The Central Mineral Belt is a geologically defined area of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

in northeastern Canada, forming a part of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

. It is important as a source of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

and other minerals.

Geographical overview

The

has been divided up into seven areas based on differences in

orogenic Orogeny () is a mountain-building process that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An or develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted to form one or more mountain ranges. This involv ...

history. The Labrador portion of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

forms the eastern region of the Canadian Shield, which hosts the entire Nain structural province, as well as some of the Superior, Churchill and Greenville provinces.Greene, B
"An Outline of the Geology of Labrador 1(3)."
Geoscience Canada, Newfoundland, August 1974. Retrieved on 22 January 2015. The Central Mineral Belt (CMB) extends from

Michikamau Lake Michikamau Lake, in Labrador, Canada, was absorbed into Smallwood Reservoir upon the completion of the Churchill Falls Generating Station in 1974. The lake makes up the largest part of the eastern section of the reservoir, while Lobstick Lake, also ...

eastward to near

Makkovik Makkovik (Inuit languages, Inuit: ''Maggovik'') is a town in Labrador in eastern Canada. It had 365 residents in 2021. The main industry is snow crabbing and there is a fishing cooperative. Makkovik is only accessible by air or sea. History The ...

. It is made up of Seal Lake, Letitia, Croteau and Aillik Groups. In 1974, mining in the Labrador portion of the belt produced 50% of Canadian iron ore production, as well as uranium,

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

, and

beryllium Beryllium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, hard, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with ...

Uranium discoveries

From 1951 to 1978, exploration lead to the discovery of several significant uranium deposits, including Kitts, Michelin, and Moran C, among many others.Government of Labrador
"Uranium in Labrador"
Government of Labrador, August 2012. Retrieved on 18 February 2015. This has caused the CMB to be recognized as a largely 'under-explored metallogenic terrain' that hosts some of the 'worlds largest underdeveloped uranium resources'. Notable uranium concentrations have been recognized within the Aillik Group in the eastern part of the belt. 'Uranium occurs as a pitchblende and uraninite in a wide variety of deposits in granites and pegmatites, as disseminations in quartzites, as veins and disseminations in argillites and tuffaceous units, in shear zones and faults, and in granulites'. Uranium mineralization was first discovered in Labrador's Central Mineral Belt (CMB) in 1954, south of Makkovik at the Pitch Lake showing.Sparks G.W., Kerr A
"Diverse Styles of Uranium Mineralization in the Central Mineral Belt of Labrador: An Overview and Preliminary Discussion"
Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources, Newfoundland, 2008. Retrieved on 22 January 2015. For over 25 years, this area of Labrador became an area of intense exploration which led to the discovery of several deposits in areas such as Kitts, and Michelin and Moran Lake, among smaller localitiesRoss, Davi
"Technical Report on the CMBNW Property, Labrador, Canada"
Jetmetal Corp, June 22, 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2015. As these areas neared commercial development in the 1970s, exploration came to a halt due to the decline in uranium prices, resulting in little exploration between 1980 and 2005. With the substantial increase in uranium prices in 2005, the CMB has been recognized as one of the second top exploration sites in Canada, following the "

Athabasca Basin The Athabasca Basin is a region in the Canadian Shield of northern Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. It is best known as the world's leading source of high-grade uranium and currently supplies about 20% of the world's uranium. The basin i ...

" in Saskatchewan. This rise in value has therefore led to the expansion and reappraisal of resources in existing areas such as Michelin and Moran Lake, and has led to the discovery of new localities, such as the Jacques-Lake deposit and the Two-Time Zone. The Two-Time Zone was discovered in March, 2007 by Universal Uranium under the direction former CEO, Clive Massey. This discovery yielded a 'wide mineralized zone consisting of '30m of .11% U308, with grades as high as 1.19%''. Despite the sudden onset of exploration activities from 2005 onward, efforts 'came to halt when a three-year moratorium on uranium mining was imposed in 2008' by the aboriginal body, the Nunatsiavut Government.The Mining Journal.
"Labrador: An emerging uranium district in Canada"
Government of Labrador, April 2012. Retrieved on February 18, 2015 The purpose of the moratorium was declared to provide the necessary time to 'establish a lands administration system, develop environmental protection legislation and to allow for the completion of a land use plan for the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area'. However, In March 2012 the moratorium was lifted, leading companies to resume their mining activities. Since the increase in exploration from 2005, several other uranium showings have been discovered by various companies. Several of these uranium sites appear to be hosted by volcanic and/or intrusive rocks, 'such as the T-649 zone (Silver Spruce Resources), The Fish-Hawk Lake prospect (Santoy Resources), and the Quinlan showing (Mega Uranium)'.

Principal Uranium Deposits within Labrador's Central Mineral BeltBurns, James
"Technical Report on the Central Mineral Belt Uranium Project Labrador, Canada"
, Belmont Resources, Ontario, August 30, 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

References

{{reflist Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador Mining in Newfoundland and Labrador Labrador