Uranium Occurrences of the Thunder Bay-Nipigon- Marathon Area
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INIS-mf~11510 Mines and Mineral Division Ontario Geological Survey Open File Report 5634 Uranium Occurrences of the Thunder Bay-Nipigon- Marathon Area 1987 Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Ontario / :• ©Queen's Printer for Ontario 1987 Printed in Ontario, Canada ONTARIO GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open File Report 5634 Uranium Occurrences of the Thunder Bay-Niplgon-Marathon Area by J.F. Scott 1987 Parts of this publication may be quoted if credit is given. It is recommended that reference to this publication be made in the following form: Scott, J. F. 1987: Uranium Occurrences of the Thunder Bny-Nipigon-Marathon Area; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 5634, 158p., 11 figures, 12 tables, 13 photos. 11 maps in text, and 1 map in back pocket. Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Ontario Ontario Geological Survey OPEN FILE REPORT Open File Reports are made available to the public subject to the following conditions: This report is unedited. Discrepancies may occur for which the Ontario Geological Survey does not assume liability. Recommendations and statements of opinions expressed are those of the author or authors and are not to be construed as statements of govern- ment policy. This Open File Report is available for viewing at the following locations: (1) Mines Library Ministry of Northern Development and Mines 8th floor, 77 Grenville Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 1B3 (2) The office of the Regional or Resident Geologist in whose district the area covered by this report is located. Copies of this report may be obtained at the user's expense from a commercial printing house. For the address and instructions to order, contact the appropriate Regional or Resident Geologist's offices) or the Mines Library. Microfiche copies (42x reduction) of this report are available for $2.00 each plus provincial sales tax at the Mines Library or the Public Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources, W-1640, 99 Wellesley Street West, Toronto. Handwritten notes and sketches may be made from this report.' Check with the Mines Library or Regional/Resident Geologist'* office whether there is a copy of this report that may be borrowed. A copy of this report is available for Inter-Library Loan. This report is available for viewing at the following Regional or Resident Geologists' offices: Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Box bOOU 4 35 James Street South Thunder Bay The right to reproduce this report is reserved by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. Permission for other reproductions must be obtained in writing from the Director, Ontario Geological Survey. V.G. Milne, Director Ontario Geological Survey FOREWORD Uranium exploration in the Thunder Bay - Nipigon area reached its peak in the late 1970's and early 1980's, when numerous known occurrences were re-evaluated and Just as many new occurrences were found. The exploration models or concepts used at this time were based on the Athabasca or unconformity-related model, because the rock types and mineral deposits associated v.ith metasedimentary rocks of the Sibley Group in the Thunder Bay - Nipigon area paralleled the Athabasca area in time, rock types and mineral deposit types. This report summarizes and compares the geology of the northern Saskatchewan and Thunder Bay - Nipigon areas, and describes the uranium occurrences in the latter area, including those known prior to, and those found at, the turn of the decade. New areas of search in the Thunder Bay - Nipigon area are suggested, based on a modification of the Athabasca model. V.G. Milne Director, Ontario Geological Survey ABSTRACT During the 1981, 1982 and 1983 field seasons an inventory of all known uranium occurrences in the North Central Region was undertaken. Three major categories of uranium occurrences were identified: uranium associated with the rocks of the Quetico Subprovince; uranium associated with the Proterozoic/ Archean unconformity; and uranium associated with alkalic and carbonatite rocks of Late Precambrian age. Occurrences associated with the Quetico Belt are in white, albite-quartz-muscovite pegmatites. Occurrences associated with the Proterozoic/Archean unconformity are usually of high grade (up to 12% l^Og), nearly always hematized and are related to fault or shear zones proximal to the unconformity. Although of high grade,"many of-the unconformity related occurrences are very narrow (<1 m). Alkalic and carbonatite rocks of Late Precambrian age are an important source of uranium but possible metallurgical problems might downgrade their potential. The Quetico Subprovince is anomalously high in background uranium, and therefore contains important source rocks for uranium. Areas that have the highest potential for uranium deposits in the North Central Region should meet the following criteria: 1. Be located relatively close to source areas. 