minerals Article Fault Zone Evolution and Development of a Structural and Hydrological Barrier: The Quartz Breccia in the Kiggavik Area (Nunavut, Canada) and Its Control on Uranium Mineralization Alexis Grare 1,*, Olivier Lacombe 1, Julien Mercadier 2, Antonio Benedicto 3, Marie Guilcher 2, Anna Trave 4 ID , Patrick Ledru 5 and John Robbins 5 1 Sorbonne Université, CNRS-INSU, Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris, ISTeP UMR 7193, F-75005 Paris, France;
[email protected] 2 Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CREGU, GeoRessources lab, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France;
[email protected] (J.M.);
[email protected] (M.G.) 3 UMR Geops, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay, France;
[email protected] 4 Departament de Mineralogia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;
[email protected] 5 Orano Canada Inc., 817 45th Street, West Saskatoon, SK S7L 5X2, Canada;
[email protected] (P.L.);
[email protected] (J.R.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 25 May 2018; Accepted: 24 July 2018; Published: 27 July 2018 Abstract: In the Kiggavik area (Nunavut, Canada), major fault zones along, or close to, where uranium deposits are found are often associated with occurrence of thick quartz breccia (QB) bodies. These bodies formed in an early stage (~1750 Ma) of the long-lasting tectonic history of the Archean basement, and of the Proterozoic Thelon basin. The main characteristics of the QB are addressed in this study; through field work, macro and microscopic observations, cathodoluminescence microscopy, trace elements, and oxygen isotopic signatures of the quartz forming the QB.