- SMDI #
- 2734
- Current Showing Name
- Karen Lake Radioactive Seeps
- Historical Showing Names
- Karen Lake Radioactive Seeps
- Company Name
- Project Name
- UTM Easting (NAD83 Z13)
- 535306.6500
- UTM Northing (NAD83 Z13)
- 6553391.4600
- NTS Sheet
- 074P01
- TRM (Township-Range-Meridian)
- 116-14-2
- Primary Commodities
- Uranium
- Associated Commodities
- Discovery Type
- Trench
- Status
- Anomaly: Bedrock/Felsenmeer
- Geological Details
- The Karen Lake Anomalously Radioactive Area is located at Karen Lake a small lake which is 1.9 miles (3.1 km) east of the point on the northeast shore of Newnham Lake where Gauthier Creek enters the lake. The trenches which return the best values were sunk 1300 ft (396.2 m) north of the northeast end of Karen Lake.
The showing area is immediately to the north of the Helikian Athabasca sandstone erosional edge. A good portion of the Mudjatik Domain Aphebian gneissic granite to the east of Newnham Lake is hidden by a thick blanket of glacial-fluviatile or till plateau and rare end morainal material. The glacial history of the area gives no indication of reversal of earlier drainage patterns following the ice retreat. The Karen Lake to Louise Lake area was a natural topographic low which served as a major meltwater channel. Peat development began in the region around 6855 ± 110 BP following the drainage of Glacial Lake Athabasca which covered the area.
Bedrock in the Karen Lake area consists of pink to red, medium-grained gneissic granite with associated migmatitic pegmatite.The Archean Mudjatik Domain granites are variably hematized (color varies from brown to red) and have been altered by paleoweathering.
The rocks in the showing area have been fractured and displaced by a series of north-trending simple normal faults which exhibit a low magnetic signature (the Newnham and Cyprian faults). The fault zones have been highly altered by paleoweathering due to supergene waters. The rocks are also cut by a series of northwest-trending faults which is related to the Grenville Orogeny and diabase dyke emplacement.
SMDC first noted that a zone of uranium enrichment extended westward from the Cyprian Fault along the Louise-Clara-Karen Lake chain. The overburden which overlies the oxidized glacial till in the swamps in the Karen Lake area was found to consist of a mix of sand, pebbles, and organic material. The Pleistocene age black silty organic material, which is sandwiched between two layers of till, was found to be anomalously radioactive. Initial trenching showed that the anomalous uranium was held in the organic phase of the overburden.
Initial trench samples (as follows) indicate that none of the heavy mineral separates are uranium-enriched. This led to the conclusion that the uranium had not been mechanically transported. The uranium, initially, was felt to have resulted from the concentration of the "background uranium" from surrounding granitic bedrock.
SAMPLE PPM URANIUM IN OVERBURDEN HEAVY MINERALS SAMPLE SAMPLE
NUMBER CLAY ORGANIC OTHER TOTAL WT % OF PPM WIDTH DESCRIPTION
PART PART PART SAMPLE U M
_____________________________________________________________________________
B9G 163 6 725 459 1190 1.1 60 0.1 surface organics
B9G 166 9 2500 241 2300 2.5 114 0.5 2nd organic layer
B9G 167 462 7150 3880 11500 0.9 122 0.7 2nd organic layer
B9G 168 2 92 4 98 3.5 59 1.7 oxidized till B
horizon
In 1982, SMDC completed a hydrogeochemical survey at the Karen Seeps to test water located near granitic outcrops. Water samples were taken from muskeg, drill holes, shallow pits and trenches in glacial till, and from a muskeg stream. The survey indicated anomalous amounts of Rn222, and U. Anomalous amounts of P2O5, Na, and K present in some samples were attributed to an "older" more saline groundwater that had evidently passed through phosphate-rich material. Pit and trench samples returned 0.2 to 275 ppb U, up to 9 ppm Na, and up to 4.1 ppm P2O5. A radioactive spring in the muskeg returned 85.7 ppb U, 6 ppm Na, and0.19 ppm P2O5. Drill holes returned background to 0.8 to 2.9 ppb U, up to 10.9 ppm Na, and up to 1.71 ppm P2O5. The more anomalous uranium values were invariably found to be adjacent to granitic outcrops.
