Canadian Mineral Commodity Flows, 1979

For the last 2.5 million years, periodic ice ages have scraped away Canada's mineral resources and deposited them here in the northern USA. During the current interglacial period, an elaborate network of railroads and ports is selectively depositing Canada's most valuable minerals in widely-scattered moraines located in industrial centers all over the globe.

Click these for more detail:



Legend:

Black dots are mines. Red lines are railroads; blue lines are water-borne shipments.

A: Asbestos, crude [use of asbestos in construction was not widely banned until the mid-1980s]
Al: Alumina, bauxite ore
C: Coal
Cu: Copper ore
Fe: Iron ore
G: Gypsum
K: Potash
mc: other ores and concentrates
NaCl: Salt
Ni: Nickel-copper ores
P: Phosphate rock
Pb-Zn: Lead and zinc ores
pr: other mine products
S: Sulphur
GS: Sand and gravel

A link to the full map, from the Atlas of Canada.