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Madrid, May 23: As global warming melts Greenland's ice, it is exposing new mineral resources and opening up shipping routes, executives of Angus&Ross, an exploration and mining company prospecting in the Arctic island, said.

Angus&Ross's Black Angel mine in Greenland, whose entrance hangs 600 metres above the sea on a steep cliff, is due to start producing lead and zinc in 2008.

Once one of the richest zinc mines in the world, it closed in 1990 leaving several tonnes of high grade zinc and lead ore underground.

Angus&Ross's Chief Operating Officer Andrew Zemek said the company will continue to extend its exploration in the self-governed Danish territory.

''Greenland is grossly under explored,'' he told a zinc seminar in Madrid organised by Metal Bulletin yesterday.

Global warming, which most scientists say is a direct result of burning fossil fuels, will mean the sea around Greenland freezes for fewer months of the year.

''Black Angel's shipping season used to be six months, today it's eight months and it will soon be 12 months,'' Zemek said.

Retreating glaciers are already exposing new rock.

''That means geologists can see more of the ground and drill more holes than they could before,'' he said.

Angus&Ross estimates there are at least 4 million tonnes of high grade lead and zinc reserves in the Black Angel mine - about half in the old mine pillars and the other half in satellite deposits.

Climate specialists expect polar ice to shrink and probably disappear this century.

Zemek said that would open up a more direct northwest passage for shipping between Greenland and metal-hungry Asian countries, and possibly even a new one straight over the pole, which would be shorter still.

The company expects to finalise project financing, possibly in the next few days, Chairman Robin Andrews told Reuters after the conference.

It needs up to 30 million dollars in financing for phase one of the project.

''We hoped to announce something this week, but our lawyers are still battling,'' Zemek told the conference.

Ore from the mine has to be carried across a fjord by cable car to the shipping area and camp on the other side. Angus&Ross plans to restore the mine's original cable car, fit a second one and later on build a suspended conveyor belt to transport the ore.

The proven reserves in the mine contain 9.7 per cent zinc and 3.1 per cent lead, the company's pre-feasibility study shows.

Reuters>