电子探针技术研究粤北龙华山岩体中独居石蚀变晕圈的结构与成分特征

独居石是华南产铀花岗岩中常见的含铀副矿物.龙华山岩体是粤北诸广山复式岩体中一个重要的产铀花岗岩,该岩体的独居石具有蚀变晕圈现象.但是,该岩体中独居石蚀变晕圈的结构和成分特征以及对铀成矿的指示意义尚未开展研究.本文利用电子探针(EPMA)对龙华山岩体的独居石蚀变晕圈开展结构和成分研究.测试结果表明:独居石蚀变晕圈是从内到...     

活化断层对加拿大阿萨巴斯卡盆地不整合型铀矿的控制

先存断层的活化对许多热液矿床的形成起到至关重要的作用。加拿大阿萨巴斯卡盆地的不整合型铀矿是一个受活化断层控制矿床的典型例子。该铀矿产于基底与盆地砂岩之间的不整合面附近,并与根植于基底的断层密切相关。这些控矿基底断层切穿并错动了盆地的不整合面。一系列证据表明这些基底断层以韧性的方式形成于盆地之前,但在盆地形成之后又发生脆性活化,而正是这种断层活化作用控制铀矿的产出。先存断层作为完整岩石中的薄弱位置,在后期构造运动中,其活化比产生新断层更容易发生。数值模拟表明在后期挤压构造运动中,有先存基底断层的不整合面被显著错动,而无先存断层的不整合面并没有错动。基底断层的脆性活化,不仅在活化过程中为流体提供了驱动力,而且由于活化导致岩石渗透率的提高,为后期的流体流动提供了通道以及容矿场所,形成阿萨巴斯卡盆地的不整合型铀矿。     

Geochemical zoning around the McClean uranium deposits, Saskatchewan, Canada

Some 3400 drill core samples of the Athabasca Group and underlying regolith have been obtained by sampling 8-m sections from 55 diamond drill holes in the McClean Lake Area, Saskatchewan. Forty eight holes are from sections over six areas known to contain uranium mineralization and 7 are from unmineralized areas. The uranium zones are covered by 30 to 180 m of Athabasca sandstones and conglomerates.The uranium mineralization of the McClean deposits can be described as belonging to two different facies; a more reduced sulphide-arsenide facies and a more oxidized hematite-“bleached” facies, superimposed on any one of three host rocks.The sulphide-arsenide facies is probably older and, except in one deposit, it forms a patchy distribution of relicts. The principal pattern is an upwards increase in sulphur/arsenic ratio. The hematite-“bleached” facies appears to be younger and may represent a reworking of the earlier sulphide-arsenide facies mineralization under more oxidizing conditions.The trace metals can be grouped according to their redox behaviour. Vanadium, Mo and U, occurring as oxides, form one group while Ni, Co, Zn, Cu and As, occurring as sulphides and/or arsenides, form intermediate and most reduced groups, respectively. Iron is concentrated in the most oxidized facies as hematite or goethite and in the most reduced facies as pyritebravoite, siderite and chlorite. Manganese follows the distribution of siderite.The ratio of oxidized to reduced minerals can be represented by the ratio of U/Ni. This ratio can be used to estimate the variation of redox potential in the deposit at the time of deposition or alteration. The principal pattern is one of systematic increase in U/Ni ratio or oxidation potential both upward and to the northeast in each of the hematite and bleached facies.A generalized Eh-pH diagram is used to qualitatively describe the significance of each mineral facies.The U/Ni ratio of the transition between the hematite and “bleached” facies increases upwards. The phase diagram suggests that a possible cause is an upward decrease in pH and increase in Eh.The overall distribution is compatible with the origin of the deposits due to reduction at the interface between a plume of reductant emanating from fractures in the sub-Athabasca basement and an oxidizing aquifer moving southwestward in the sandstone. This model does not accurately predict the distribution of elements among the seven McClean Lake pods. However, it explains the overall pattern. Local variations in metal ratios in solution either in time or reflecting local provenance could be adduced to explain local deviations from the overall pattern.Clay alteration, apparently largely contemporaneous with the earliest mineralization, is largely illitic but with sporadic occurrences of xenotime and goyazite. Thus K and to some extent P, Y and light REE's are also enriched to some degree in the deposits.Uranium analysis of the drill core shows that there is little movement of U into the overlying sandstones from basement rocks and regolith that contain no uranium deposits. Uranium in the Athabasca sandstone from these areas averages less than 1 ppm. However, where uranium zones have been found in the basement rocks, regolith and lower Athabasca sandstone, U values greater than 2–3 ppm consistently occur in the overlying sandstones at or near surface.There appear to be two types of U anomalies, those that flank the deposits and those that directly overlie them. Both types exhibit vertical and lateral continuity. They are associated with vertical to steeply dipping fracture systems that traverse the Athabasca sandstone from basement to surface. The fractures are thought to be related to diagenetic processes from compaction of the sedimentary rocks over basement irregularities as well as tectonic processes (i.e. re-adjustment along old basement structures).These results suggest that target areas containing deeply buried uranium deposits could be defined by U analyses of the Athabasca sandstone from quite widely spaced holes of limited depth. This conclusion can be compared to XRD and chemical studies of clay mineral distribution within the Athabasca sandstone about the deposits.     

