Canada to map Arctic's vast resources

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Tuesday an ambitious plan to discover and tap mineral, oil and gas riches believed to be hidden beneath the cool Arctic.

"We know from over a century of northern resource exploration that there is gas in the Beaufort (Sea), oil in the Eastern Arctic, and gold in the Yukon," Harper told reporters.

"There are diamonds in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and countless other precious resources buried under the ice, sea and tundra," he said. "But what we've found so far is merely the tip of the iceberg."

"With the retreat of polar ice, increasing navigability of the Northwest Passage and the growing global interest in Arctic resources, Canada faces unprecedented opportunities, but also...