Cryolite mine helped fund Greenland expenses

In a period from 1922 to 1930, taxes from cryolite mining in Greenland covered over a third of the country’s public expenses, as shown by accounts in the Statistical Yearbook, reported by Jyllands-Posten. During this period, 38% of Greenland’s expenses were funded by the mining. Martin Paldam, a professor emeritus at Aarhus University, noted that the mining financed colonial operations and was intended to benefit Greenlanders. Over the decade, the exported cryolite amounted to what would be 25 billion kroner today, generating taxes worth 6.8 billion kroner for Greenland. However, a recent documentary suggested Denmark may have earned around 400 billion kroner from the mine, leading to criticism from economists and politicians amidst a debate on the historical relationship between Denmark and Greenland.