Circum-Superior Belt northwestern Superior craton margin intrude an older, 2,090 to 2,070 million-year-old dike swarm. The Ospwagan Group is younger than and the 1,864 million-year-old Winnipegosis komatiite belt lies to the southwest. Numerous tectonic settings have been suggested for triggering magmatism in the Fox River Belt, including a marginal basin rifting event. At the southern portion of the Circum-Superior Belt, a group of fragmental sediments composed of iron formation was formed during a period of magmatic activity in the Marquette Range Supergroup. Included in the Marquette Range Supergroup is the Hemlock Formation, a bimodal volcanic group that is estimated to have an
Circum-Superior Belt remain undated, indicating the existence of magmatic rocks with the same age as those of the Circum-Superior Belt is probable. It contains two large copper-nickel mining districts; the nickel-bearing Thompson Belt at the northwestern portion of the Superior craton and the Cape Smith Belt at the northern portion of the Circum-Superior Belt. The Circum-Superior Belt was formed 1,884 to 1,864 million years ago when the Superior craton was surrounded by mountain building processes, including the Trans-Hudson, New Quebec and Penokean orogenies. The major Trans-Hudson orogeny had its appearance when the Superior craton collided with the Rae-Hearne craton 1,900 to 1,800