Is there a way to prevent the Antarctic Treaty from arising to prevent mineral exploration of the southern continent? And if so, would it be plausible to even go about looking for mineral resources beneath the Antarctic ice and offshore seabed?
That suggests what has been found isn't worth extracting, but the Prince Charles Mountains coal might be a possibility if it was used locally.
One problem is everything is buried under miles of ice, and that brings up a question.
If a nation set out to do it, how much could they melt away? I'm thinking the simplest way would be to spread something black to absorb solar energy and aid melting.