粤北棉花坑铀矿床蚀变花岗岩副矿物特征研究

采用电子探针等测试方法,对采自棉花坑铀矿床特富矿体蚀变花岗岩中的副矿物,特别是富铀副矿物进行研究。蚀变花岗岩中的副矿物有锆石、直氟碳钙铈矿、铀石-钍石、磷灰石、磷钇矿、褐帘石等,其中主要富铀副矿物有铀石-钍石、磷钇矿、独居石。研究表明,热液作用能使副矿物的晶体结构和成分发生改变,甚至形成新的矿物,同时使富铀副矿物释放大量的铀进入成矿流体,如磷钇矿蚀变为磷灰石、铀钍石蚀变为铅钍石、独居石可蚀变为直氟碳钙铈矿等;磷灰石、锆石、褐帘石等副矿物铀含量较低,而且在蚀变过程中,它们保持相对稳定,且晶形完好,释放的铀量少;部分蚀变锆石出现相反情况,其铀含量不降反升。研究还表明,富铀副矿物受热液作用越强,即距热液活动中心越近,铀含量的降低越明显,释放的铀就越多,从而为铀矿床的形成提供了丰富的铀源。     

含铀副矿物的热液蚀变：来自华南鹿井矿田碎裂蚀变岩型铀矿床的矿物学研究

花岗岩型铀矿中铀的来源问题,长期以来是铀矿床学研究的热点问题之一。大多数学者认为其成矿物质主要来源于花岗岩本身的含铀副矿物,然而对于含铀副矿物热液蚀变行为研究较少。鹿井铀矿田位于诸广山复式岩体的中部,是华南最主要花岗岩型铀矿田之一,碎裂蚀变岩型铀矿化在该矿田内占主导地位。小山铀矿床位于鹿井矿田中部,是近些年新发现的碎裂蚀变岩型矿床。本文以钻孔ZK1-1为研究对象,对热液蚀变带开展了精细矿物学研究。研究表明：蚀变带中发育有晶质铀矿、铀石—钍石、独居石、磷钇矿、锆石、磷灰石、金红石等含铀副矿物。晶质铀矿、铀石—钍石中铀含量高,热液蚀变条件不稳定,铀容易释放;独居石蚀变为直氟碳钙铈矿和磷钇矿蚀变为次生磷灰石过程中容易释放出铀;锆石因结构稳定,铀难以释放;磷灰石、金红石中铀含量较低,供铀能力差。综合分析认为花岗岩中晶质铀矿、铀石—钍石是主要铀源矿物,独居石、磷钇矿为次要铀源矿物。     

The role of the thermal convection of fluids in the formation of unconformity-type uranium deposits: the Athabasca Basin,Canada

In the global production of uranium, ~18% belong to the unconformity-type Canadian deposits localized in the Athabasca Basin. These deposits, which are unique in terms of their ore quality, were primarily studied by Canadian and French scientists. They have elaborated the diagenetic–hydrothermal hypothesis of ore formation, which suggests that (1) the deposits were formed within a sedimentary basin near an unconformity surface dividing the folded Archean–Proterozoic metamorphic basement and a gently dipping sedimentary cover, which is not affected by metamorphism; (2) the spatial accommodation of the deposits is controlled by the rejuvenated faults in the basement at their exit into the overlying sedimentary sequence; the ore bodies are localized above and below the unconformity surface; (3) the occurrence of graphite-bearing rocks is an important factor in controlling the local structural mineralization; (4) the ore bodies are the products of uranium precipitation on a reducing barrier. The mechanism that drives the circulation of ore-forming hydrothermal solutions has remained one of the main unclear questions in the general genetic concept. The ore was deposited above the surface of the unconformity due to the upflow discharge of the solution from the fault zones into the overlying conglomerate and sandstone. The ore formation below this surface is a result of the downflow migration of the solutions along the fault zones from sandstone into the basement rocks. A thermal convective system with the conjugated convection cells in the basement and sedimentary fill of the basin may be a possible explanation of why the hydrotherms circulate in the opposite directions. The results of our computations in the model setting of the free thermal convection of fluids are consistent with the conceptual reasoning about the conditions of the formation of unique uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin. The calculated rates of the focused solution circulation through the fault zones in the upflow and downflow branches of a convection cell allow us to evaluate the time of ore formation up to the first hundreds of thousands years.     

