--What is an Ontario Mineral or Rock Sample--
An Ontario Sample icon will appear on MIROFOSS sample pages when the sample was found in an Ontario location. For a complete list of samples within MIROFOSS that were obtained from Ontario locations, links can be found on each gallery index.

--Backround--
Ontario is home to an abundance of rocks and minerals producing more than $10 Billion per year with minerals ranging from barite to zinc; and rocks ranging from granite to shale. The first gold rush in Ontario was in 1886 in what is now the town of Madoc. Ontario still leads in the extraction of Minerals in Canada. In 2008, Ontario produced 47 per cent of Canada’s nickel, 53 per cent of its gold, 31 per cent of the country’s copper and 84 per cent of its platinum group metals. More than 100,000 people across the province are employed in mineral exploration, production and the mining equipment and services sector. Forty per cent of Ontario's mineral production is exported around the world.

The ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield cover two-thirds of Ontario and host many mineral deposits. Younger sedimentary rocks also contain valuable minerals and unconsolidated glacial deposits are another important source of mineral riches. Ontario ranks as the world's second largest producer of nickel. The province is also a significant producer of gold, copper, zinc, platinum, palladium, cobalt and silver. While northern Ontario yields most of our metallic minerals, southern Ontario is home to world class producers of non-metallic minerals including salt, gypsum, lime, nepheline syenite and structural materials (sand, gravel, stone). The sedimentary rocks of the south are also the site of Ontario's oil and gas industry. In fact, the first commercial oil well in North America was drilled at Oil Springs, Ontario, (near Sarnia) in 1858. In 2007, southern Ontario produced crude oil valued at $52 million.

--Why Mark Ontario Samples?--
The purpose of Identifying Ontario found samples in MIROFOSS is to showcase the geological wealth and beauty that can be discovered in Ontario as well as raise awareness of what can be discovered in the field of Geology as well as other Earth Sciences.