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

石英自然辐射损伤在阿萨巴斯卡盆地铀矿勘探中的应用

• 批准号: 349931-2006
• 负责人: Pan, Yuanming
• 金额: $ 3.52万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=431135
• 关键词: Application; natural; radiation; damage; quartz

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.

萨斯喀彻温省北部阿萨巴斯卡盆地的铀矿床产量约占全球这种战略材料年产量的 30%，并且富含石英岩石。先前由 NSERC-CRD 赞助的研究项目利用阴极发光 (CL) 成像来证明，沿着高品位雪茄湖和麦克阿瑟河沉积物的砂岩基底不整合面、岩性边界和断层的石英颗粒的特征是存在 α-颗粒损坏的斑块和连续的边缘。石英中这些由辐射损伤引起的特征性化学发光的出现和分布被证明是勘探阿萨巴斯卡盆地铀矿床的有用共生工具。然而，CL 成像通常无法检测到 Key Lake 矿床石英中的特征辐射损伤，而电子顺磁共振 (EPR) 光谱上的特征“响亮而清晰”。因此，EPR 这种检测稀顺磁缺陷的极其灵敏的技术可能比 CL 成像更广泛地应用于阿萨巴斯卡盆地。因此，本申请旨在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 技术的卓越灵敏度，进一步开发石英中的自然辐射损伤，作为勘探铀矿床的新工具。阿萨巴斯卡盆地。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 表征的应用研究，以定义和追踪阿萨巴斯卡盆地选定勘探特性的含铀流体的古路径，还包括校准辐射损伤的开发工作用于计算含铀流体辐射剂量的石英以及发现石英中新的辐射诱发缺陷的基础研究。特别是，拟议的研究预计将增进我们对石英辐射损伤的最先进知识。此外，该项目还为萨斯喀彻温大学一名博士后、一名博士生和三名本科生提供了良好的培训机会。