U redox fronts and kaolinisation in basement-hosted unconformity-related U ores of the Athabasca Basin (Canada): late U remobilisation by meteoric fluids

Proterozoic basement-hosted unconformity-related uranium deposits of the Athabasca Basin (Saskatchewan, Canada) were affected by significant uranium redistribution along oxidation–reduction redox fronts related to cold and late meteoric fluid infiltration. These redox fronts exhibit the same mineralogical and geochemical features as the well-studied uranium roll-front deposits in siliclastic rocks. The primary hydrothermal uranium mineralisation (1.6–1.3 Ga) of basement-hosted deposits is strongly reworked to new disseminated ores comprising three distinctly coloured zones: a white-green zone corresponding to the previous clay-rich alteration halo contemporaneous with hydrothermal ores, a uranium front corresponding to the uranium deposition zone of the redox front (brownish zone, rich in goethite) and a hematite-rich red zone marking the front progression. The three zones directly reflect the mineralogical zonation related to uranium oxides (pitchblende), sulphides, iron minerals (hematite and goethite) and alumino-phosphate-sulphate (APS) minerals. The zoning can be explained by processes of dissolution–precipitation along a redox interface and was produced by the infiltration of cold (<50°C) meteoric fluids to the hydrothermally altered areas. U, Fe, Ca, Pb, S, REE, V, Y, W, Mo and Se were the main mobile elements in this process, and their distribution within the three zones was, for most of them, directly dependent on their redox potential. The elements concentrated in the redox fronts were sourced by the alteration of previously crystallised hydrothermal minerals, such as uranium oxides and light rare earth element (LREE)-rich APS. The uranium oxides from the redox front are characterised by LREE-enriched patterns, which differ from those of unconformity-related ores and clearly demonstrate their distinct conditions of formation. Uranium redox front formation is thought to be linked to fluid circulation episodes initiated during the 400–300 Ma period during uplift and erosion of the Athabasca Basin when it was near the Equator and to have been still active during the last million years. A major kaolinisation event was caused by changes in the fluid circulation regime, reworking the primary uranium redox fronts and causing the redistribution of elements originally concentrated in the uranium-enriched meteoric-related redox fronts.     

辽东地区太古宙绿岩带铁-铀型铀矿及其找矿前景

简叙辽东地区太古宙绿岩带地质背景,并结合太古宙绿岩带铁-铀型铀矿成矿地质特征的阐述,提出太古宙绿岩带铀成矿作用具有明显的前寒武纪主期性。讨论太古宙富铀钾质花岗岩相关的太古宙残留体内构造-蚀变岩控制铀矿的观点：提出古韧性剪切-破碎断裂带、太古宙基底岩体顶上凸起带之凹洼中的＂突触＂与碱交代岩等三位一体的构造空间和构造-蚀变岩定位层间-不整合破裂带关联-碱交代热液型铀矿的成矿模式,并且太古宙绿岩带铁-铀型铀矿围岩蚀变清楚,铀成矿谱系反映为初贫后富-叠加再造成矿的矿物组合;以复杂-叠加、脉络清楚的太古宙绿岩带构造环境相关的铀矿聚集区为例,探讨太古宙绿岩带铀成矿作用的多期性。并认为太古宙绿岩带铁-铀型铀矿矿体埋藏深、隐伏性强、盲矿体多,潜在的找矿前景相当可观。     

相山铀矿田成矿流体特征:来自微量、稀土元素地球化学证据

相山铀矿田的成矿流体性质和来源存在争议,为进一步探讨相山铀矿田成矿流体的性质和来源,本文对相山铀矿田西部的居隆庵铀矿床和北部的沙洲铀矿床中的新鲜围岩、蚀变围岩及矿石的微量、稀土元素含量及其变化进行了研究。结果显示:在含较多热液成因萤石的居隆庵铀矿床中,从新鲜围岩到蚀变围岩到矿石,Zr、Hf含量先降低再升高;而在含少量热液萤石的沙洲铀矿床中,新鲜围岩、蚀变围岩和矿石的Zr、Hf含量基本一致。鉴于富F流体易汲取岩石中的Zr、Hf,因此,这两个矿床中不同类型样品Zr、Hf含量的不同变化趋势,可能与居隆庵铀矿床的成矿流体富F、而沙洲铀矿床的成矿流体相对贫F有关。这两个铀矿床中矿石的稀土配分曲线与其各自的新鲜及蚀变围岩的稀土配分曲线形态相似但又存在差异,说明每个矿床的新鲜围岩、蚀变围岩和矿石之间的稀土元素既具有继承性、又受到不同性质的流体的影响。居隆庵铀矿床中矿石显示Eu负异常,可能主要是继承了围岩的Eu负异常;沙洲铀矿床中矿石Eu显示弱负异常至弱正异常的特征,可能与围岩中斜长石因热液蚀变作用而释放出的Eu的进入流体有关。基于新鲜围岩、蚀变围岩及矿石的U和REE研究,推断居隆庵铀矿床成矿流体中U和REE均以F的络合物形式迁移;但沙洲铀矿床中铀矿石品位较低,可能是与流体中相对贫F有关。     

