Diagenetic fluorapatite and aluminum phosphate–sulphate in the Paleoproterozoic Thelon Formation and Hornby Bay Group, northwestern Canadian Shield

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 617-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q Gall ◽  
J A Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Earth Element ◽  
Aluminum Phosphate ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Thelon Basin ◽  
Hydrated Aluminum ◽  
Element Bearing ◽  
Diagenetic Fluids ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

In the northwestern part of the Canadian Shield, fluorapatite and a rare-earth element-bearing hydrated aluminum phosphate–sulphate mineral (APS) occur as cements in continental successions near the base of the Paleoproterozoic Thelon Formation (Thelon Basin) and Hornby Bay Group (Hornby Bay Basin). These minerals occupy interstitial sites, form euhedral crystals, display micro-scale zonation, make up part of an unmetamorphosed paragenetic assemblage, and are distributed in correlative units across thousands of square kilometres, suggesting a diagenetic origin. Stratigraphy, geochronology, and other lines of evidence suggest that the Thelon Formation and Hornby Bay Group containing these phosphatic cements, as well as the Ellice Formation and Athabasca Group, are correlative and may have been originally interconnected. The evidence suggests that the basal Thelon Formation and the Hornby Bay Group underwent similar, and approximately coeval, diagenetic mineral paragenesis. Furthermore, the diagenetic fluids in these different locations must have been remarkably similar, especially those that produced the delicate APS mineral. Compared to phosphatic cements in the Hornby Bay and Thelon basins, unmineralized sandstone in the Athabasca Basin contains "crandallite group" and fluorapatite cements higher in the basin fill sequence (Wolverine Point Formation) in tuffaceous sandstone and as relatively early cement in the paragenetic sequence.

Comparison of diagenetic fluids in the Proterozoic Thelon and Athabasca Basins, Canada: implications for protracted fluid histories in stable intracratonic basins

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Renac ◽  
T K Kyser ◽  
K Durocher ◽  
G Dreaver ◽  
T O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Early Diagenesis ◽  
Uranium Deposits ◽  
Rock Interaction ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Thelon Basin ◽  
Intracratonic Basins ◽  
World Class ◽  
Diagenetic Fluids ◽  
Quartz Grains

The Paleoproterozoic Thelon Basin, located on the border between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada, is a contemporaneous analog of the uranium-rich Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Basin in Canada. Early diagenesis resulted in precipitation of extensive hematite on the surfaces of detrital quartz grains throughout the Thelon Formation and minor hydroxy-phosphate in veins locally. Continued diagenesis then resulted in syntaxial quartz cementation of detrital quartz at 130°C from fluids having ca. 17 wt.% equivalent NaCl, similar to the Athabasca Basin. Cementation of this type is most pronounced in fine-grained sequences in the Thelon Basin. A period of extensive desilicification during continued burial was followed by formation, at ca. 200°C, of peak-diagenetic illite having Ar–Ar ages of ca. 1400–1690 Ma in the Thelon Formation. This illite was associated with fluids with δ18O and δD values of ca. 6‰ and –50‰, respectively, similar to those during peak diagenesis of the Athabasca Basin. Although the timing, salinity, and isotopic composition of the peak-diagenetic fluids in the Thelon and Athabasca Basins are similar, the peak-diagenetic mineral assemblage in the Athabasca Formation is dickite and illite, with minor dravite and goyasite rather than simply illite. Consequently, the fluids at peak diagenesis, which in the Athabasca Basin are synchronous with formation of world-class unconformity-type uranium deposits, had different compositions in each basin. Post-peak diagenesis in the Thelon Basin was quite distinct from that in the Athabasca Basin in that illite was replaced in the central portion of the basin by K-feldspar and then sudoite, which crystallized from saline brines at ca. 1000 Ma and 100°C. Evidence for later infiltration of these brines is absent in the Athabasca Basin, although uranium mobilization at ca. 900 Ma from fluids having the same characteristics as those at peak diagenesis was pronounced in the Athabasca Basin. Recent incursion of meteoric waters along reactivated structures into the Athabasca Basin has variably affected hydrous and uraniferous minerals, but evidence for this is lacking in the Thelon Basin. The Thelon Basin reflects less intensive fluid–rock interaction in its early history than that recorded in the basal units of the Athabasca Basin.

Hydrothermal Rare Earth Element (Xenotime) Mineralization at Maw Zone, Athabasca Basin, Canada, and Its Relationship to Unconformity-Related Uranium Deposits

2017 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 1483-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Rabiei ◽  
Guoxiang Chi ◽  
Charles Normand ◽  
William J. Davis ◽  
Mostafa Fayek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Rare Earth Element ◽  
Earth Element ◽  
Uranium Deposits ◽  
Athabasca Basin

Geochemistry of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, and the Unconformity-related Uranium Deposits Hosted By It

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Alexandre
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Aluminum Phosphate ◽  
Enrichment Factors ◽  
Uranium Deposits ◽  
Average Chemical Composition ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Ore Bodies ◽  
Five Elements

