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Proposed Title 1: - Queen's University

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CHAPTER 2<br />

TECTONIC HISTORY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SHIELD<br />

RECORDED IN URANIUM DEPOSITS IN THE BEAVERLODGE<br />

AREA, NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA<br />

Abstract<br />

Paragenetic and structural relationships and geochronology of minerals in uranium<br />

deposits in the Beaverlodge area, Northwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, reveal six periods<br />

of uranium mineralization associated with multi-stage deformation during the Proterozoic.<br />

The Saint Louis fault and the Main Ore shear zone are northeast striking, southeast-dipping,<br />

oblique-normal and dextral fault systems that have mylonite-dominated footwalls. These<br />

faults display evidence of exhumation and episodic structural reactivation at progressively<br />

shallower crustal levels, accompanied by fluid flow, hydrothermal alteration, and uranium<br />

mineralization.<br />

New geochronologic data on uranium mineralization and alteration events record<br />

over 2.3 Gyrs of protracted tectonic evolution of the North American shield. 207 Pb/ 206 Pb<br />

ages of 2293±17 Ma and 2289±20 Ma date two minor uranium mineralization stages<br />

associated with cataclasite rocks and early tensional veins, respectively, coincident with<br />

late Arrowsmith orogenic exhumation. Following emplacement of the Gunnar granite at<br />

2321±3 Ma, albite metasomatic alteration of the granite is associated with a third moderate<br />

uranium mineralizing event. During the late Paleoproterozoic, exhumation along major<br />

faults caused the deformation style to change from dominantly brittle-ductile to brittle at<br />

shallower structural levels. Massive brecciation of pre-existing rocks is associated with the<br />

19

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