Regional surface rock geochemistry, Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan

Regional examination and integration of geochemical data with other components of the uranium exploration model can influence mineral exploration. This approach was applied to regional geochemical data for the Athabasca Basin, northern Saskatchewan, Canada, which is host to some of the world’s most significant high grade unconformity-associated uranium deposits. Four distinct geochemical signatures are described, each reflecting portions of processes responsible for uranium mineralization, associated alteration, and background geology. These signatures are significant in that they 1) are present in the exposed and near-surface rocks of the Athabasca Basin; 2) correspond with lineament traces, and highlight lineament intersections that are loci for uranium mineralization, and 3) partially define a distinct but locally stratabound hydrothermal signature that is possibly temporally and genetically related to focused uranium deposition elsewhere in the Athabasca Basin, but is also expressed in the Wolverine Point Formation.