A 4 billion-year-old story etched in stone: Geology and metal in Canada

Canada’s geological heritage goes back over 4 billion years to when the earth was a young, hot planet covered by ocean. During this time, intense volcanism formed the earth’s crust, giving way to a barren and lifeless landscape blasted by radiation from the sun. About 3 billion years ago, in the Archean eon, the emergence of plate tectonics moved thin and small rafts of rocks at a rate much faster than they do today. Over time, the volcanic islands butted together into large blocks of continental crust, with most of the action (in what is today’s Canada) starting around the Red Lake area, a prolific gold-mining camp in northwest Ontario. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.