TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed explorer North American Nickel (NAN) plans to step up its exploration efforts in Greenland this summer, as it continues to scour the remains of the world’s oldest meteor impact site for nickel deposits.

NAN, which also searches for metals in Canada, on Tuesday said it had finalised the 2013 exploration plan for its fully owned Maniitsoq project, on Greenland’s south-west coast.

The programme, which was scheduled to start in mid-June, would consist of a minimum of 3 000 m of diamond drilling to follow up on 2012 discoveries and test new geological, geophysical and geochemical targets identified from a review of exploration datasets.

Surface pulse time domain electromagnetic surveys and 550 line-km of helicopter-borne time domain electromagnetic and magnetic surveying would also be undertaken in areas not covered in the 2011 and 2012 exploration programmes.

“We expect this to be a busy, exciting and productive year at Maniitsoq. Our experience on the project for the last two years and, particularly our camp/drilling experience last year, has allowed us to ramp up for our planned $5.5-million 2013 programme smoothly and efficiently,” NAN CEO Rick Mark said.

NAN said its chief geologist John Pattison had been busy full time on site since the departure of the rest of the exploration team in last September. COO Neil Richardson would also accompany this year’s expanded ground team, and drilling was expected to start on June 21.

NAN said target identification had been “very” successful", as it had now identified more than 100 exploration targets at Maniitsoq.

Global warming was thawing Greenland’s Arctic sea lanes, and global industry was eyeing minerals under this barren island a quarter the size of the US, with 57 000 residents. But locals were wrestling with the implications of taking advantage of opportunities for rich rewards at the risk of harming a pristine environment and a traditional society that was trying to make its own way in the world after centuries of European rule.