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GEOREF RECORD

Geochemistry of uraniferous bitumen in the southwest Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada

P. Alexandre and T. K. Kyser
Geochemistry of uraniferous bitumen in the southwest Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada
Economic Geology and the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists (December 2006) 101 (8): 1605-1612

Abstract

The sediment-hosted unconformity-type Southwest Athabasca uranium mineralization in N Saskatchewan, Canada, contains uraniferous bitumen. Uraninite is present either as micron-sized grains dispersed in bitumen (uraniferous bitumen) or as larger grains situated in the pore space between bitumen globules. The spatial and textural relationships between uraninite and bitumen suggest that they were co-precipitated. LA-ICP-MS U/Pb dating of uraniferous bitumen yielded an age of 1575 + or - 53 Ma, similar to that of other unconformity-type uranium mineralization in the Athabasca basin, indicating that the bitumen was formed early in the history of the basin. Nitrogen, carbon, and sulphur isotope analyses of uraniferous bitumen indicate that its source material was probably kerogen produced by cyanobacteria in a clastic environment.


ISSN: 0361-0128
EISSN: 1554-0774
Serial Title: Economic Geology and the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists
Serial Volume: 101
Serial Issue: 8
Title: Geochemistry of uraniferous bitumen in the southwest Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada
Affiliation: Queen's University, Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Kingston, ON, Canada
Pages: 1605-1612
Published: 200612
Text Language: English
Publisher: Economic Geology Publishing Company, Lancaster, PA, United States
References: 31
Accession Number: 2007-021275
Categories: Economic geology, geology of ore depositsIsotope geochemistry
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. sects., 3 tables, geol. sketch maps
N57°30'00" - N57°30'00", W107°30'00" - W107°30'00"
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2018, American Geosciences Institute. Reference includes data from Mineralogical Abstracts, United Kingdom, Twickenham, United Kingdom
Update Code: 200707

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