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

萨斯喀彻温省北部阿萨巴斯卡盆地的铀矿约占全球年产量的30%，并由富含石英的岩石组成。之前nserc - crd赞助的一项研究项目利用阴极发光（CL）成像技术证明，在雪茄湖和麦克阿瑟河高等级沉积物中，沿砂岩基底不整合、岩性边界和断层的石英颗粒具有α粒子损坏斑块和连续边缘的特征。这些特征性的辐射损伤CL在石英中的赋存和分布，为阿萨巴斯卡盆地铀矿勘查提供了一个有用的共生工具。然而，CL成像一般无法探测到Key Lake矿床石英的特征性辐射损伤，在电子顺磁共振（EPR）谱上“响亮而清晰”。因此，EPR作为一种非常灵敏的稀顺磁缺陷检测技术，在阿萨巴斯卡盆地具有比CL成像更广泛的应用前景。因此，该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，利用EPR技术的优越灵敏度，进一步开发石英中的自然辐射损伤，作为勘探阿萨巴斯卡盆地铀矿床的新工具。拟开展的项目不仅包括对石英天然辐射缺陷的EPR表征的应用研究，以确定和追踪阿萨巴斯卡盆地选定勘探性质的含铀流体的古路径，还包括石英辐射损伤校准的开发工作，以计算含铀流体的辐射剂量，以及发现新的石英辐射缺陷的基础研究。特别是，拟议的研究有望推进我们对石英辐射损伤的最新知识。同时为萨斯喀彻温大学提供1名博士后、1名博士生和3名本科生的优秀培养机会。

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.