announced the opening up of a vast new deposit of nickel- 
iferous ore four hundred miles north of Winnipeg, which 
will be in production in 1958. By that time this single en- 
terprise will be supporting a settlement of 8000 people, 
which according to the president of International Nickel 
could grow into a community of 50,000 in the predictable 
future. All this is happening in what only yesterday was a 
vast sub-Arctic wilderness without roads or railroads. 
While not as important as the metallic minerals noted 
above, deposits of copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, platinum, 
and tin have been or are being worked at a number of 
places. Of the nonmetallic minerals, coal is known to occur 
over wide areas of the North Polar Lands. It has been re- 
ported from more than half the Canadian Arctic islands 
and has long been mined in Spitsbergen and Greenland, as 
well as on the mainlands of North America and Eurasia. 
The petroleum industry has a future of much promise. 
Nearly all Soviet northlands appear favorable for the devel- 
opment of oil, and the gently folded rocks north of the 
Brooks Range in Alaska are very promising. Much of this 
part of Alaska has been held as a reserve by the United 
States Navy since 1923. 
The Soviet Union has pursued a much more aggressive 
policy in the development of its northlands than has either 
Canada or the United States and is undoubtedly far ahead 
in number and size of settlements and general exploitation 
of the natural resources. 
On the whole, the polar lands of North America are 
underdeveloped. Massive capital investments are necessary 
but they appear to be forthcoming when new resources of 
merit are opened up. The northward pressure of popula- 
tion in itself will also hasten further developments. Eventu- 
6 
