Mineral deposits of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region – Metallogeny of the prolifically mineralized Keweenawan LIP

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Abstract

The Keweenawan large igneous province (LIP) of the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is perhaps the most prolifically and diversely mineralized LIP known on Earth (Nicholson et al., 1992). The MRS is an approximately 2,200 km curvilinear continental rift that stretches from Kansas northeast to the Lake Superior region where it turns southeast and extends through lower Michigan (Fig. 1). Rocks of the MRS host a varied suite of magmatic and hydrothermal mineral deposits in the Lake Superior region of the United States and Canada where rift rocks are exposed at or near the surface. Historically, hydrothermal deposits, such as Michigan’s native Cu deposits and the White Pine sediment-hosted stratiform Cu deposit, were major MRS metal producers. On-going exploration for and potential development of Cu-Ni sulfide deposits hosted by the Duluth Complex of Minnesota and the opening of the Eagle Ni mine in Michigan indicate an expanding interest in MRS magmatic deposits. Many of the MRS hydrothermal and magmatic mineral deposits are significant past, present, and likely future providers of critical minerals. We have placed these deposits into a space and time metallogenic framework (Woodruff et al., 2020a) that is summarized here.

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Publication type Newsletter
Publication Subtype Newsletter
Title Mineral deposits of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region – Metallogeny of the prolifically mineralized Keweenawan LIP
Year Published 2021
Language English
Contributing office(s) Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center
Description HTML Document
Larger Work Type Newsletter
Larger Work Subtype Newsletter
Larger Work Title Large Igneous Province of the Month (http://www.largeigneousprovinces.org/LOM)
Country Canada, United States
State Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, Ontario, Wisconsin
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