| Title | LIPS and Proterozoic uranium (U) deposits of the Canadian Shield |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Jefferson, C W; Peterson, T; Tschirhart, V ; Davis, W; Scott, J M J; Reid, K;
Raemaekers, P; Gandhi, S S; Bleeker, W; Pehrsson, S; Morris, W
A; Fayek, M; Potter, E; Bridge, N; Grunsky, E; Keating, P;
Ansdell, K; Banerjee, N |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7352, 2013, 56 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/292377  Open Access |
| Year | 2013 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is related to LIPs and Proterozoic uranium
deposits of the Canadian Shield |
| File format | readme
|
| File format | pdf; ppt; xls; rtf |
| Province | Alberta; Saskatchewan; Nunavut |
| NTS | 64E/13; 64L/03; 64L/04; 64L/05; 64L/06; 64L/12; 64L/13; 74E/15; 74E/16; 74F/07; 74F/08; 74F/09; 74F/10; 74F/11; 74F/12; 74F/13; 74F/14; 74F/15; 74F/16; 74G; 74H/04; 74H/05; 74H/06; 74H/07; 74H/09; 74H/10;
74H/11; 74H/12; 74H/13; 74H/14; 74H/15; 74H/16; 74I; 74J; 74K; 74L; 74M/01; 74M/02; 74M/08; 74N/01; 74N/02; 74N/03; 74N/04; 74N/05; 74N/06; 74N/07; 74N/08; 74N/11; 74N/12; 74O/01; 74O/02; 74O/03; 74O/04; 74O/05; 74O/06; 74O/07; 74O/08; 74P/01;
74P/02; 74P/03; 74P/04; 74P/05; 74P/06; 74P/07; 56D; 56E; 66A; 66B; 66C; 66F; 66G; 66H; 86L; 86M; 96I; 96P; 85F/09; 85F/10; 85F/15; 85F/16; 85J |
| Area | Port Radium; Lake Athabasca; Cree River; Cree Lake; Fond du lac; Stony Rapids; Fort Chipewyan; Richardson River; Wollaston Lake; McClean Lake; Key Lake; Maybelle River; McArthur River; Shea Creek; Cigar
Lake; Cluff Lake; Hook Lake; Read Lake; Baker Lake; Aberdeen Lake; Tehek lake; Schultz Lake; Thelon Game Sanctuary; Garry lake |
| Lat/Long WENS | -112.0000 -103.0000 59.7500 57.0000 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -102.0000 -94.0000 65.9083 64.0000 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -114.0000 -110.0000 68.0000 66.0000 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -117.0000 -114.0000 63.0000 61.5000 |
| Subjects | igneous and metamorphic petrology; geochronology; economic geology; geophysics; magmatism; igneous rocks; mineral deposits; mineral occurrences; uranium; unconformities; structural features; structural
interpretations; structural analyses; mineral exploration; uranium deposits; mineralization; Christopher Island Formation; Dubawnt Supergroup; Baker Lake Basin; Lac Cinquante U deposit; Martin Basin; Nueltin Suite; Wharton Group; Athabasca Basin;
Thelon Basin; Hornby Bay Basin; Dessert Basin; Athabasca Group; Rae Province; Hearne Province; Proterozoic; Precambrian |
| Illustrations | photographs; location maps; tables; plots; photomicrographs; profiles |
| Program | GEM: Geo-mapping for Energy and
Minerals Uranium |
| Released | 2013 04 08 |
| Abstract | Most large igneous provinces (LIPs) are associated with lithospheric extension driven by mantle upwelling. The Dubawnt Supergroup LISP (Large Igneous and Sedimentary Province) contains two LIPs and a
BLIP of mantle-sourced magmatism likely driven by lithosphere plateau collapse and strike-slip deformation rather than plumes. LIP #1, the mafic/ultrapotassic Christopher Island Formation, was intercalated from 1845 ± 12 to 1785 ± 3 Ma with
siliciclastic rocks of the trans-extensional Baker Lake Basin that partly covers the vein-style, unconformity associated, 1828 ± 29 Ma Lac Cinquante U deposit and correlates temporally with the Martin Basin of Saskatchewan's Beaverlodge district. LIP
#2, granite/gabbro/basalt/rhyolite of the 1.75 Ga Nueltin Suite, was intercalated with siliciclastic rocks of the Wharton Group, invaded pre-Thelon Basin faults, and prepared the ground for basement hosted, unconformity associated U deposits inferred
as <1667 ± 5 Ma (fluorapatite cement within Thelon Basin). Five to 10 km aeromagnetic rings are being investigated as potential, shallow bimodal volcanic centres that powered epithermal precious metals systems. The two LIPs broadly mobilized U,
moving it upward in the crust and available to paleoweathering, basinal fluid alteration and transport, particularly by leaching incompatible element-rich volcanic detritus. The thin, ultrapotassic mafic Kuungmi lavas cap the Thelon Basin and this
BLIP provides a 1540 ± 30 Ma (micro-baddeleyite) upper age for the LISP.
The proposed-plume-related 1.27 Ga Mackenzie event re-set unconformity U deposits in the Athabasca and Thelon basins, and developed new alteration vectors in the Athabasca
Basin such as a third generation of chlorite. U-rich phosphate minerals in the Hornby Bay Basin dated as 1282 ± 11 and 1158 ± 80 Ma suggest the Mackenzie event drove sandstone U mineralization.
New ages of mafic igneous events constrain the
tectonic development of siliciclastic basins and hydrothermal fluid events that formed U deposits. Once covered by more than 2 km of Hornby Bay Group strata, Port Radium's classic uraninite veins cut the 1.74 Ga Cleaver diabase dykes and are, in
turn, cut by the 1.59 Ga Western Channel diabase; thus implying U mineralization beneath the Hornby Bay Basin unconformity.
Dating of Mackenzie diabase sills in the largely sub-surface Dessert Lake basin west of Yellowknife confirms its
Paleoproterozoic age and supports correlation with the Hornby Bay and Athabasca basins. An outstanding question is the cause of the regional 1.4 Ga re-setting of U and precious metal deposit ages in the Athabasca and Thelon regions. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The presentation places GEM results on uranium deposits in the context of large-scale volcanic events from about 2.2 to 1.4 billion years ago. The
Dubawnt Supergroup, which contains the U deposits of the Athabasca basin and exploration prospects within Nunavut, spans two igneous events at 1.83 byrs (potassic volcanism) and 1.75 byrs (rhyolite-basalt volcanism: Nueltin event). The rhyolites may
have generated U showings by altering their wall rocks, and contributed U-rich detrital minerals to the producing sandstones. The basalt/rhyolite centers were heat sources that may also have generated gold-silver and lead-copper showings. The GEM
program discovered that many of these centers have a ring-like appearance in magnetic anomaly maps and a preliminary search for such rings throughout Nunavut is summarized. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 292377 |
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