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Polar prospects: Russia to research Antarctica’s mineral resource potential

The study will be conducted in the Pacific zone of the Antarctica between the Amundsen and the Ross Seas, Queen Mary Land near Bunger Oasis

© Mark Ralston/Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW, 16 November. /TASS /. Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition, a St. Petersburg-based subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Rosgeologiya, has started a geological and geophysical study along with an assessment of the mineral resource potential of the Antarctica and its peripheral seas as part of the 64th Russian Antarctic Expedition, Rosgeologiya said in a statement.

The project is implemented under a government contract with Russia’s I.S. Gramberg Scientific Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean.

The study will be conducted in the Pacific zone of the Antarctica between the Amundsen and the Ross Seas, Queen Mary Land near Bunger Oasis, according to the statement.

The team is expected to carry out the geological study covering the Antarctic mainland, as well as aerovisual and onshore magnetometer observations, airborne landings, in addition to collecting samples for geochronology purposes. Moreover, expedition members will conduct a geophysical airborne survey, and also conservation and geo-ecological efforts.

The research vessel the Academician Alexander Karpinsky is set to leave the port of St. Petersburg on December 20, 2018, to perform the offshore research. The survey season is schedule for completion in April 2019, with the final report to the customer expected at the end of 2019.

Rosgeologiya is Russia’s multi-industry geological holding company, which offers a full range of geological exploration services from regional surveys to stratigraphic drilling and subsoil monitoring.

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