Notes on mineralogy of various types of uranium deposits and genetic implications

Mineralogical studies on some Canadian uranium deposits revealed some features that were used for refinement of conceptual genetic models. The electron-microprobe studies of the ores from the Elliot Lake quartz-pebble conglomerate deposits indicated that the authigenic uranium-titanium phase ('brannerite') actually consists of a U-Ti-Si compound which was formed by reactions of U and Ti in solutions with the serictic matrix. Uranium mineralization in deposits spatially related to the pre-Athabasca unconformity formed during the diagenesis of the sedimentary rocks of the Athabasca Group. Additional minerals were identified in known occurrences: brannerite at the Halo deposit near Bancroft, Ontario; coffinite, acanthite, chlorargyrite and native silver at Box mine, Goldfields, Saskatchewan, coffinite in the Albert Formation, Moncton Basin, New Brunswick; francevillite in the Peribonca Formation, Otish Mountains, Quebec. A new occurrence (Devil's Elbow) containing a U-Ti-Si-Fe phase, was identified near Bancroft, Ontario. The U-Ti aggregates at the Ace-Fay mine, Beaverlodge, Saskatchewan, formed from fluids that carried uranium and titanium simultaneously