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Mineralogy variations in the Mamadawerre Sandstone, Kombolgie Subgroup at Angularli Uranium Prospect: applications to exploration in other areas. Belinda Smith NTGS Mamadawerre Sandstone – visual logging WRD0085 WRDD0136 “strongly “strongly weathered, highly bleached… fractured…” “patchy fracture diagenetic hematite” coated with “fractured zone has clay- white clay” filled gouges… leached” Which hole overlies mineralisation?? Angularli prospect – geology and uranium Inferred Resource 0.91Mt @ 1.3% U3O8 (~26Mlbs U3O8) Vimy Resources ASX announcement 20 March 2018 Modified from Hollis and Glass, 2012. Howship and Oenpelli 1:100,000 Explanatory Notes p6 Oenpelli Dolerite to north Angularli Prospect WRD0117 Mamadawerre Sandstone at surface Angularli fault zone WRDD0134 long section Bathurst Island Formation (cover) Oenpelli Dolerite WRD0117 Angularli fault zone WRDD0134 (distal to mineralisation drillhole) unconformity surface (unscanned) ore zone Mineralisation in hangingwall of structural zone Angularli Prospect (King, 2012) Silica-sericite-clay-pyrite alteration (basement) Sandstone mineralogy not described WRD0117 Oenpelli Dolerite WRDD0134 WRD0105 unconformity surface (unscanned) ore zone above and below unconformity Angularli fault zone ‘silica flooded breccia’ (SFB) “Primary uranium mineralisation has developed in the hangingwall of the Angularli fault, within the SFB and the overlying sandstone.” Vimy Resources ASX Announcement 20 March 2018 Measuring mineralogy variations HYMAP Reflectance spectroscopy: measuring ASTER absorption of radiation from molecular vibration Satellite; multispectral (mineral groups) Airborne; hyperspectral HYLOGGER TERRASPEC / PIMA Proximal manual / point measurement Proximal automatic / continuous drillcore / rock samples; (no imagery, less minerals detected than Hyperspectral (mineral species including quartz, feldspars, HyLogger pyroxenes) with imagery (HyLogger) 15 drillholes scanned under agreement Mamadawerre Sandstone; Angularli – 8701450N Section WRD0093 WRD0105 unconformity surface Tourmaline Angularli fault zone Mamadawerre Sandstone pyrophyllite below u/c Pyrophyllite (Al2Si4O10(OH)2 Usually in Al-rich metamorphic rocks unscanned in mineralised or from hydrothermal alteration zones 300-380°C temperatures at 2kBar pressures (Frey, 1987) Can form from kaolinite Dickite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4 (kaolin polymorph) Could be diagenetic or from hydrothermal alteration 90-130°C at 3-4.5km from diagenesis (Worden & Morad, 2003) Tourmaline – minor; patchy matrix infill, or in breccias well-documented in alteration around Athabasca U Geology on section (modified) with permission from Cameco Exploration Pty Ltd Mamadawerre Sandstone; Angularli – tourmaline textures WRD0089 with tourmaline in brecciated fracture zones at 40 m. Image courtesy P.Sinclair, Cameco 2017 Tourmaline in matrix: WRD0085, 97.6 m Mamadawerre Sandstone; Angularli – long section no tourmaline trace patchy minor tourmaline tourmaline Mamadawerre Oenpelli Sandstone Dolerite patchy diaspore patchy diaspore Tourmaline near mineralisation Diaspore (α-AlO(OH) near faults high temp; 275°C (Ervin and Osborn, 1951) can form from kaolinite desilicification unscanned intervals (Chesworth, 1994) (mineralised) Interpreted solid geology from ancillary data supplied by Cameco, 2017 Orthogonal section Looking 255° SW Mamadawerre Sandstone; Angularli – diaspore textures WRDD0137 237 .1 m; diaspore > white mica close to the unconformity. Note the diaspore is in a darker zone with diffuse boundaries. Adjacent core has sulphides. white mica diaspore > white mica white mica pyrophyllite pyrophyllite > diaspore pyrophyllite WRD0105 Mamadawerre Sandstone – long section: kaolinite kaolinite Kaolinite thins to south Mixed with white mica, dickite, some pyrophyllite Mamadawerre