SAMPLE SAMPLE CPM READINGS READING SAMPLE
NUMBER SOURCE No. 1 No. 2 No. 2 CPM DESCRIPTION
____________________________________________________________________________
1261 ddh BL-126 790 827 772 820 slightly "smoky" water
1071 ddh BL-107 1369 1476 1523 1478 clear water
8002 ddh BL-080 1915 1988 2156 2128 slightly "smoky" water
6502 ddh BL-065 1283 1370 1460 1319 nearly clear water
9102 ddh BL-091 5514 6249 6506 6397 surface artesian flow
BL2S-1 outcrop trch 711 727 744 723 N/A
BL2S-5 30 cm pit 3790 4307 4599 4556 N/A
BL2S-11 80 cm trench 874 970 1000 914 N/A
BL2S-14 muskeg spring 11394 12139 12688 12800 N/A
In 1997 to 1998, JNR Resources completed further sampling in the Karen Lake area. JNR noted that most of the granitic outcrop and boulders in the Karen Lake area are radioactive. Bedrock radiometric values range from 200 cps to 5200 cps and soil sample values range from 5 ppm U to 7845 ppm U. JNR noted only a single example of outcrop mineralization. A narrow fracture in granite was observed to contain a yellow substance which may be a uranium oxide mineral. Samples taken returned the following values:
SAMPLE SAMPLE PPM SAMPLE SAMPLE
NUMBER TYPE U LOCATION DESCRIPTION
_____________________________________________________________________________
DC-15 soil 2609 SW of Karen Lake grey sandy clay and organics
NM-7 soil 7845 SW end of Karen Lake black organics and clay
CL-13 soil 7220 Karen Lake Trench black organics, grey clay
CL-15 soil 1620 SW end of Karen Lake black organics and clay
714811 outcrop 750 cps same as NM-7 hematized red to pink granite
714813 boulder 550 cps NE end Karen Lake weakly hematized granite
714825 boulder 500 cps SE of Karen Lake hematized red to brown granite
714827 outcrop 700 cps SE of Karen Lake altered, sheared granite gneiss
Initially, R. Munday felt that the source of the radioactive material was uranium concentration due to hydromorphic movement of uranium-rich solutions along the Louise Lake-Cyprian Fault system. After much work, SMDC concluded that the uranium enrichment in the organic-rich horizon was due to uraniferous waters permeating the nearby granite outcrops. JNR Resources concluded that the Karen Lake zone of surficial secondary uranium enrichment is primarily restricted to organic deposits adjacent to radioactive granite gneisses. The source of the uranium is believed to be the local primary uraninite-enrichment in outcrops of gneissic granite. Soluble uranium was likely remobilized in and scavanged from local surface waters and then accumulated in local peat bogs.
- Geological Domain
- Mudjatik
- Host Rocks
- Host Minerals
- Indicators
- Exploration History
- 5/1/2002 The showing area was first covered, in the early 1960's, by Amerada Petroleum, Corporation Permit No. 3. In 1967, New Contiental Oil Company of Canada flew a regional airborne radiometric survey which covered the showing area (AF 74-0001). The permit lapsed on 19 November 1969.
On 30 May 1974, the Saskatchewan Government placed Crown Reserve No. 617 over the showing area. In 1975, the government flew a Skyvan airborne radiometric survey over the property (AF 74P-0002). The reserve was withdrawn on 26 Match 1976.
Immediately, SMDC acquired the area as SMDC Permit No. 4. In 1976, SMDC flew an airborne EM, magnetic, and radiometric survey over the property (AF 74P-0004) and completed reconnaissance prospecting and geochemical sampling on the permit (AF 74P-0003). This work first noted that anomalous uranium values were present along the Louise Lake to Karen Lake chain of lakes. In 1977, SMDC flew a airborne INPUT and magnetic survey over the permit (AF 74P01-0004 and 74P-0006) and completed reconnaissance hound-dogging to check out the airborne anomalies (AF 74P-0005). Between 1977 and 1978, they completed reconnaissance anomaly drilling in the Newnham to Cyprian lakes area (AF 74P01-0005 and 74P-0007). No significant mineralization was intersected.
On 21 March 1979, SMDC Permit No. 4 became MPP 1066. In the same year, SMDC completed an overburden geochemical survey in the Gauthier Creek area (AF 74P01-0012). This survey further delineated the area of anomalous radioactivity in the Gauthier Creek and Louise Lake areas to Karen Lake area. In the same year, the Karen Seep area was investigated by digging a trench and trench sampling - follow-up reconnaissance mapping, prospecting, and ground geophysics (AF 74P-0009) and reconnaissance anomaly wacker drilling was completed on the Newnham grid (AF 74P01-0011). No significant mineralization was encountered. In 1980, SMDC completed prospecting along lineaments and faults on the Newnham grid (AF 74P02-0011). Between 1981 and 1982, they completed an outcrop and core photogeological study (AF 74P-0013) and a hydrogeochemical survey was completed on the drill holes, pits, and trenches present on the Newnham grid to further investigate the "Karen Lake Seeps" (AF 74P01-0018).
On 1 July 1983, SMDC staked the showing area as CBS 7213 (within MPP 1066) and they allowed MPP 1066 to lapse. In this year, SMDC completed further geological investigations, VLF-EM, HLEM, Max Min, magnetic, and gravity surveys, numerous drill holes, and geochemical, petrographic, and groundwater studies in the Karen Seep area (AF 74P-0015). On 1 January 1988, CBS 7213 was allowed to lapse.
The showing area was next staked as S-105551 by Darwin Parkinson for Devex Exploration on 23 June 1997. The property was transferred to JNR Resources Inc. Between 1997 and 1998, JNR flew an airborne GEOTEM EM and magnetic survey and completed follow-up geological and Quaternary mapping, and soil, boulder, and outcrop sampling on the claim (AF 74P-0016). Anomalous soil, boulder, and outcrop samples, taken in the Karen Lake area during the completion of this program, constitute this showing
- Production History
- Reserves and/or Resources