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 pounds of nickel. At least two nickel deposits are in progress by Vale Inco at the Thompson and Birchtree mines. At least 70 million pounds of nickel has been mined since 2005. At the city of Thompson, nickel of the Thompson Belt is smelted and refined in facilities. This smelting and refining process contributes to about one-third of the total nickel output in Canada. In the Cape Smith Belt of northern Quebec, the Raglan Mine lies in copper-nickel deposits of the ultramafic Katiniq Suite sills. The Katiniq Suite sills are also within an area that is presently explored for nickel,