Spatial distribution and compositional variation of APS minerals related to uranium deposits in the Kiggavik-Andrew Lake structural trend, Nunavut, Canada
Résumé
The Kiggavik-Andrew Lake structural trend consists of four mineralized zones, partially outcropping, lying 2 km south of the erosional contact with the unmetamorphosed sandstone and basal conglomerates of the Paleoproterozoic Thelon Formation. The mineralization is controlled by a major E-W fault system associated with illite and sudoite alteration halos developed in the Archean metagraywackes of the Woodburn Lake Group. Aluminum phosphate sulfate (APS) minerals from the alunite group crystallized in association with the clay minerals in the basement alteration halo as well as in the overlying sandstones, which underwent mostly diagenesis. APS minerals are Sr- and S-rich (svanbergite end-member) in the sedimentary cover overlying the unconformity, whereas they are light rare earth elements (LREE)-rich (florencite end-member) in the altered basement rocks below the unconformity. The geochemical signature of each group of APS minerals together with the petrography indicates three distinct generations of APS minerals related to the following: (1) paleoweathering of continental surfaces prior to the basin occurrence, (2) diagenetic processes during the burial history of the lower unit of the Thelon sandstones, and (3) hydrothermal alteration processes which accompanied the uranium deposition in the basement rocks and partially overlap the sedimentary-diagenetic mineral parageneses. In addition, the association of a first generation of APS minerals with both detrital cerium oxide and aluminum oxy-hydroxide highlights the fact that a part of the detrital material of the basal Thelon Formation originated from eroded paleolaterite (allochthonous regolith). The primary rare earth element (REE)-bearing minerals (e.g., monazite, REE carbonates, and allanite) of the host rocks were characterized to identify the potential sources of REE. The REE chemical composition highlights a local re-incorporation of the REE released from the alteration processes in the APS minerals of hydrothermal origin. The distinctive geochemical signatures between diagenetic (or sedimentary) and hydrothermal APS minerals suggest a different source material in the Thelon basin than in the Athabasca basin.