2. Have abundant structural and/or chemical traps to enable the uranium to be deposited. These traps could be a) fault zones; b) lithology pinchouts at basin margins; vll/vfii c) graphitic zones; d) concentrations of organically derived matter such as hydrocarbons, algal mats, etc. 3. Presence of a suitable plumbing system to convey the.' pregnant solutions to the deposition sites. 4. Deposition of cover rocks to protect the deposits from erosion and at the same time provide processes of uranium enrichment. 5. Rocks have to be of an age when uranium was actively being transported in solution. Two areas in the North Central Region that meet these requirements are the Nipigon Basin area, and the areas underlain by the Gunflint and Rove Formations. All the high grade vein-type uranium deposits related to the unconformity are found within the Nipigon Basin. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword V. Abstract V/'i List of Figures *"' List of Tables Xv/ List of Maps Xv/ii List of Photographs ^fy Acknowledgements Location Map Introduction Geology of the Nipigon Basin l Early Precambrian Middle Precambrian Late Precambrian Tectonic Framework Sibley Group Depositional History General Geology of the Athabasca Region 9 Comparison of the Nipigon and Athabasca Basins <> Regolith Development in the Nipigon Basin '7 The Proterozoic/Archean Unconformity Uranium Exploration History 37 Uranium Deposit Types 41 Genesis of Uranium Deposits - Nipigon Basin L(Q Exploration Guidelines • ^ Property Descriptions fe>3 Greenwich Lake Area - Christianson Occurrence 69 Innes Lake-Goodmorning Lakes Area 63 Enterprise Mine % Dorion Amethyst Mine |0^ Black Sturgeon Lake-Split Rapids Dam Occurrence (°7 Jessie Lake Area - Purdom Township "7 Prairie Lake Carbonatite Complex &~ McKellar Creek Diatreme I3( Deadhorse Creek Diatreme I3U- Port Coldwell Alkalic Complex "fl Miscellaneous Pegmatite Occurrences *•*• Lake Helen Occurrence 142. Howard Lake Occurrence (NTS 52B14/SW) I«f3 Beavercross Lake Occurrence (42E ) . H3 Tessier-Williamson Occurrence (52A15/NE) /V3 Tennant Lake Occurrence (42L11/NE) IM^ Conwest Occurrence tq^ Herrick Showing ^ Chimo Gold Mines Limited i^~ Sandy-Stone Lake Exploration and Development Company /«& References /J7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Proterozoic Stratigraphy of the Thunder Bay'Area 3 Figure 2 Composite Stratigraphic Column - Sibley Group Figure 3 Uranium Exploration History Figure 4 The Uranium Cycle and Asthenopheric, Hydrospheric, Atmospheric and Biospheric 52 Evolution Figure 5 Prospecting for paleosurface related uranium deposits Figure 6 Exploration methods used in the Nipigon Basin Figure 7 Conceptual relationships between uranium 82 deposit types in the Greenwich Lake area Figure 8 Alteration vs distance from the breccia zone 9o Goodmorning Lakes Fault Figure 9 Schematic section through the Goodmorning Lakes Fault Zone Figure 10 Geological crossection along CNR at the (Of Enterprise Mine, North View Figure 11 Autoradiograph of radioactive veins from Split Rapids Dam Occurrence LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Comparison of Uranium Deposit Characteristic 12- from Northern Saskatchewan and Nipigon Basin Table 2 Athabasca Basin vs Nipigon Basin 13 Table 3 Weathered Basement Rock, Asarco Drill Hole WR-1 22 Table 4 Weathered Basement Rock, Asarco Drill Hole WR-2 23 Table 5 Exploration History, Greenwich Lake Area 7^ Table 6 Uranium Analyses, Greenwich Lake Area 7£> Table 7 Analyses of Grab Samples from the Goodmorning Lakes Fault Breccia i5 Table 8 Analyses from Enterprise Mine 102. Table 9 Analyses from Split Rapids Dam Occurrence, lit Black Sturgeon Lake Table 10 Average spectrometer readings for Lithological __ Units, McKellar Diatreme l^ Table 11 Deadhorse Creek Diatreme Analysis |S4 Table 12 Selected Spectrometer Readings - High Grade 138 Showing at West Deadhorse Creek Subcomplex xv/XV i LIST OF MAPS Map 1 Regional Geology and Uranium Occurrence Location - Nipigon Basin Area bade poctaat Map 2 Helikian Paleogeography 19 Map 3 Iron Occurrences- Black Sturgeon Lake Area (Coleman, 1909) 27 Map 4 Relationships of faults and lineaments to mineralization in an area approximately 30 km (oO around Greenwich Lake Map 5 Geology of the Christianson Occurrence, Greenwich "JO Lake Map 6 Uranium Occurrences - Greenwich Lake Area 8O Map 7 Geology of the Goodmorning Lakes Fault Breccia 85 Map 8 Western Dorion Township £& Map 9 Geology of the borion Amethyst Mine (OS" Map 10 Geology of the Split Rapids Dam Occurrence, Black Sturgeon Lake Area l^i Map 11 Uranium Occurrences in the Jessie Lake Area, II8 Purdom Township Map 12 Geology of the Jessie Lake Occurrence, East (2.0 Bay, Jessie Lake XVII LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photograph 1 CNR Pass Lake Quarry Photograph 2 a. Sibley