Sandstone – long section: dickite dickite Dickite increases to south Higher proportion dickite in southern holes Overlaps with kaolinite in southern holes but not northern holes Found along fractures (not interstitially) in northern holes Mamadawerre Sandstone – long section: pyrophyllite pyrophyllite increases to south Higher proportion pyrophyllite in southern holes Overlaps with dickite in southern holes but not kaolinite Found along fractures (not interstitially) in northern holes Mamadawerre Sandstone – pyrophyllite mineralogy textures Pyrophyllite +/- dickite, +/- white mica pyrophyllite after kaolinite, WRD0063 wx kaolinite Pyrophyllite +/- / dickite wx kaolinite dickite, +/- white mica pyrophyllite > white mica kaolinite/ white mica kaolinite/ white mica pyrophyllite and quartz sandstone WRD0105, 179.8 m Mamadawerre Sandstone – long section: white mica White mica near top of holes Lower crystallinity white mica near Oenpelli Dolerite to north Thinner, higher crystallinity white mica to the south White mica around dolerite intrusive in WRDD0137 Mamadawerre Sandstone – long section: chlorite Oenpelli Dolerite chlorite around dolerite in WRDD0137 chlorite in holes adjacent to Oenpelli Dolerite Mamadawerre Sandstone – cross-cutting mineralogy textures wx kaolinite, minor possible dickite (along deformation bands?) white mica white mica wx kaolinite, minor possible white mica, pyrophyllite (?) White mica after kaolinite wx kaolinite dickite + goethite wx kaolinite + hematite WRD0085 129.5 m: dickite along open fracture (sub-parallel to core axis) in sharp contact with well-crystalline kaolinite quartzose sandstone. Mamadawerre Sandstone, Angularli prospect – long section: all no tourmaline patchy minor tourmaline trace tourmaline Pyrophyllite and dickite more common to the south Tourmaline proximal to uranium mineralisation Diaspore in or adjacent to fault zones Minerals both zoned and mixed; cross-cutting Mixed mineralogy with local scale variation downhole Angularli – distal hole WRDD0136 Drilled under NTGS Geophysics Bathurst Island Group and Drilling Collaborations; Round 9, 2016-2017 12km from Angularli Background mineralisation Dickite in faulted Mamadawerre Sst Cahill Formation (distal to mineralisation drillhole) faulted Mamadawerre Sst Cross-section geology simplified after Sinclair, 2017 Comparison of Mamadawerre Sandstone white mica variations; Angularli proximal vs WRDD0136; not mineralised WRD0097; mineralised Lithology SWIR Min1 White Mica wvl distal Logged as faulted sandstone Sandstone Variable white mica composition Sandstone diagenetic and crystallinity. Mixed mineralogy Uniform white mica Mamadawerre composition and Mamadawerre crystallinity Not Scanned Not Scanned UNCONFORMITY Cahill Fm metaseds FAULT CONTACT Cahill Fm Uniform Metaseds and Faulted white mica mafic Mamadawerre amphibolites Sandstone composition and crystallinity Sandstone Mamadawerre Applications to exploration – using reflectance spectroscopy ‘HYLOGGER’ ‘TERRASPEC / PIMA’ Proximal manual / point measurement Proximal automatic / continuous drillcore / rock samples; (no imagery, less minerals detected than Hyperspectral (mineral species including quartz, feldspars, HyLogger pyroxenes) with imagery (HyLogger) HyLogger – 26,750 spectra (~125 spectra per metre) Not scanned; mineralised PIMA / ASD – 295 spectra (~ 1 spectrum per metre) HyLogger vs ASD: WRD0084 white mica variations Moderate crystallinity white mica Variable white mica composition Sandstone (wavelength) Mamadawerre not scanned; (mineralised) Fm Lower crystallinity white mica More phengitic than sandstone Cahill Cahill white mica HyLogger ASD Summary • Primary uranium mineralisation in the Mamadawerre Sandstone at Angularli prospect • Mineral zonation both with depth and along strike at Angularli • Pyrophyllite, diaspore and tourmaline at Angularli prospect • Non-mineralised