Resolving Cambrian, Carboniferous, Permian and Alpine monazite generations in the polymetamorphic basement of eastern Crete (Greece) by means of the electron microprobe

The electron-microprobe-based investigation of accessory monazites in polished thin sections is a helpful tool in resolving the geochronology of a polymetamorphic basement. The method was applied to variably altered gneisses and micaschists from the retrogressed, originally amphibolite-facies basement in eastern Crete (Greece). The presented data indicate that most monazite formed or recrystallized in response to high fluid activity during Alpine low-temperature metamorphism. This low-temperature monazite is characterized by distinctly low yttrium, uranium and thorium contents. However, older grains were able to survive in less retrogressed samples and have been traced with the electron microprobe, using microstructural and compositional criteria. In-situ chemical Th–U–Pb dating of these pre-Alpine monazites provides evidence for an igneous event in the Cambrian, and two different metamorphic events in the Carboniferous and Permian.     

An evaporated seawater origin for the ore-forming brines in unconformity-related uranium deposits (Athabasca Basin, Canada): Cl/Br and δCl analysis of fluid inclusions

Analyses of halogen concentration and stable chlorine isotope composition of fluid inclusions from hydrothermal quartz and carbonate veins spatially and temporally associated with giant unconformity-related uranium deposits from the Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Basin (Canada) were performed in order to determine the origin of chloride in the ore-forming brines. Microthermometric analyses show that samples contain variable amounts of a NaCl-rich brine (Cl concentration between 120,000 and 180,000 ppm) and a CaCl₂-rich brine (Cl concentration between 160,000 and 220,000 ppm). Molar Cl/Br ratios of fluid inclusion leachates range from ∼100 to ∼900, with most values between 150 and 350. Cl/Br ratios below 650 (seawater value) indicate that the high salinities were acquired by evaporation of seawater. Most δ³⁷Cl values are between −0.6‰ and 0‰ (seawater value) which is also compatible with a common evaporated seawater origin for both NaCl- and CaCl₂-rich brines.Slight discrepancies between the Cl concentration, Cl/Br, δ³⁷Cl data and seawater evaporation trends, indicate that the evaporated seawater underwent secondary minor modification of its composition by: (i) mixing with a minor amount of halite-dissolution brine or re-equilibration with halite during burial; (ii) dilution in a maximum of 30% of connate and/or formation waters during its migration towards the base of the Athabasca sandstones; (iii) leaching of chloride from biotites within basement rocks and (iv) water loss by hydration reactions in alteration haloes linked to uranium deposition.The chloride in uranium ore-forming brines of the Athabasca Basin has an unambiguous dominantly marine origin and has required large-scale seawater evaporation and evaporite deposition. Although the direct evidence for evaporative environments in the Athabasca Basin are lacking due to the erosion of ∼80% of the sedimentary pile, Cl/Br ratios and δ³⁷Cl values of brines have behaved conservatively at the basin scale and throughout basin history.     

Percolation of diagenetic fluids in the Archaean basement of the Franceville basin

The Palaeoproterozoic Franceville basin, Gabon, is mainly known for its high-grade uranium deposits, which are the only ones known to act as natural nuclear fission reactors. Previous work in the Kiéné region investigated the nature of the fluids responsible for these natural nuclear reactors. The present work focuses on the top of the Archaean granitic basement, specifically, to identify and date the successive alteration events that affected this basement just below the unconformity separating it from the Palaeoproterozoic basin. Core from four drill holes crosscutting the basin–basement unconformity have been studied. Dating is based on U–Pb isotopic analyses performed on monazite. The origin of fluids is discussed from the study of fluid inclusion planes (FIP) in quartz from basement granitoids. From the deepest part of the drill holes to the unconformable boundary with the basin, propylitic alteration assemblages are progressively replaced by illite and locally by a phengite + Fe chlorite ± Fe oxide assemblage. Illitic alteration is particularly strong along the sediment–granitoid contact and is associated with quartz dissolution. It was followed by calcite and anhydrite precipitation as fracture fillings. U–Pb isotopic dating outlines three successive events: a 3.0–2.9-Ga primary magmatic event, a 2.6-Ga propylitic alteration and a late 1.9-Ga diagenetic event. Fluid inclusion microthermometry suggests the circulation of three types of fluids: (1) a Na–Ca-rich diagenetic brine, (2) a moderately saline (diagenetic + meteoric) fluid, and (3) a low-salinity fluid of probable meteoric origin. These fluids are similar to those previously identified within the overlying sedimentary rocks of the Franceville basin. Overall, the data collected in this study show that the Proterozoic–Archaean unconformity has operated as a major flow corridor for fluids circulation, around 1.9 Ga.     

