Details


SMDI #
2754
Current Showing Name
Caribou Lake Uranium Zone
Historical Showing Names
Caribou Lake Uranium Zone
Company Name
AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
Project Name
UTM Easting (NAD83 Z13)
569075.0000
UTM Northing (NAD83 Z13)
6459420.0000
NTS Sheet
064L05
TRM (Township-Range-Meridian)
107-11-2
Primary Commodities
Uranium
Associated Commodities
Arsenic, Copper, Lead, Nickel
Discovery Type
Drillhole
Status
Deposit: Advanced Exploration
Geological Details
The Caribou Lake Showing is located 500 m (0.31 mile) northeast of the northeast tip of Caribou Lake - a small locally named lake that is located 2.0 km (1.24 miles) northwest of the Sue C Deposit open pit (SMDI 2529). The mineralization, which constitutes this showing, was first intersected in drill hole S-691 (Caribou Lake grid coordinates 9+00E and 6+64N). The rocks in the showing area are covered by a series of glacial drift, outwash, and lacustrine sediments as a result of the four periods of Late Cenozoic to Wisconsin glaciation. Ice advance direction was from the north to northeast. Glaciation left behind a series of northeast-trending flute marks, drumlinoid features, and rare striations. Outcrop on the Caribou Lake grid is almost completely masked by these Quaternary deposits. The Helikian Athabasca Group, on the Caribou Lake grid, consists of a series of unmetamorphosed quartz-rich pebbly sandstones. Near the base of the sandstone column, the poorly-sorted sandstone contains a series of discontinous conglometatic horizons, of variable thickness. Minor shale and silt interbeds are found in the upper half of the succession. The Manitou Falls Formation portion of this sandstone succession is subdivided into, from top to bottom, the Mfa unit (poorly sorted sandstone containing minor conglomerate interbeds), the MfB unit (interbedded sandstone and conglomerate), the Mfc unit (sandstone with rare clay interclasts), and the basal Mfd unit (a fine-grained sandstone with abundant clay intercasts). Locally, these terrestrial-fluviatile sediments are silicified and clay altered. The Caribou Lake grid is located on the west flank of the Collins Bay high along the same horizon of contorted Wollaston domain graphitic pelites (quartz-biotite-feldspar-cordierite gneisses) that hosts the Sue deposits mineralization. Approximately 1.0 km (0.6 mile) north of the Sue deposits, this horizon folds sharply to the west and, eventually, links up with the northeast-trending structure that hosts the McClean deposits. At this juncture, the horizon continues northward along the McClean trend towards Moffat Lake. The Caribou Lake zone is located along this horizon of graphitic peltes to the northeast of Candy Lake. In the showing area, a series of normal and reverse faults have offset the unconformity between the base of the Athabasca Group and the underlying Wollaston domain graphitic pelite horizon by up to 20.0 m (65.6 ft). Reverse faulting has resulted in a stepping down of the unconformity in a westward direction. Faulting at Caribou Lake consists of a series of reactivated brittle-ductile shear zones. The northeast-trending shears (045° to 055°/ 65°SE to 70°SE) exhibit dominantly sip-slip movement plus minor left-lateral strike-slip movement. These northeast-trending shears are important to the mineralization process. Both the sandstone and the underlying basement rocks at Caribou Lake exhibit millimeter-wide fracturing that increases in intensity towards the unconformity. In the Athabasca Group, these minor fractures tend to be sub-horizontal. The Moffat-Sue conductor, which hosts the Caribou Lake mineralzation, is an east-west trending conductor that extends from the northend of Caribou Lake east to Flame Lake. The conductor dips slightly to the west of north. The Caribou Lake Zone, like the Sue deposits, is highlighted by a deep blue resistivity low that coinsides with an EM trend. At the Caribou Lake Zone, the upper part of the Athabasca Group Manitou Falls Formation sandstone sequence (first 50 to 60 m) exhibits weak bleaching and fracturing. In areas of mineralization, often, the basal Manitou Falls Formation (immediately above the unconformity) does not contain the normal basal fanglomerate/ conglomerate