WRDD0136 (distal to Angularli prospect): • uniform white mica composition and crystallinity • no tourmaline, no diaspore, trace to no pyrophyllite • Handheld reflectance spectroscopy tools (‘Terraspec, PIMA’) can emulate HyLogger SWIR data, especially when combined with photos (textural context) and other ancillary data (assays, petrography) Acknowledgements • HyLogging the Angularli drillcore and data interpretation is possible under an agreement between the Northern Territory Government and the Joint Venture partners Cameco Australia Pty Ltd and Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd. • Cameco Australia Pty Ltd supplied drillcore from Angularli prospect for scanning. Cameco also supplied Ancillary data to assist with this HyLogger interpretation of results. • HyLogging and TSG are trademarked by CSIRO. • Kathy Johnson did invaluable drafting of figures. • Darren Bowbridge scanned the core. • James Farrell from Mira Geoscience helped the import and visualisation of data in Gocad. References Chesworth W, 1994. Mineral metastability in the system Al2O3-SiO2-H2O: A reply. Clays and Clay Minerals 42, 102–105. Frey M, 1987. Low temperature metamorphism. Blackie & Son Limited, Glasgow. King M, 2012. Exploration for unconformity-style uranium deposits: Geology and mineralisation of the Angularli Prospect, Wellington Range Project, west Arnhem Land: in ‘Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) 2012. Record of abstracts”. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Record 2012-002. Vimy Resources Limited, 2018. Maiden mineral resource at Angularli deposit, Alligator River Project. Australian Stock Exchange media release, 20 March. Sinclair P, 2017. Final report for Wellington Range 2016-2017 CORE Collaborations Funding. Northern Territory Geological Survey Open File Company Report CR2017-0001. Worden RH and Morad S, 2003. Clay minerals in sandstone: controls on formation, distribution and evolution. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication 34, 3–41. .
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  • Did Biology Emerge from Biotite in Micaceous Clay? H

    Did Biology Emerge from Biotite in Micaceous Clay? H

    Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 17 September 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0409.v1 Article Did Biology Emerge from Biotite in Micaceous Clay? H. Greenwood Hansma1* Physics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; [email protected] 1 Physics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: date; Accepted: date; Published: date Abstract: An origin of life between the sheets of micaceous clay is proposed to involve the following steps: 1) evolution of metabolic cycles and nucleic acid replication, in separate niches in biotite mica; 2) evolution of protein synthesis on ribosomes formed by liquid-in-liquid phase separation; 3) repeated encapsulation by membranes of molecules required for the metabolic cycles, replication, and protein synthesis; 4) interactions and fusion of the these membranes containing enclosed molecules; resulting eventually in 5) an occasional living cell, containing everything necessary for life. The spaces between mica sheets have many strengths as a site for life’s origins: mechanochemistry and wet-dry cycles as energy sources, an 0.5-nm anionic crystal lattice with potassium counterions (K+), hydrogen-bonding, enclosure, and more. Mica pieces in micaceous clay are large enough to support mechanochemistry from moving mica sheets. Biotite mica is an iron- rich mica capable of redox reactions, where the stages of life’s origins could have occurred, in micaceous clay. Keywords: clay; mica; biotite; muscovite; origin of life; origins of life; mechanical energy; work; wet- dry cycles 1. Introduction Somewhere there was a habitat, hospitable for everything needed for the origins of life.