Potassic alteration in French hydrothermal uranium deposits

A comprehensive study of alteration minerals, especially clays, developed around or within French hydrothermal uranium ore bodies (Vendée and Margeride), generally associated with leucogranitic rocks, using optical examinations, classical methods of clay mineralogy and electron microprobe determinations, demonstrates the general feature of potassic minerals as products of reaction between ore forming fluids and host rocks. Six stages of alteration follow the typical metallogenic sequence established for numerous deposits: early stages and uranium stages 1) 2) 3) with phengites, illite, mixed layered illite and K-montmorillonites; 4), early reworking of pitchblende 1 to pitchblende 2 with complex zoning around ores: illite, illite-K-montmorillonites; 5) then to coffinite-smectites; 6) sooty pitchblende, during supergene weathering, with smectites and kaolinite. Potassic metasomatism by fluids in desequillibrium with the minerals of the granitic host rocks, essentially albite, explains the complex alterations in K-smectites, mixed layered minerals and adularia. Variety of alteration products in each alteration zone indicate incomplete reactions of the solids and chemical potential gradients on a small scale.     

The application of lithogeochemistry in the search for unconformity-type uranium deposits, Northern Saskatchewan, Canada

Lithogeochemical-mineralogical haloes around unconformity-type uranium deposits in northern Saskatchewan can expand the size of drill targets up to fifteen times. The deposits are located at or near the unconformity between Aphebian metamorphosed basement rocks in close proximity to Archean granitoids and overlying unmetamorphosed sandstones of the Helikian Athabasca Group. Deposits studied include Key Lake (Deilmann), Midwest Lake and Eagle Point.Unconformity-type deposits are associated with broad alteration haloes in the overlying sandstones and more restricted haloes in the basement rocks. The haloes in the sandstone are localized around steeply dipping fault structures and are characterized by zones of intense leaching of specular hematite and detrital heavy mineral layers and by changes in chemistry related to clay mineral alteration and tourmalinization.Clay mineral alteration haloes are common in the sandstone and basement host rocks. Interstitial clays consist mainly of kaolinite and illite with lesser amounts of chlorite. The ratio K₂O/AI₂O₃ proved useful in delineating illite-kaolinite patterns in the sandstone and in the uppermost portions of the paleoweathering profile in basement rocks. The Midwest deposit is characterized by a broad bell-shaped zone (500 m across strike) of high K₂O/AI₂O₃ ratios (>0.18) in which illite is the dominant clay mineral. The sandstone above the Deilmann deposit, on the other hand, is characterized by silicification and kaolinitization with low K₂O/AI₂O₃ ratios (<0.04). This kaolinite cap overprints a preexisting illite zone.Anomalously high boron values are characteristic of the three deposits considered in this study. Boron anomalies are similar in extent to the anomalous clay mineral alteration haloes. Altered sandstones commonly contain aggregates of radiating magnesium-rich dravite needles within the clay matrix. The interpretation of boron patterns is problema tical however, mainly because of the detrital tourmaline component in sandstones and metamorphic tourmalines present in the Aphebian metasediments.Trace elements such as U, Ni, As and Co are generally of limited use in expanding targets in sandstone because their haloes are restricted to a few tens of metres horizon-anomalies along the steeply dipping zones of mineralization related to fault structures. Uranium (>3 ppm) does form an anomaly more than 200 metres laterally across the Midwest deposit. At the Deilmano deposit anomalous uranium dispersion is restricted to within a few metres of high grade ore.In the basement rocks, the various layers of the paleoweathering profile are geochemically overprinted up to 250 m from mineralization. Bleaching related to illitization and chloritization is associated with enrichment in K₂O, MgO, B, S, U, As, Ni and P₂O₃. The ratio Fe₂O₃/MgO is useful in delineating chloritization in the upper portion of the paleo weathering profile.Deposits with large root extensions in the Aphebian metasediments such as Eagle Point, have intense dravite-chlorite-illite alteration zones which are restricted to within a few metres of mineralization across strike. ‘Quartzite” units are alteration related. The complexity of the basement lithology inhibits the use of individual elements as alteration guides other than in the intensely altered zone. The application of multivariant techniques, element ratios and clay mineralogical work prove useful in identifying the mineralogical changes at Eagle Point.     

