Study suggests melting Antarctic ice hides vast precious metal deposits, including gold and silver

Global warming is occurring at the fastest rate in the polar regions and temperatures in Antarctica have warmed over three times the pace of the global average. The change is most pronounced on the southern continent’s peninsula in West Antarctica which has seen an increase of 5.4ºF since 1950.

This is leading to ice melt and ice shelves breaking apart. Besides causing sea levels to rise, it will also create more ice-free land according to a recently published study in Nature Climate Change. The researchers estimate that across Antarctica up to 46,578 square miles (120,610 square kilometers) of land, a little more the size of Pennsylvania, could be ice-free by 2300 and those regions could be rich in valuable minerals.

The emerging mineral wealth of Antarctica

Given the fact that over 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice it’s understandable that our knowledge of what mineral resources are actually there is limited. However, by understanding the history of the continent and its place in the supercontinent of Pangea can help us infer what potential deposits are there.

Millions of years ago before plate tectonics moved Antarctica to its current location alone in the southern polar region, it was at the center of the Gondwanan sector of Pangea. The continent was surrounded by Australia, Africa, India, New Zealand and South America.

On those continents, the places where they were once connected to Antarctica have large mineral deposits. Some of the precious and sought-after minerals include copper, iron, gold, silver, platinum and cobalt.

“Because these continents share a similar geologic architecture, it is reasonable to assume that comparable mineral deposits also exist in Antarctica,” state the researchers. “Individual deposits are commonly part of larger mineralized belts that align with major structural features,” they say. And several that are found in the once bordering continents “also likely to continue into Antarctica.”

Antarctica’s valuable mineral deposit could put pressure to change environmental protections

Currently under the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed in 1959, provides comprehensive environmental protection for the continent. It prohibits all activities related to mineral resource development indefinitely in Antarctica unless they are related to scientific purposes.

However, the authors of the study warn that there could be growing pressure to revisit the Environmental Protocol starting in 2048 when any of the consultative parties to the treaty will be allowed to call for a review conference, where proposed modifications or amendments can be adapted. This could destabilize the entire Antarctica Treaty System they caution. There is also the risk that state or non-state actors may be motivated to disregard the protocol altogether.

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