POLAR EMPIRE

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 March 1934, Page 10

POLAR EMPIRE

MINERAL DEPOSITS A £200,000 air expedition to the Antarctic, which is being organised by Captain Ernest Mills Joyce, the British explorer, may open up vast new mineral resources 'in Britain’s “Polar Empire,” never before tapped. Captain Joyce, in an interview with the “Sunday Graphic,” stated that the centure is as yet only in its preliminary stages. These are present plans:—Land in the region of the Ross Sea will be explored. Deposits of gold, silver, and certain lesserknown metals, as well as coal, will be examined. It has been established that they exist. Possibilities of mining them in remunerative quantities will be investigated.

Whaling and sealing conditions will be noted.

Three aeroplanes will be used. The largest of them will concentrate on aerial survey work only. Dog-sleighs and motor-sleighs will be carried in the machines. A point between Enderby and Coatsland, south of South Africa, will be the base of the expedition, and it is expected that the party will be away two to three years.

The expedition will probably leave England in August and complete its fitting out at New Zealand. From there a ship will go to the Ross Sea, where the aeroplanes will take off. Several scientists will take part, and the latest type of equipment, including mapping cameras, will be used. As in other instances, the fund will be started by private' subscription, and a grant from Parliament will then be sought. The aim of the expedition, in principle, is to investigate the . commercial possibilities of land discovered by Scott, Shackleton, and Ross and to turn their discoveries into projects remunerative to Britain and the Empire.

Captain Joyce states that millions of pounds have been spent by England in exploration and research in the Antarctic without comparable material return, while the Norwegians have stepped in to capture a whaling market alone worth £50,000,000. He stated: “The first chapter of Antarctic ‘history in recent times is a story of English pluck, skill, and fortitude. In latei’ chapters Britain seems to fade out of the picture. Norway, with a whaling fleet of over a hundred, monopolises the scene.” it is claimed that he established a world’s record for sleighing when he and a party of six men, divided from Shackleton’s party, and with their ship caught fast in the ice, travelled 2000 miles in 200 days by sleigh. Three of the men subsequently died. The plans of the new expedition were discussed with other British explorers recently.