unit. The lower part of the sandstone column exhibits moderate to strong pervasive silicification (drusy quartz and quartz-healed fractures), moderate to strong bleaching, strong primary purple hematite banding is present in some intervals along with moderate to strong pervasive limonite alteration. The limonite alteration is related to fracturing and faulting. A grey reducing environment pyritic alteration zone (sooty grey to black pyrite and associated nickel arsenide and fresh pyrite - present as disseminated grains and small butryoidal aggregates) is often present in the basal sandstones. The pyritic zone, which often grades upward into black organics, is often encountered immediately above the uranium mineralization. Strong and, locally, massive argillization occurs within the basal sandstones up to 5 m (16.4 ft) above the unconformity in conjunction with moderate to strong fracturing (fault gouges). The argillization is associated with strong quartz dissolution and rotated bedding. Unconformity elevations are offset up to 8 m (26.3 ft) in a south to north direction due to local down faulting movement. Unconformity elevations can vary by up to 34 m (111.6 ft) due to local basement quartzite ridges. At the Caribou Lake zone, basement rocks consist of a series of locally garnetiferous and cordieritic graphitic (up to 15% graphite) pelitic and semi-pelitic gneisses. These gneisses are overlain by several quartzite and psammite horizons (ridges). The graphite present occurs as disseminations, ribbon-like bands (along bedding planes), and as infillings infault gouges and breccia zones. Locally, remobilized "tectonic" graphite is found in fault gouges and along zones of shearing and fracturing. This sequence of metasediments have been intruded by Hudsonian-age pegmatoid bodies and Archean-age dioritic/tonalitic gneiss. These basement rocks exhibit a good paleoweathering profile. However, this profile can be overprinted by hydrothermal alteration and, in this case, only weak remnants of paleo-hematite will be observed. Moderate to strong bleaching and argillization occur in he upper 10 to 20 m (32.8 to 65.7 ft) of the basement rocks immediately below the unconformity. Well-developed red and green-red alteration zones are found immediately below the zone of paleoweathering. Weak to strong iron-chlorite alteration locally overprints the pre-existing alteration in sonme lithologies. Moderate to strong fracturing (thin fault gouges - no major faults) is encounteed in upper basement rocks. The basement rocks, locally, exhibit strong ductile deformation as expressed by broad open folding and subvertical foliation. Except for perched pods of mineralization, which can grade up to 23.6% U plus arsenides, the sandstone mineralization is restricted to the basal 20 to 25 m (65.7 to 82.0 ft) of the sandstone column above the unconformity. Low grade sandstone-hosted ore consists of scattered black blebs of coffinite within a strongly reduced arsenide-sulphide zone that is hosted by a strongly chlirite±clay-altered and intensely hematized sandstone. Higher grade ore (up to 23.1% U) consists of massive pitchblende in association with niccolite, nickel-arsenides, and arsenosulphides, minor irregular masses, nodules, and veins of skutterudite and/or gersdorffite. Contacts between the mineralized zones and the host lithologies can be difficult to observe when the ore is massive due to the fact that the massive ore is found within broad oxidizing and reducing zones. The basement metasediment-hosted mineralization tends to consist of a series of weakly graphitic and clay-filled structures and fault gouges that are filled with coffinite in association with sulphides, nickel arsenides, and sooty organics. The better drill intersections are as follows: DRILLHOLE INTERSECTION WIDTH CPS INTERSECTION NUMBER (M) (M) DESCRIPTION ___________________________________________________________ S-691 @ 100.5 m ----- 7,234 fractured sandstone S-693 @ 120.9 m ----- 5,499 fractured sandstone S-700 @ 124.1 m ----- 5,757 pbe in basal sandstone S-701 @ 128.0 m ----- 3,257 pbe+ni-As in sandstone S-704 @ 120.4 m ----- 3,794 sandstone 120.6 - 122.0 0.4 2,000 grey-altered sandstone S-707 @ 207.2 m ----- 3,080 alteed sandstone S-708 @ 118.6 m ----- 7,589 clay-altered sandstone