Migration of brines in the basement rocks of the Athabasca Basin through microfracture networks (P-Patch U deposit,Canada)

The unconformity-type uranium deposits of the Athabasca Basin (Saskatchewan, Canada) are hosted near the unconformity between a middle Proterozoic intracratonic sedimentary basin and an Archean to Paleo-Proterozoic metamorphic and plutonic basement. These deposits, which are considered to be the richest U deposits in the world, are the result of massive basinal fluid migrations in the basement rocks.This study shows that basinal brines have strongly penetrated into the basement not only through faults and major pathways but also by way of dense networks of microfractures which favoured the percolation of fluids down to considerable depths (hundred metres below the unconformity) and their chemical modification (salinity increase) by interaction with basement lithologies. These processes are one of the major causes of uranium mobility within the basement rocks and the formation of unconformity-type mineralization.Microfracture networks, which opened during the basinal brine stage (ca. 1600–1400 Ma) are interpreted as sets of mode I cracks corresponding to a specific stage of deformation and occur as fluid inclusion planes after healing. The stress field at that stage (σ₁ = N130–150 °E, subvertical) partly reopened the earlier microcrack networks (σ₁ = N80–110 °E and N130–150 °E, subvertical) issued from the Trans-Hudson Orogeny late retrograde metamorphic stage (ca. 1795–1720 Ma). The circulation of the two types of fluids (carbonic and brines) occurs thus at two distinct events (Trans-Hudson Orogeny late retrograde metamorphism for carbonic fluids and maximal burial diagenesis for brines) but the same main microfissure geometry was used by the fluids. This demonstrates the existence of a similar stress field direction acting before and after the basin formation. Moreover, the brine circulations in the basement acted in a wider volume than the clay-rich alteration halo surrounding the U-ores, generally considered as the main envelope of fluid percolation outside the fault systems. The data on the chemistry of the fluids and on the geometry of their migration at various scales emphasise the fundamental role of the basement in the chemical evolution of highly saline brines linked to unconformity-related uranium mineralization in the Athabasca Basin.     

Geochronology of unconformity-related uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin,Saskatchewan, Canada and their integration in the evolution of the basin

The importance of geochronology in the study of mineral deposits in general, and of unconformity-type uranium deposits in particular, resides in the possibility to situate the critical ore-related processes in the context of the evolution of the physical and chemical conditions in the studied area. The present paper gives the results of laser step heating ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of metamorphic host-rock minerals, pre-ore and syn-ore alteration clay minerals, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) U/Pb dating of uraninite from a number of basement- and sediment-hosted unconformity-related deposits in the Athabasca Basin, Canada. Post-peak metamorphic cooling during the Trans-Hudson Orogen of rocks from the basement occurred at ca 1,750 Ma and gives a maximum age for the formation of the overlying Athabasca Basin. Pre-ore alteration occurred simultaneously in both basement- and sandstone-hosted mineralizations at ca 1,675 Ma, as indicated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of pre-ore alteration illite and chlorite. The uranium mineralization age is ca 1,590 Ma, given by LA-ICP-MS U/Pb dating of uraninite and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of syn-ore illite, and is the same throughout the basin and in both basement- and sandstone-hosted deposits. The mineralization event, older than previously proposed, as well as several fluid circulation events that subsequently affected all minerals studied probably correspond to far-field, continent-wide tectonic events such as the metamorphic events in Wyoming and the Mazatzal Orogeny (ca 1.6 to 1.5 Ga), the Berthoud Orogeny (ca 1.4 Ga), the emplacement of the McKenzie mafic dyke swarms (ca 1.27 Ga), the Grenville Orogeny (ca 1.15 to 1 Ga), and the assemblage and break-up of Rodinia (ca 1 to 0.85 Ga). The results of the present work underline the importance of basin evolution between ca 1.75 Ga (basin formation) and ca 1.59 Ga (ore deposition) for understanding the conditions necessary for the formation of unconformity-type uranium deposits. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Overprinting porphyry‐type veinlets on the intrusive rocks and phreatomagmatic breccias in the Southwest prospect,southwestern Sto. Tomas II (Philex), Baguio District,Philippines

