare earth elements used in defence and aerospace applications.

Greg Barnes has been promoting the rich Tanbreez heavy rare earths deposit in southern Greenland since 2001, last year striking a deal to sell control of the mining-approved project to Tony Sage’s US-listed Critical Metals Corp.

The 76-year-old geologist has remained in contact with the US State Department since receiving what he initially thought was a prank call from the White House in 2019 inviting him to brief Mr Trump’s first administration on Greenland and Tanbreez. The relationship has since extended to hosting regular site visits by US officials.

Mr Barnes recalled on Wednesday being impressed by how Mr Trump’s suggested purchase of Greenland in 2019 helped raise the island’s awareness about its strategic importance and the value of its critical minerals to outsiders.

This time around, however, while he suspects Mr Trump is motivated by ensuring the US can build a supply chain in strategic minerals, Mr Barnes is not prepared to bet on it.

“I can’t predict what Trump is thinking,” he said.

“I will say, the last time he did it, I was impressed how he went about it and how it played out, particularly in Greenland.

“I don’t know what he wants this time, (but) my attitude is, any news is good news.”

Under last year’s deal with Mr Barnes’ Rimbal Pty, Critical Metals handed over shares now worth $US56m in return for increasing its stake in Tanbreez to 42 per cent. It can move to 92.5 per cent ownership in return for a further $US116m of shares and funding $US10m of exploration by next year.

It fits a pattern for Mr Barnes, who has preferred finding and then selling projects rather than developing them.

However, he said Tanbreez could be a turning point for Mr Sage, who similarly is better known as a company promoter rather than a developer and is still dealing with the fallout from the collapse of his former Perth Glory A-League franchise last year.

“He’s an entrepreneur in town who has a chance of developing something,” Mr Barnes said.

“These people can start out with a reputation and then get thrown into a higher orbit,” he said, citing Andrew Forrest after his exit from struggling nickel play Anaconda 25 years ago.

“Suddenly, he’s done Fortescue and he’s Mr Big, and we’ve seen that with other people.

“That’s what Sage has a real chance of going.”

Tanbreez has been Mr Barnes’ almost sole focus since dealing with the 2005 collapse of gold explorer Chameleon Mining and a subsequent Australian Securities and Investments Commission probe.

The former Chameleon managing director incurred a nine-month jail sentence in the NSW District Court in April 2010 over allegedly misleading stock exchange announcements, but the conviction was quickly overturned after appeal judges ripped holes in the ASIC case.