| Title | Ground truthing of the 'Eastern Athabasca Basin' regional airborne gamma-ray survey: context for exploration of deeply buried unconformity-related uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin of northern
Saskatchewan |
| Download | Download (whole publication) |
| Author | Fortin, R; Campbell, J E; Harvey, B J A; McCurdy, M W; Sinclair, L E; Hanson, M A; Potter, E G; Jefferson, C W |
| Source | Targeted Geoscience Initiative 4: unconformity-related uranium systems; by Potter, E G (ed.); Wright, D M (ed.); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7791, 2015 p. 43-51, https://doi.org/10.4095/295782 (Open Access) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Potter, E G; Wright, D M;
(2015). Targeted Geoscience Initiative 4: unconformity-related uranium systems, Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7791 |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Saskatchewan |
| NTS | 74H |
| Lat/Long WENS | -106.0000 -104.0000 58.0000 57.0000 |
| Subjects | economic geology; radioactive minerals; unconformity-type deposit; unconformities; uranium deposits; uranium; mineral deposits; mineral occurrences; mineralization; Athabasca Basin |
| Illustrations | location maps; tables; geophysical images; histograms |
| Program | Targeted
Geoscience Initiative (TGI-4), Uranium Ore Systems |
| Released | 2015 03 02 (08:30) |
| Abstract | With uranium exploration shifting to greater depths and more indirect targets, new tools and better use of existing data are needed to maximize exploration efficiency. Recent and historical research has
demonstrated that although deeply-buried beneath Athabasca Group sandstones, unconformity-related uranium deposits still may be targeted by understanding subtle surficial geochemical anomalies. Airborne gamma-ray spectrometric surveys can be used for
effective surficial geochemical mapping of K, U and Th over large areas and have been conducted by the Geological Survey of Canada across much of the Canadian Shield over the past 50 years, notably in partnership with Saskatchewan over the Athabasca
Basin. To apply the results of these surveys to uranium exploration, the effects of deposit-related geochemical anomalies on airborne gamma-ray measurements must be predicted. And, just as importantly, the background in terms of K, U and Th above
which these anomalies have to be detected, has to be quantified and its genetic linkages understood. The “Eastern Athabasca Basin” airborne gamma-ray survey was conducted in partnership with the Saskatchewan Geological Survey in 2009. This regional
survey was ground-truthed along the corridor between Key Lake and the McArthur River mine site in 2013. High-resolution helicopter-borne gamma-ray acquisition, ground gamma-ray spectrometry, surficial material mapping, sampling and laboratory
analyses were performed. Results indicate that the relationships between subsurface processes, glacial dispersal and airborne gamma-ray measurements are very intricate and responsive to detailed local surficial geological processes that have modified
elemental dispersion from bedrock sources. In many cases, surficial sediments and landforms can be discriminated based on their K, U and Th geochemistry, relating in turn, to their provenance. Quantitative analysis of the airborne data, integrated
with surficial geological knowledge, can differentiate between the complex patchwork of background domain levels and deposit-related surficial geochemical anomalies. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 295782 |
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