Data Centers, Critical Minerals and Trust: Sabrina Katz

As the United States’ interest in Greenland looms, critical mineral strategic advisory firm GreenMet is preparing to unleash new industries and opportunities for both the Arctic island and at home, Sabrina Katz said. Their focus is making the U.S. a competitor with China in critical mineral supply and building what would become the world’s largest data center in Greenland.

GreenMet hopes to build a massive data center on the island with a goal of hydropower by 2027. The project would be located in Kangerlussuaq in western Greenland. The island’s untapped mineral rich land has driven interest from private equity companies eager to build industry there, Katz said. She also said that GreenMet has “good intentions” in Greenland, saying that they want to support and grow their economy and workforce.

Katz is the Vice President of Operations at GreenMet, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in critical mineral and energy projects. They help connect projects with government funding, private equity and other commercial partners.

In her role, Katz said she does “a little bit of everything.” She handles press and public relations, stakeholder engagement, government affairs and works closely with internal and external teams and partners.

GreenMet’s focus is on critical minerals, specifically as they relate to energy, manufacturing and national security. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, critical minerals are “those that are essential to the economic or national security of the United States.” They may also have a supply chain that is vulnerable to disruption or serve an essential function to manufacturing a product. An absence of a critical mineral would have significant consequences for the country’s national or economic security.

The 2025 list includes 60 different minerals and elements.

“They’re found pretty much everywhere in the world. I would say they’re definitely more prominent in other places than others, like in South America,” Katz said. “Greenland has a ton that we’re very interested in. They go into everything from weapons that the Department of Defense uses to smartphones, to cars, to pretty much anything you can think of.”

China’s chokehold on critical minerals

President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland has sparked discussion on the island’s strategic location and useful applications for the United States’ national security but also has created chatter about Greenland’s untapped mineral deposits, particularly as they pertain to technology.

GreenMet is one of the many companies attempting to trailblaze this potential opportunity, from mining to planning a data center for the island.

Although critical minerals are found all over the world, China has dominated the supply of important elements. The rush to secure access to the Arctic island’s rich deposits of minerals is an effort to shift the balance in the global supply. Katz said China controls about 90% of critical minerals, but the United States had a more significant role in the supply until the Clinton administration.

“They kind of made it less of a priority, and we kind of stopped mining in the United States completely. That’s when China came in and said, ‘hey, we can do this for cheaper, faster, and without caring about environmental regulations,’ which the United States puts a very strong emphasis on,” she said. “It’s cheaper, faster and with way less environmental regulations.”

The Trump administration has made critical minerals a priority, Katz said. While the country has mines and enough critical minerals for the United States and its allies, there aren’t enough processing capabilities. Even if the minerals are mined domestically, they still have to be sent over to China.

Permitting regulations for mining have come easier in the current administration, but Katz believes that building up the country’s processing capability is a huge priority. Even as options grow, the process is slow and expensive.

Greenland’s rich deposits pose a new opportunity for both GreenMet and the United States.

“The Arctic is really, really hard to mine in, and really hard to build up an infrastructure in. The reason why people haven’t in the past is because the United States has put less of an emphasis on mining and more of an emphasis on importing it from other countries. But now that there’s more of an emphasis put on [mining], we’re seeing so much interest from private equity, from the government, from all these different groups,” she said. “These are allies, and they have pretty much all the resources we need. Not doing this would not only help the United States and our allies, but it would also build up the workforce in Greenland. It hasn’t been done before, even though it’s been always kind of been a question.”

A new landscape for data centers

GreenMet plans to build a data center in a remote settlement in western Greenland. Kangerlussuaq is most known for its airport, abundant wildlife and the Arctic Circle Trail, Greenland’s most famous hiking route.

If the plan succeeds, the project will become the largest data center in the world.

“It came about because, GreenMet started in critical minerals, but we realized that the larger picture is energy dominance. It’s just everything, and it all connects,” Katz said. “There’s so much untapped land in Greenland, and this location’s just so perfect for it. We’re partnering up with CoreWeave and other major data center players to do this, but obviously, it’s a long process.”

Kangerlussuaq’s subarctic climate—long, cold winters and mild summers—make it so less cooling is required for the data center. It is also positioned on the eastern end of a deep fjord, allowing for hydropower. The settlement also has some infrastructure present from World War II, when the United States built up the town and its airport for their military base.

“We think it would be a great story too, just to have it in the same place that the old U.S. military base was, and Greenland and Denmark and the United States collaborated really efficiently during World War II,” Katz said.

Greenland’s strict environmental regulations pose issues for building a hyperscale data center, as they are known for intensive water and energy use. Katz said that she is not aware of any environmental concerns due to the data center but stated that GreenMet would cooperate and adjust to regulations set in place by Greenland.

Katz said the data center project could start “super soon,” and the targeted deadline for hydropower is 2027.

Data centers in Greenland and economic opportunity

Drew Horn, GreenMet’s CEO, worked in critical minerals and energy supply chain development during the first Trump administration. Katz said he was the “Greenland guy” with a deep passion for the Arctic island. She said Horn sees “so much potential” in Greenland, their people and their economic independence. “Anything that we can do to bring them economic independence, while also, obviously, making money ourselves is great,” she said.

Greenland’s economy is heavily reliant on fishing, but a data center could build a new industry that could build up their economic independence from Denmark.

“When we’re starting to talk about who’s working there, we would go to the Greenlandic people first. We probably wouldn’t be able to only hire Greenlandic workers because there’s just not enough, but that’s definitely our first option. We’re in discussions about exchange programs with like Danish universities and U.S. universities,” Katz said. “We think it could benefit their economy insanely, because once the data center is built, we have proven, ‘hey, the U.S. just came in, put a bunch of money into this. It’s successful.’ I truly think it’s just going to be a floodgate. Everyone’s going to want to invest in Greenland after that. Someone just needs to prove that it’s possible.”

From her experiences in Greenland, Katz said that Greenlanders understood that the fishing industry is not enough to achieve economic independence—their resources are. “I was really, really surprised when I came in, and I saw their willingness and want for U.S. investment and their resources,” she said.

Greenland, GreenMet and trust

Katz said she hopes Greenlanders can grow to trust their desire to invest in the island, saying that “we have good intentions, and that we’re truly there to help them.”

Cooperation between the United States, Denmark and Greenland is also essential for GreenMet’s plans to come to fruition.

“My boss [Horn] had very strong relationships with them during his time in the first Trump administration. He was able to kind of take those relationships and use them in his private capacity as well,” she said. “I would say there’s a little bit of a, ‘it’s too good to be true attitude from them.’ They don’t truly believe that someone would just come into Greenland and do it the way the Greenlanders want and do it truly to benefit them. They’re open to it. I think it’s just a matter of proving to them that it’s possible and that we have good intentions.”

Katz asked that people trust GreenMet, saying that they “truly just want to help.” She said they are not arguing for Greenlandic independence, but to support their economy and workforce through their endeavors.

“It doesn’t matter who’s in office in the United States. It doesn’t matter who’s in office in Greenland. It’s literally just about bringing economic growth, stability and helping everyone,” she said.

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This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into Greenland’s people, history, and culture. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available on Edge of the Arctic: Greenland, the Land of the People.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club, and a private donor.