Abstract A large data set comprising near-total digestion analyses of whole rock samples from the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada (based principally on the Geological Survey of Canada open file 7495), containing more than 20,000 analyses, was used to define the average chemical composition of Athabasca Group sandstones and of unconformity-related uranium deposits hosted by the basin. The chemical composition of unaltered and un-mineralized Athabasca Group sandstones is dominated by Al (median Al2O3 of 1.14 wt.%), Fe (median Fe2O3 of 0.24 wt.%), and K (median K2O of 0.11 wt.%; Si was not measured), corresponding mostly to the presence of kaolin, illite, and hematite, in addition to the most-abundant quartz. The median concentration of U in the barren sandstones is 1 ppm, with 5 ppm Th, 3 ppm Pb, and 56 ppm ΣREE. Other trace elements present in significant amounts are Zr (median of 100 ppm), Sr (median of 69 ppm), and B (median of 43 ppm), corresponding to the presence of zircon, illite, and dravite. The elements most enriched in a typical Athabasca Basin unconformity-related uranium deposit relative to the barren sandstone are U (median enrichment of ×710), Bi (×175), V (×77), and Mg (×45), followed by five elements with enrichment factors between 20 and 30 (Co, Mo, K, As, and Ni). These correspond to the presence in the ore bodies of alteration minerals (dravite, kaolinite, illite, chlorite, aluminum-phosphate-sulfate minerals, and a suite of sulfide minerals) and are similar to what has been observed before. These elements are similar to the typical pathfinder elements described above known deposits, but their usefulness has to be assessed based on their relative mobility in the predominantly oxidizing Athabasca Basin sandstones.

scholarly journals The Occurrence States of Rare Earth Elements Bearing Phosphorite Ores and Rare Earth Enrichment Through the Selective Reverse Flotation

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 698
Author(s):  
Wenxiang Chen ◽  
Feng Zhou ◽  
Hongquan Wang ◽  
Sen Zhou ◽  
Chunjie Yan
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Rare Earth Elements ◽  
Rare Earth Element ◽  
Earth Element ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Western China ◽  
Reverse Flotation ◽  
Flotation Process ◽  
Element Bearing ◽  
Element Contents

The reserve of rare-earth element-bearing phosphorite ores in Guizhou province in western China is huge. Increased demand for the different products manufactured from rare-earth elements has resulted in an extreme need for reasonable and comprehensive extraction of rare-earth elements. An improved understanding of rare-earth element occurrence states in single minerals of ores is important for their further processing. In this paper, rare-earth element contents were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP), and the occurrence states in single minerals were further investigated through SEM-EDS and focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) methods. The results indicate that rare-earth element contents of apatite are far more than that of dolomite. No independent mineral of rare-earth elements exists for the studied sample. Rare-earth elements are present in the form of ions in the lattices of apatite. Based on the analysis of occurrence states and properties in single minerals, the distribution of rare-earth elements in the flotation process was investigated by reverse flotation technology. It shows that rare-earth elements are mainly concentrated in apatite concentrate. Under the optimized conditions, the P2O5 grade increases from 11.36% in the raw ore to 26.04% in the concentrate, and the recovery is 81.92%, while the total rare-earth oxide grade increases from 0.09% to 0.21% with the recovery of 80.01%, which is similar to P2O5 recovery. This study presents the feasibility of extracting rare-earth elements from rare-earth element-bearing phosphorite ores through the flotation of apatite.

Mineralogy, geochronology, and genesis of the Andrew Lake uranium deposit, Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 850-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandi M. Shabaga ◽  
Mostafa Fayek ◽  
David Quirt ◽  
Charlie W. Jefferson ◽  
Alfredo Camacho
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Model ◽  
Uranium Deposit ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Phase 2 ◽  
Phase 3 ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Thelon Basin ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Alteration Minerals ◽  
Fluid Event

The Thelon Basin located in Nunavut, Canada, shares many similarities with the U-producing Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan. The Kiggavik project area, located near the northeastern edge of the Thelon Basin, contains U deposits and showings along the ∼30 km long NE–SW Kiggavik – Andrew Lake structural trend. The Andrew Lake deposit is near the southern end of this trend. Pre-mineralization is characterized by quartz ± carbonate veins that occupy fault systems later reactivated as conduits for U-mineralizing fluids. A four-phase genetic model is proposed for the Andrew Lake deposit. Phase 1 comprises vein-style uraninite (U1; 1031 ± 23 Ma) that is associated with illite and hematite, and contains variable PbO contents (0.2–9.5 wt.%). Phase 2 is characterized by altered uraninite (U2; ∼530 Ma) that is associated with coffinite. Altered uraninite (U3; <1 Ma) characterizes phase 3 and occurs as centimetre-scale “roll-fronts”. In phase 4, all three uraninite stages, and coffinite, are altered to boltwoodite. Although the oldest uraninite U–Pb age is ∼1030 Ma, illite associated with the U mineralization gives 40Ar/39Ar ages of 941 ± 31 and 1330 ± 36 Ma. The younger age is similar to the age for U1, suggesting that there was a fluid event that either precipitated U1 or reset the U–Pb isotopic system at ∼1000 Ma. While the older age for illite (1330 Ma) does not correlate with Andrew Lake U–Pb uraninite ages, it does correlate with ages previously reported for uraninite and clay alteration minerals in the Kiggavik area.

Post-Taltson sedimentary and intrusive history of the southern Rae Province along the northern margin of the Athabasca Basin, Western Canadian Shield

2009 ◽  
Vol 175 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 16-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.E. Ashton ◽  
R.P. Hartlaub ◽  
L.M. Heaman ◽  
R.M. Morelli ◽  
C.D. Card ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
History Of
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