fossils actually records important natural selection processes. The carbonate sequence containing the trilobite fossils hence important to record paleoenvironment and evolution. Mineral resources in the North China Craton The North China Craton contains abundant mineral resources which are very important economically. With the complex tectonic activities in The North China Craton, the ore deposits are also very rich. Deposition of ore is affected by atmospheric and hydrosphere interaction and the evolution from primitive tectonics to modern plate tectonics. Ore formation is related to supercontinent fragmentation and assembly. For example, copper and lead deposited in sedimentary rocks indicated rifting and therefore fragmentation of a continent; copper, volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits (VMS ore deposits) and orogenic gold deposits indicated subduction and convergent tectonics, meaning amalgamation of continents. Therefore, the formation of a certain type of ore is restricted to a specific period and the minerals are formed in relation with tectonic events. Below the ore deposits are explained based on the period they were formed. Mineral deposits Late Neoarchean (2.8–2.5 billion years ago) All deposits in this period are found in greenstone belts, which is a belt full of metamorphic rocks. This is consistent with the active tectonic activity in the Neoarchean. Banded iron formations (BIFs) belong to granulite facies and are widely distributed in the metamorphosed units. The age of the ore is defined by isotopic analysis of hafnium dating]. They are interlayered with volcanic-sedimentary rocks. They can also occur as some other features: dismembered layers, lenses and boudins. All the iron occurrences are in oxide form, rarely in silicate or carbonate form. By analysing their oxygen isotope composition, it is suggested that the iron was deposited in an environment of weakly oxidized shallow sea environment. There are four regions where extensive iron deposits are found: Anshan in northeast China, eastern Hebei, Wutai and Xuchang-Huoqiu. The North China Craton banded iron formation contains the most important source of iron in China. It consists of more than 60–80% of the nations iron reserves. Copper- zinc (Cu-Zn) deposits were deposited in the Hongtoushan greenstone belt, which was located in the northeastern part of the North China Craton. They are typical volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits and were formed under rift environment. The formation of the Cu-Zn deposits might not be under modern tectonics, so the formation process might be different from modern rift system. Neoarchean greenstone belt gold deposits are located in