AS the Greenland ice sheet is up to 2km thick in places prospecting is somewhat problematical. Ground based techniques will not work through thick ice, and the story is the same for high resolution airborne geophysics. Stream sampling glacier outflows and examining glacial debris make only give a limited peripheral view of what is under the ice. To date all discoveries and mines are on the coastal fringes, just like the settlements. Thus thick permanent ice cover is an irrelevance. Prospecting the ice covered areas will be a bonus when the ice cap melts and boots can actually get on the ground.