Sudbury Basin (Rayside-Balfour)

Canada / Ontario / Lively / Rayside-Balfour
 region, astrobleme, invisible
Structures of impact crater.
The Sudbury Basin, also known as Sudbury Structure, is the second largest known impact crater or astrobleme on Earth, and a major geologic structure in Ontario, Canada. The impact occurred around 1.8 billion years ago.

The Sudbury Basin has also become the richest mining district in North America and one of the top 10 in the world. The annual value of minerals and metals produced in this area is about $5 billion, involving four companies--Vale Inco, Xstrata, FNX Mining and First Nickel Inc. The total ore mined to date in Sudbury is approximately 1.7 billion tonnes with 40 billion pounds of nickel, 36 billion pounds of copper, 70 million ounces of platinum, palladium and gold and 283 million ounces of silver recovered. At today’s commodity prices, total historic production and current known reserves in Sudbury represent a one trillion dollar value.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_Basin
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   46°34'35"N   81°14'0"W

Comments

  • The lower boundary is very wrong; the actual basin is only a bit more than *half* the size of the area that's been drawn in green.
  • Correct size updated.
This article was last modified 3 years ago