The Southwest prospect is located at the southwestern periphery of the Sto. Tomas II porphyry copper–gold deposit in the Baguio District, northwestern Luzon, Philippines. The Southwest prospect hosts a copper‐gold mineralization related to a complex of porphyry intrusions, breccia facies, and overlapping porphyry‐type veinlets emplaced within the basement Pugo metavolcanics rocks and conglomerates of the Zigzag Formation. The occurrences of porphyry‐type veinlets and potassic alteration hosted in the complex are thought to be indications of the presence of blind porphyry deposits within the Sto. Tomas II vicinity. The complex is composed of at least four broadly mineralogically similar dioritic intrusive rocks that vary in texture and alteration type and intensity. These intrusions were accompanied with at least five breccia facies that were formed by the explosive brecciation, induced by the magmatic–hydrothermal processes and phreatomagmatic activities during the emplacement of the various intrusions. Hydrothermal alteration assemblages consisting of potassic, chlorite–magnetite, propylitic and sericite–chlorite alteration, and contemporaneous veinlet types were developed on the host rocks. Elevated copper and gold grades correspond to (a) chalcopyrite–bornite assemblage in the potassic alteration in the syn‐mineralization early‐mineralization diorite (EMD) and contemporaneous veinlets and (b) chalcopyrite‐rich mineralization associated with the chalcopyrite–magnetite–chlorite–actinolite±sericite veinlets contemporaneous with the chlorite–magnetite alteration. Erratic remarkable concentrations of gold were also present in the late‐mineralization Late Diorite (LD). High X_Mg of calcic amphiboles (>0.60) in the intrusive rocks indicate that the magmas have been oxidizing since the early stages of crystallization, while a gap in the composition of Al between the rim and the cores of the calcic amphiboles in the EMD and LD indicate decompression at some point during the crystallization of these intrusive rocks. Fluid inclusion microthermometry suggests the trapping of immiscible fluids that formed the potassic alteration, associated ore mineralization, and sheeted quartz veinlets. The corresponding formation conditions of the shallower and deeper quartz veinlets were estimated at pressures of 50 and 30 MPa and temperatures of 554 and 436°C at depths of 1.9 and 1.1 km. Temperature data from the chlorite indicate that the chalcopyrite‐rich mineralization associated with the chlorite–magnetite alteration was formed at a much lower temperature (ca. 290°C) than the potassic alteration. Evidence from the vein offsetting matrix suggests multiple intrusions within the EMD, despite the K‐Ar ages of the potassic alteration in EMD and hornblende in the LD of about the same age at 3.5 ± 0.3 Ma. The K‐Ar age of the potassic alteration was likely to be thermally reset as a result of the overprinting hydrothermal alteration. The constrained K‐Ar ages also indicate earlier formed intrusive rocks in the Southwest prospect, possibly coeval to the earliest “dark diorite” intrusion in the Sto. Tomas II deposit. In addition, the range of δ³⁴S of sulfide minerals from +1.8‰ to +5.1‰ in the Southwest prospect closely overlaps with the rest of the porphyry copper and epithermal deposits in the Sto. Tomas II deposit and its vicinity. This indicates that the sulfides may have formed from a homogeneous source of the porphyry copper deposits and epithermal deposits in the Sto. Tomas II orebody and its vicinity. The evidence presented in this work proves that the porphyry copper‐type veinlets and the adjacent potassic alteration in the Southwest prospect are formed earlier and at a shallower level in contrast with the other porphyry deposits in the Baguio District.     

滇西南澜沧江带红豆山铜矿床蚀变分带及其找矿意义

红豆山铜矿床是南澜沧江带新发现的矿床之一。通过野外地质工作和系统构造—|蚀变岩相填图,发现该矿床蚀变类型主要以钾长石化、硅化、绿泥石化、绿帘石化为主,其次为碳酸盐化、绢云母化、黄铁矿化等,且在空间上呈现一定规律,各蚀变带具有明显的叠加现象。依据区内岩石蚀变矿物组合等特点,自断裂带→上盘围岩,共出现4个典型蚀变带,依次为碎裂岩化带→长英岩化—碳酸盐化—绢云母化带→硅化—绿泥石化—绿帘石化带→弱长英岩化安山岩带。矿（化）体主要分布在长英岩化、碳酸盐化、绢云母化带和硅化、绿泥石化、绿帘石化带。由斑岩脉中心至边缘发育钾化带→硅化带→青磐岩化带→绢云母化带,斑岩旁侧围岩中发育放射状石英—方解石—黄铜矿脉。     

Advances in understanding the Kombolgie Subgroup and unconformity-related uranium deposits in the Alligator Rivers Uranium Field and how to explore for them using lithogeochemical principles

