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Database of mineral deposits related to the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) in the northern United States and northern Ontario, Canada

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2024-02-01T00:00:00Z
The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is one of the world’s largest continental rifts and has an age of 1.1 Ga (giga-annum). The MRS hosts a diverse suite of magmatic and hydrothermal mineral deposits in the Lake Superior region where rift rocks are exposed at or near the surface. As part of the construction of a database summarizing information on mineral deposits in the MRS, data from regional mineral deposits were downloaded from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), the USGS Mineral Deposit Database (USMIN), and the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines Mineral Deposit Inventory (MDI). Deposits related to MRS rocks or mineralizing events were identified and compiled into a database to develop a space/time classification for MRS-related mineral deposits.

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