Above is a map (direct link) I've put together. It shows where natural resources have been mined in Canada. I've categorized the resources into metals (red), gemstones (orange), other minerals (yellow), clay/stone (green), and fossil fuels (blue). This is the sort of thing I do for fun, folks.
Mining is a fundamental part of Canada's economy. The country has a wide variety of geological formations bearing all kinds of useful substances: coal beds out east, diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes up north, oil and gas fields to the west, far east, and in a little pocket above Lake Erie, potash all up in the middle, and a metal-rich shield of ancient rock covering the northeastern half of the country.
A couple of particularly interesting regions include:
- the world's second largest impact crater, the rim of which is crammed full of metals
- a bunch of asbestos in southeastern Quebec, which even after being recognized as a potent lung poison was mined for use overseas
- deposits of gem-quality sapphires (e.g. on Baffin Island) and emeralds (e.g. in the Yukon Territory at a place called Tsa Da Glisza, which means "green stones")
- a remote tungsten mine on an island in Great Slave Lake
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