scholarly journals Application of regional geochemical datasets to uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
D M Wright ◽  
E G Potter
Keyword(s):  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Uranium Exploration

Paradigmatic Shifts in the Uranium Exploration Process: Knowledge Brokers and the Athabasca Basin Learning Curve

SEG Discovery ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
James L. Marlatt ◽  
T. Kurt Kyser
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Development Effort ◽  
Organizational System ◽  
Exploration Process ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Uranium Exploration ◽  
The Status ◽  
Knowledge Brokers

ABSTRACT Uranium exploration increased over the past decade in response to an increase in the price of uranium, with more than 900 companies engaged in the global exploration on over 3,000 projects. Major economic discoveries of new uranium orebodies have been elusive despite global exploration expenditures of $3.2 billion USD, with most of the effort in historical uranium districts. The increased effort in exploration with minimal return can be described through the example of a cyclical model based on exploration and discovery in the prolific Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. The model incorporates exploration expenditure, quantities of discovered uranium, and the sequence of uranium deposit discoveries to reveal that discovery cycles are epochal in nature and that they are also intimately related to the development and deployment of new exploration technologies. Exploration in the Athabasca Basin can be divided into an early “prospector” phase and the current “model-driven”phase. The future of successful uranium exploration is envisaged as the “innovation exploration” stage in which a paradigmatic shift in the exploration approach will take the industry towards new discoveries by leveraging research and technology development. Effective engagement within the “innovation exploration” paradigm requires that exploration organizations recognize knowledge brokers, and adopt research, development, and technology transfer as a long-term, systematic strategy, including critical definition of exploration targets, identification of innovation frontiers needed, enhanced leadership to accurately portray the research and development imperative and elevation of the status of the research and development effort within the organizational system.

Application of modern 2-D and 3-D seismic-reflection techniques for uranium exploration in the Athabasca BasinThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Lithoprobe — parameters, processes, and the evolution of a continent.

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 761-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Hajnal ◽  
D. J. White ◽  
E. Takacs ◽  
I. Gyorfi ◽  
I. R. Annesley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Mine Planning ◽  
Fracture Density ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Seismic Properties ◽  
Uranium Exploration ◽  
Exploration Drilling ◽  
Efficient Exploration

Seismic-reflection techniques have been applied in several studies over the last 20 years as a uranium-exploration tool within the Athabasca Basin and have been utilized to provide the larger structural context for known uranium deposits within the basin. At the crustal scale, deposits within the eastern Athabasca Basin are shown to be associated with deep-seated shear zones that originated during Trans-Hudson orogeny and have subsequently been reactivated during and subsequent to deposition of the basin-fill sandstones. Seismic properties of the Athabasca sandstones and underlying basement have been determined through in situ borehole measurements. Reflectivity within the sandstones is generally weak. Seismically recognizable signatures are primarily associated with variations in fracture density, porosity, and degree of silicification. The basement unconformity and regolith, a prime target of exploration, is widely imaged as it is characterized by variable but generally distinct reflectivity. Results from the McArthur River mine site suggest that the spatial coincidence of seismically imaged high-velocity zones and deep-seated faults that offset the unconformity may be a more broadly applicable exploration targeting tool. Three-dimensional (3-D) seismic imaging near existing ore zones can define the local structural controls on the mineralization and point the way to new targets, thus leading to more efficient exploration drilling programs. Furthermore, seismically generated structural maps of the unconformity and rock competence properties may play a significant role at the outset of mine planning.

Computer modeling of electromagnetic data for mineral exploration: Application to uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 139a1-139a10
Author(s):  
Xushan Lu ◽  
Colin Farquharson ◽  
Jean-Marc Miehé ◽  
Grant Harrison ◽  
Patrick Ledru
Keyword(s):  
Computer Modeling ◽  
Unstructured Grids ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
Error Modeling ◽  
Accurate Data ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Uranium Exploration

Electromagnetic (EM) methods are important geophysical tools for mineral exploration. Forward and inverse computer modeling are commonly used to interpret EM data. Real-life geology can be complex, and our computer modeling tools need to faithfully represent subsurface features to achieve accurate data interpretation. Traditional rectilinear meshes are less flexible and have difficulty conforming to the complex geometries of realistic geologic models, resulting in large numbers of mesh cells. In contrast, unstructured grids can represent complex geologic structures efficiently and accurately. However, building realistic geologic models and discretizing these models with unstructured grids suitable for EM modeling can be difficult and requires significant effort and specialized computer software tools. Therefore, it is important to develop workflows that can be used to facilitate model building and mesh generation. We have developed a procedure that can be used to build arbitrarily complex geologic models with topography using unstructured grids and a finite-volume time-domain code to calculate EM responses. We present an example of a trial-and-error modeling approach applied to a real data set collected at a uranium exploration project in the Athabasca Basin in Canada. The uranium mineralization is closely related to graphitic fault conductors in the basement. The deep burial depth and small thickness of the graphitic fault conductors demand accurate data interpretation results to guide subsequent drill testing. Our trial-and-error modeling approach builds initial realistic geologic models based on known geology and downhole data and creates initial geoelectrical models based on physical property measurements. Then, the initial model is iteratively refined based on the match between modeled and real data. We show that the modeling method can obtain 3D geoelectrical models that conform to known geology while achieving a good match between modeled and real data. The method can also provide guidance of where future drill holes should be directed.

Clustering and constrained inversion of seismic refraction and gravity data for overburden stripping: Application to uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin, Canada

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. B133-B146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Darijani ◽  
Colin G. Farquharson ◽  
Peter G. Lelièvre
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Data ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Drill Hole ◽  
Gravity Inversion ◽  
Glacial Sediments ◽  
Athabasca Basin ◽  
Overburden Thickness ◽  
Uranium Exploration ◽  
Fuzzy C Means Clustering

Gravity signatures from features associated with the footprints of uranium deposits within the sandstones and basement of the Athabasca Basin are masked in the measured gravity by the contribution from glacial sediments (overburden), in particular by the variable thickness of the overburden. The 2D inversions of seismic refraction and gravity data are assessed as a means of reliably mapping overburden thickness, enabling the contribution to gravity from the overburden to be taken into account and density anomalies associated with deeper mineralization and alteration to be reconstructed through further inversion. Results show that independent inversion of seismic refraction data using the fuzzy c-means clustering method is able to determine the base of overburden well. Subsequent gravity inversion constrained by the overburden thickness reveals possible subtle density variations at depth, which could be associated with alteration in the sandstones associated with the uranium mineralization. Application of the seismic clustering inversion followed by constrained gravity inversion to both representative synthetic scenarios and real data from the Athabasca Basin, Canada, are considered. Drill-hole data show that the inversion results can predict the base of the overburden well, and there is an acceptable match between geologic information and possible alteration zones suggested by the inversions.

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