Metallogeny of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canada

The Abitibi greenstone belt, extending from northeastern Ontario to northwestern Quebec in Eastern Canada, is the largest belt of Neoarchean supracrustal rocks on the planet, and also one of the richest in terms of base and precious metals, including several critical and strategic metals. This chapter presents an overview of the geology and metallogeny of the Abitibi greenstone belt. It highlights the exceptional mineral wealth of this belt and illustrates the typology of mineral systems and their distribution in space and time. The Abitibi greenstone belt comprises several sequences of volcanic and sedimentary rocks generally oriented east-west, folded and intersected by several faults and intrusive bodies. The Abitibi greenstone belt is a region with an exceptional wealth of mineral resources. It contains a variety of metals, which are concentrated in various types and styles of deposits. Gold is the main metal of the belt.