The three billionaires have faced scorn and mockery on social media for their part in a venture mining “natural resources” in Greenland.
Mineral exploration company KoBold Metals, which is backed by the billionaires, signed a deal with Bluejay Mining this week to mine Greenland for resources that can be used in electric vehicles.
KoBold uses artificial intelligence to search for materials and the company is paying $15 million for the exploration project on the west coast of Greenland. They will receive a 51% stake in the project. The area being explored is thought to contain materials such as nickel, cobalt and copper, all highly sought after for use in batteries.
Bezos, Bloomberg and Gates have all been vocal climate change activists in the past and the idea of them mining land for profit led many critics to roundly mock the billionaires and express outrage.
“Oh look, billionaires who lecture us on climate change, are going to plunder pristine Greenland for its minerals in order to make more billions, whilst forcing you to drive electric cars to ‘save the planet,’” one Twitter user wrote in response to the news.
Oh look, billionaires who lecture us on climate change, are going to plunder pristine Greenland for its minerals in order to make more billions, whilst forcing you to drive electric cars to "save the planet"
Others were quick to bring up former President Donald Trump’s interest in purchasing Greenland while in the White House, a stance he was roundly mocked for by critics.
And people laughed when Trump wanted to buy Greenland
— breakmeapieceofthaykitkatbar (@yeetyeet222) August 10, 2021
KoBold’s principal investors are Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund with backing from Microsoft’s Gates, Amazon’s Bezos, as well as entrepreneur and former presidential hopeful Bloomberg.
“This agreement is transformative for Bluejay,” the company’s CEO said in a statement about the new partnership. “We are delighted to have a partner at the pinnacle of technical innovation for new exploration methods, backed by some of the most successful investors in the world.”