Geological Domain
Wollaston
Host Rocks
Host Minerals
Arsenopyrite
Indicators
Exploration History
6/11/2006 The showing area was first covered by Gulf Minerals Company Permit No. 8 in December of 1969. Gulf completed two regional airborne radiometric surveys (AF 64L-0001 and 64L05-0002) and an airborne EM and magnetic survey (AF 64L05-0003) before they allowed the permit to lapse on 1 July 1973. On 12 August 1974, Vern Studer staked the showing area as CBS 3501 and transferred the claim block to Canadian Occidental Petroleum. Between 1975 and 1976, Canadian Occidental completed a track etch survey on the land (AF 64L05-0024). In 1977, they formed a joint venture with INCO Limited to explore the property. Between 1977 and 1978, the partnership completed an airborne survey (AF64L05-0023) and follow-up ground geophysics and drilling. This program resulted in the discovery of the McClean Lake North deposit (SMDI 1718) to the south of the showing area. On 12 August 1980, CBS 3501 was converted to ML 5290. Betweeen 1980 and 1981, the partnership completed ground EM and magnetic surveys over numerous grids on the mineral lease (AF 64L05-0074). In 1981, Clark, Brummer, and Fogwell regionally mapped the lease. Work was concentrated in the McClean Lake area. In 1982, Asamera Corporation completed an interpretation of a 1980 regional Cotran airborne survey that covered ths showing area (AF 64L05-0103). In the winter of 1984, the Canadian Occidental - INCO partnership completed ground VLF-EM surveys over the lease (AF 64L05-0085). In January of 1985 Canadian Occidental and Canico entered into a joint venture agreement with Total Minatco Ltd/Ltee to further explore ML 5290 Work to the southwest of the showing area led to the discovery of the Sue A and B uranium deposits (SMDI 2528) in 1988 during the completion of a percussion drill program. Further work completed in 1989 discovered the Sue C and CQ deposits. In he same year, Minatco retained SENES Consultants Limited to prepare an environmental impact stdy on the McClean, JEB, and Sue deposits. On 22 June 1980, the showing area was staked as CBS 7657 within ML 5290. On 1 August 1990, the remainder of ML 5290 was allowed to lapse. In November 1990, Minatco acquired 100% ownership of the property and the associated uranium deposits. In the same year, Minatco completed ground IP/resistivity and gravity surveys over the showing area (AF 64L05-0135). In 1990, the Sue D deposit was discovered. In 1993, Minatco completed a ground IP/resistivity survey on the Sue grid and reconnaissance drilling along the Sue trend to the north northwest of the showing area (the Vulture Lake and Thorwalt Lake areas) (AF 64L05-0138). On 12 August 1996, the showing area in CBS 7657 was staked as S-105404 as a part of the reduction of CBS 7657. In 1996, Minatco joint ventured with Cogema Resources Inc. to further explore the property. From 1996 to 1998, exploration was continued to the north and northwest of he showing in the Vulture-Thorwalt lakes area On 24 September 2000, Cogema Resources Inc. re-staked the showing area within S-105404 as S-106535 as a part of the reduction of S-105404. In the following year, Cogema, in partnership with Denison Mines Inc (22.5%) and Ourd Canada (7.5%), completed ground TDEM and HLEM surveys on the Sue and Moffat grids (AF 64L05-0154). In the winter of 2002, they completed an AeroTem EM and magnetic survey over the showing area, ground moving loop TDEM and DC resistivity surveys on the Caribou Lake grid plus follow-up drill holes S-683 to S-727 (AF 64L05-SW-0156). The drill program discovered the Caribou Lake Uranium Zone mineralization. In 2003, the partnership completed initial delineation drilling on the Caribou Lake deposit (holes S-728 to S-784) [64L05-SW-0167]. This work remains confidential. In 2006, Cogema Resources Inc. was re-named Areva Resources Canada Inc.
Production History
Reserves and/or Resources
2015-01-01 NI 43-101-compliant Measured and Indicated Resource was 39,210 tonnes grading 3.13% U3O8 for 2.7 M lb U3O8. Summary: Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 39,210.00 tonne - Uranium: 39,210.00 tonne @ 3.13 %
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