Application of natural radiation damage in quartz to exploration for uranium deposits in the Athabasca basin

萨斯喀彻温省北方阿萨巴斯卡盆地的铀矿约占这种战略材料全球年产量的30%，并由富含石英的岩石组成。先前NSERC-CRD赞助的一个研究项目利用阴极发光（CL）成像来证明，石英颗粒沿着砂岩基底不整合面、岩性边界和断层，在高品位的Mallar湖和麦克阿瑟河矿床中，其特征在于存在α粒子损坏的斑块和连续的边缘。这些特征性辐射损伤致CL在石英中的产状和分布，为阿萨巴斯卡盆地铀矿床的找矿提供了有利的共生手段。然而，CL成像一般无法检测到的特征辐射损伤的石英从关键湖存款，这是“响亮而清晰”的电子顺磁共振（EPR）谱。因此，EPR，一个非常敏感的技术，在检测稀释顺磁缺陷，是潜在的更广泛的适用于阿萨巴斯卡盆地比CL成像。因此，本申请是为了支持萨斯喀彻温大学和丹尼森矿业公司之间的合作研究，以利用EPR技术的上级灵敏度，进一步开发石英中的天然辐射损伤，作为阿萨巴斯卡盆地铀矿勘探的新工具。拟议的项目不仅包括对石英中天然辐射引起的缺陷进行EPR表征以确定和追踪阿萨巴斯卡盆地某些勘探性质的含铀流体的古路径的应用研究，而且还包括对石英中辐射损害进行校准以计算含铀流体的辐射剂量的开发工作，以及对发现石英中新的辐射引起的缺陷进行基础研究。特别是，拟议的研究预计将推进我们的国家的最先进的知识辐射损伤石英。此外，该项目还为萨斯喀彻温大学的一名博士后研究员、一名博士生和三名本科生提供了极好的培训机会。

The uranium deposits in the Athabasca basin, northern Saskatchewan, produce approximately 30% of the global annual output of this strategic material and are hosted by quartz-rich rocks. A previous NSERC-CRD-sponsored research project utilized cathodoluminescene (CL) imaging to demonstrate that quartz grains along the sandstone-basement unconformity, lithological boundaries and faults at the high-grade Cigar Lake and McArthur River deposits are characterized by the presence of alpha-particle-damaged patches and continuous rims. The occurrence and distribution of these characteristic radiation-damage-induced CL in quartz were shown to be a useful paragenetic tool for exploration of uranium deposits in the Athabasca basin. However, CL imaging was generally unable to detect the characteristic radiation damage in quartz from the Key Lake deposit, which is "loud and clear" on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. Therefore, EPR, an extremely sensitive technique in detecting dilute paramagnetic defects, is potentially more widely applicable in the Athabasca basin than CL imaging. Accordingly, this application is for support of collaborative research between the University of Saskatchewan and the Denison Mines Corporation to take advantage of the superior sensitivity of the EPR technique to further develop natural radiation damage in quartz as a new tool for exploration of uranium deposits in the Athabasca basin. The proposed project includes not only applied research on EPR characterization of natural radiation-induced defects in quartz to define and trace paleo-pathways of uranium-bearing fluids at selected exploration properties in the Athabasca basin but also developmental work on the calibration of radiation damage in quartz for calculating radiation doses of uranium-bearing fluids and fundamental research on the discovery of new radiation-induced defects in quartz. In particular, the proposed research is expected to advance our state-of-the-art knowledge on radiation damage in quartz. Also, this project provides excellent training opportunities for one postdoctoral fellow, one PhD student and three undergraduate students at the University of Saskatchewan.