Greenland

The Arctic is one of Earth's few remaining frontier areas. This huge area contains some of the largest known provinces of natural resources, including world-class petroleum-bearing basins, metallogenic provinces and mineral deposits, among them several of the world's largest diamond mines. Major new discoveries are still being made in the Arctic, both beyond the regions that are already well known and within provinces where there are already operating mines, where the use of modern exploration methods has revealed "new" ore bodies underneath surface Quaternary deposits or at greater depths in the Earth's crust. Increasing focus on, and development of the Arctic region creates a rapidly growing need for effective assessment of the resource potential of the region. Such an assessment must be based on compilation and evaluation of updated knowledge of the geology of prospective areas and of known deposits.
The Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) held an informal dialogue about possible implementation of a mineral resource project in the Arctic with potential partners in the course of 2011. Having been given a positive response, NGU invited representatives of the geological surveys of the countries of the Arctic region to an inaugural, consultative meeting, held in Toronto in March, 2012 in conjunction with the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Convention (PDAC). A consensus on the general form of the project was achieved and the first regular meeting of the group of geoscientists who have had a major role in implementation of the project took place in Copenhagen in December 2012. NGU had, prior to that meeting, been granted funding by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway to support coordination of the project and publication of its products.
Interest in the Arctic will continue to grow in the years ahead of us. Cooperation on compilation of modern geological and geophysical data is a neccessary step towards a common understanding of the potential for natural resources in the Arctic regions. This Preface gives me the opportunity to acknowledge the positive support of the leaders of our partner organizations in this project and the outstanding efforts of the geoscientists who have participated in achieving its aims. The financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway is gratefully acknowledged.