Circum-Superior Belt mantle plume that was the source for the 1,880 million-year-old magmatism in the Circum-Superior Belt. The Circum-Superior Belt is the host for widespread mineral deposits, including copper, nickel and platinum group elements. However, the origins of this widespread mineralization is unknown. The Thompson Belt in Manitoba is one of the most comprehensive nickel producing zones on Earth. It has the potential to contain platinum group elements, but the age of the mafic-ultramafic volcanic rocks comprising the nickel deposits are not well known. Since its foundation during the 1950s, numerous mining operations throughout the Thompson Belt have produced over four billion
Circum-Superior Belt features are present in the Circum-Superior Belt, including dikes, sills and volcanics that comprise geologic formations. This geologic belt is considered to be a large igneous province because its magmatic rocks were emplaced over an extremely short geological time span. Even though the Circum-Superior Belt was emplaced during an extremely short geological time span, the associated magmas were probably derived from a number of separate sources. Most of the Circum-Superior Belt lies along the margin of the Superior Craton, which is the most extensive fragment of Archean crust on Earth. However, a number of igneous rocks within the Superior craton