The international competition for raw materials and the significantly increasing demand for raw materials, especially in China since the beginning of this millennium, are expressed in rising and volatile prices as well as concerns about possible supply risks. In the search for new raw material sources, as a contribution to securing the global raw material supply, the raw materials of the Arctic have come increasingly into the focus of business and politics in the last few years.
The main reason for this is the climate change in the Arctic and the associated growing geopolitical and geo-economic importance of this region, which is also expressed in the recently published guidelines for German Arctic policy (Foreign Office 2013). However, due to extreme temperatures, the occurrence of permafrost, extensive bog areas and long polar nights, the exploration of the mineral raw material potential of the Arctic and the construction of mines continue to face enormous challenges.
Against this background, in the period from 2010 to 2012, BGR compiled extensive information on the mineral raw materials (metals and industrial minerals) in the continental Arctic regions and also assessed the raw material potential. The results have now been published in four regional studies:
• The mineral raw material potential of Greenland (ELSNER 2010)
• The mineral raw material potential of the Northern European Arctic (ELSNER 2012)
• The mineral raw material potential of the Russian Arctic (URAZOVA & BUCHHOLZ 2012)
• The mineral raw material potential of the North American Arctic (KLIMESCH 2012)
For the full study
Source: BGR and German commodities agency
