Not content with just the tip of the iceberg, Canada's ruling Conservative Party has made a Canadian $100-million ($94-million) commitment to map mineral and energy resources in the rich but largely untapped Arctic region and reassert its sovereignty in the process.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper revealed the five-year initiative—which comes on top of C$109 million ($102 million) already earmarked for mapping by both his government and the previous Liberal regime—in late August, just before calling an election that sent Canadians to the polls Oct. 14.

Citing existing finds of natural gas, oil, gold and diamonds, Harper said the north holds "countless other precious resources buried under the ice, sea and tundra."

The move was welcomed by the Canadian mining industry, which has long encouraged the government to enhance its geoscience mapping program in an area that has been left mostly unexplored due to the innumerable environmental challenges.

The funding will give...