The Alligator Rivers Uranium Field (ARUF) includes the mined and unmined Jabiluka, Ranger, Koongarra and Nabarlek unconformity-related uranium deposits and several small prospects including the newly discovered King River prospect. Uranium mineralisation is hosted by a variety of metamorphosed Nimbuwah Domain lithologies that are unconformably overlain by the Kombolgie Subgroup, a basin package of unmetamorphosed arenites and mafic volcanics. All of the uranium deposits and prospects preserve an identical alteration assemblage that is subdivided into a distal and proximal alteration zone. The distal alteration zone comprises an assemblage of sericite and chlorite that replace albite and amphibole. In some cases, this alteration can be traced >1000 m from the proximal alteration zone that is dominated by uraninite, hematite, chlorite and sericite. Uranium precipitated in the basement as uraninite at 1680 Ma at around 200°C from a fluid having δ¹⁸O_fluid values of 3.0±2.8‰ and δD_fluid values of ?28±13‰ VSMOW reflecting an evolved marine source. These geochemical properties are indistinguishable from those recorded by diagenetic illite and chlorite that were collected from the Kombolgie Subgroup sandstones across the ARUF. The illite and chlorite formed in diagenetic aquifers, and where these aquifers intersected favourable basement rocks, such as those containing graphite or other reductants, U was precipitated as uraninite. Therefore, it is proposed that the Kombolgie Subgroup is the source for fluids that formed the deposits. A post-ore alteration assemblage dominated by chlorite, but also comprising quartz±dolomite±sulfide veins cut the uranium mineralisation at all deposits and has historically been recorded as part of the syn-ore mineralisation event. However, these minerals formed anywhere between 1500 to 630 Ma from fluids that have distinctly lower δ¹⁸O_fluid values around 1.5‰ and lower δD_fluid values around ?45‰ reflecting a meteoric water origin. Despite unconformity-related uranium deposits having a large alteration halo, they remain difficult to find. The subtle alteration of albite to sericite several hundred metres from mineralisation occurs in isolation of any increase in trace elements such as U and radiogenic Pb and can be difficult or impossible to identify in hand specimen. Whole rock geochemical data indicate that Pearce Element Ratio (PER) analysis and General Element Ratio (GER) analysis may vector into this subtle alteration because it does not rely on an increase in trace elements to identify proximity to ore. PER and GER plots, Al/Ti vs (2Ca + Na + K)/Ti, Na/Al vs (Na + K)/Al, K/Al vs (Na + K)/Al and (Fe + Mg)/Al vs (Na + K)/Al provide a visual guide that readily distinguish unaltered from altered samples. A plot of (Na + K)/Al and (Fe + Mg)/Al on the x-axis against the concentration of trace elements on the y-axis reveals that U, Pb, Mo, Cu, B, Br, Ce, Y, Li, Ni, V and Nd are associated with the most intensely altered samples. The lithogeochemical vectors should aid explorers searching for uranium mineralisation in a prospective basin environment, but exploration must first focus on the characteristics of the basin to assess its mineralisation potential. A holistic model that describes the evolution of the Kombolgie Subgroup from deposition through diagenesis to formation of the uranium deposits in the underlying basement rocks is presented and has application to other basins that are considered prospective for unconformity-related uranium deposits. The model outlines that explorers will need to consider the thickness of the sedimentary pile, its lithological composition relative to depositional setting, the depth to which the sediments were buried during diagenesis and the degree of diagenesis achieved, which may be time dependant, before deciding on the prospectivity of the basin.     

诸广南部产铀花岗岩长江岩体中的绿泥石和铀源矿物研究

长江岩体是诸广南部地区重要的产铀花岗岩体之一,此次研究运用电子探针和扫描电镜对长江岩体新鲜花岗岩和 蚀变花岗岩中的绿泥石和有关含铀矿物进行了精细对比,揭示花岗岩中铀的活化与成矿前期或早期致使花岗岩发生绿泥 石化的还原性热液蚀变作用关系密切,黑云母等的绿泥石化蚀变,使其中包裹的一些含铀副矿物也发生蚀变,导致原来 以类质同象形式存在于副矿物中的惰性铀转变成活性铀,并在绿泥石附近沉淀成铀石等铀含量高且在成矿期低度氧化性 热液作用下容易释放铀的矿物。长江岩体中的副矿物有锆石、磷灰石、褐帘石、铀石-钍石、晶质铀矿、独居石等,其 中,晶质铀矿、铀石、铀钍石中铀含量高且铀容易释放,是长江岩体的主要铀源矿物;独居石中铀含量较高,当其周围 矿物绿泥石化时,独居石蚀变形成直氟碳钙铈矿并释放铀,因而也是长江岩体的潜在铀源矿物;锆石中铀含量虽高,但 因其结构稳定,铀难以释放,因此它不是长江岩体中重要的铀源矿物;磷灰石、褐帘石中铀含量均低于检测限,作为铀 源矿物的可能性很小。