Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Diamonds in Antarctica?

I have read about minerals and the threat of the exploitation in Antarctica before, but I was quite surprised how my Antarctic news alert today was full of articles about diamonds in Antarctica.  The Antarctic Treaty does prohibit mining, but there is geological research allowed and they discovered kimberlite, which is a volcanic rock known to often bear diamonds.  Actual diamonds were not found, though.  Seems like there is a reasonable chance there would be diamonds in Antarctica somewhere with the volcanic activity, but the remoteness still makes it not worthwhile commercially beyond just the fact that it would be illegal.

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