Spatial distribution and compositional variation of APS minerals related to uranium deposits in the Kiggavik-Andrew Lake structural trend, Nunavut, Canada

Riegler, Thomas; Quirt, Dave; Beaufort, Daniel

doi:10.1007/s00126-015-0595-y

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Ductile to ductile-brittle shear zones are rarely observed and their reactivation appears not to be a key process controlling uranium mineralization there (Johnstone et al, 2017). Previous studies of the various deposits in the Kiggavik area focused on the characterization of mineralizing fluids and their alteration products, through geochemical and isotopic analyses of uranium oxides and clay minerals (Farkas, 1984;Riegler et al, 2016a;Shabaga et al, 2015;Sharpe et al, 2015;Potter et al, 2015;Chi et al, 2017;Fayek et al, 2017;Quirt, 2017;Shabaga et al, 2017aShabaga et al, , 2017b. While the knowledge in these various fields has greatly improved in the last years, the tectonic history, the structural controls, and the relative timing of the deposits in the Kiggavik area remain poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contact uranium prospect, Kiggavik project, Nunavut (Canada): Tectonic history, structural constraints and timing of mineralization

Grare

Benedicto

Lacombe

et al. 2018

Ore Geology Reviews

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Uranium mineralization in the Kiggavik area, on the eastern border of the Thelon basin (Nunavut, Canada), hosts significant uranium resources within the basement and its understanding is critical to comprehending the genesis of unconformity-related deposits' structural controls and therefore exploration of these types of deposits in this prospective district. This article deciphers the complex multiphase fracture network associated with uranium mineralization of the most recently discovered, basement-hosted prospect in the Kiggavik area, named Contact. The Contact prospect is located along the Andrew Lake Fault (ALF), a major NE-SW fault corridor in the area. This study combines field work, drillcore logging, sampling, and macro-to micro-petro-structural analyses. Key results from this study highlight that the NEtrending ALF, along with the ENE-trending Thelon (TF) and Judge Sissons (JSF) faults, formed early during intracratonic rifting and deposition of the Baker Lake and Wharton groups (ca. 1850-1750 Ma) in response to the Thelon and Trans-Hudsonian orogeny. The ALF was affected by a strong silicification-brecciation event that likely developed at ca. 1750 Ma, and partitioned later deformation and fluid circulation. In the Contact prospect, the ALF was reactivated multiple times and mineralized in three stages with distinctive secondary fracture patterns, alteration, and mineralization types. Ten fracture stages have been identified at the Contact prospect, f1 to f10. The first stage of mineralization, coeval with f5, is related to fluids of unconstrained origin that circulated through E-W faults in the area that locally re-activated quartz veins of the brecciation event at the intersection with the ALF. Mineralization at this stage is polymetallic and associated with weak clay alteration. The second stage of uranium mineralization occurred coeval with transtensional reactivation of the NE-SW trending ALF (f6c) and in relation to circulation of oxidizing basinal brines within the fault zone. Mineralization at this stage is monometallic and associated with illite and sudoite alteration. Later reactivation of the inherited fracture network (f8) led to strong illitization and bleaching of the host rock, with local reworking of the ore body. Finally, reactivation of the fracture network during f9 and 10 lead to circulation of meteoric fluids that remobilized mineralization in a third stage of uranium re-concentration along redox fronts, with strong illitization and bleaching of the host rock. Unlike the classic unconformity-related uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin where clay alteration halos occur around the ore bodies related to mineralizing processes, in the Contact prospect the strongest clay alteration event (f8) postdates both main stages of mineralization. Along with uranium remobilization, the basement-hosted Contact prospect is likely a relict of what was once a larger deposit.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contact uranium prospect, Kiggavik project, Nunavut (Canada): Tectonic history, structural constraints and timing of mineralization

Grare

Benedicto

Lacombe

et al. 2018

Ore Geology Reviews

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“…The Si is associated with coffinite. Cu and U concentrations of MCM in the Bong alteration halo are particularly high, respectively 1 and 7.2 %, much higher than elsewhere in the Kiggavik area (Riegler et al 2015), whereas other trace elements around…”

Section: Geochemistry and Elemental Distributions In The MCMmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…The main goal of the present study is to identify the origin of the CM associated with U minerals in the Kiggavik exploration camp located at the southeastern margin of the Paleo-to Mesoproterozoic Thelon Basin, building on the paragenetic context developed by (Riegler 2013;Riegler et al 2014;Riegler et al 2015;Sharpe 2013;Sharpe et al 2015). The second focus is on the solid properties of the CM to better understand their very unusual spatial and textural associations with U oxide minerals.…”

Section: Accepted M Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoscale relationships between uranium and carbonaceous material in alteration halos around unconformity-related uranium deposits of the Kiggavik camp, Paleoproterozoic Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada

Riegler

Beaufort

Allard

et al. 2016

Ore Geology Reviews

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Cretaceous roll-front deposits and the world-class Paleoproterozoic unconformity-related deposits. However, the unusual spatial and textural association of U minerals and CM described herein raises questions on mechanisms that may have been responsible for the precipitation of the CM followed by crystallization of U oxides on its surfaces. Based on the characteristics presented herein, the CMs at Kiggavik are interpreted as hydrothermal in origin. Furthermore, the nanoscale organization and properties of these graphene-like layers that host U oxide crystallites clearly localized U oxide nucleation and growth.

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“…Aluminium phosphate sulphate (APS) minerals are common accessory products in a range of volcanic, hydrothermal, sedimentary, and metamorphic systems, occurring under a wide range of pH, redox and oxygen fugacity conditions [13]. APS minerals have been widely documented in Cu-mineralised systems [13], including porphyry-copper ores [14,15], epithermal deposits [15][16][17] and along uranium-mineralised unconformities [18,19]. REE-bearing APS minerals hosted in carbonaceous rocks are limited but have been documented in black shales [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copper, Uranium and REE Mineralisation in an Exhumed Oil Reservoir, Southwest Orkney, Scotland

et al. 2023

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Copper, uranium, and rare earth element (REE) mineralisation occurs in hydrocarbon-bearing Devonian continental sandstones in southwest Orkney, Scotland. The aeolian Yesnaby Sandstone Formation and fluvial Harra Ebb Sandstone Formation were mineralised following oil emplacement. The REE-bearing APS mineral florencite is particularly associated with bituminous nodules, many of which contain brannerite. Subsequently hydrothermal copper and other sulphides, and barite, further mineralised the oil reservoir at a temperature of ~190 °C. Oil was mobilised through mineralised fractures at this stage. Biodegradation of the oil occurred later, following the Carboniferous-Permian uplift. The occurrence confirms that Cu-APS mineralisation is possible in relatively low-temperature regimes in sedimentary basins.

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Spatial distribution and compositional variation of APS minerals related to uranium deposits in the Kiggavik-Andrew Lake structural trend, Nunavut, Canada

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

The Contact uranium prospect, Kiggavik project, Nunavut (Canada): Tectonic history, structural constraints and timing of mineralization

The Contact uranium prospect, Kiggavik project, Nunavut (Canada): Tectonic history, structural constraints and timing of mineralization

Nanoscale relationships between uranium and carbonaceous material in alteration halos around unconformity-related uranium deposits of the Kiggavik camp, Paleoproterozoic Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada

Copper, Uranium and REE Mineralisation in an Exhumed Oil Reservoir, Southwest Orkney, Scotland

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