Sub-project Leaders:
Richard Stern & Rob Rainbird (GSC),
Irvine Annesley & Dave Quirt (SRC),
Dan Jiricka (Cameco),
Philippe Portella (COGEMA).

Goals

1. Serve as a focus for compiling all public domain geochronologic data relevant to Athabasca uranium, and coordinate all new geochronologic research under EXTECH IV.
2. Obtain up-to-date constraints on the age of uranium mineralization and related diagenetic or alteration events by precise SHRIMP and conventional dating of specific minerals within the Athabasca Basin and its basement.
3. Constrain the regional stratigraphic geochronology of Paleoproterozoic sequences with which the Athabasca Basin has been or may be correlated by empirical stratigraphy.

Strategies

1. SHRIMP Study of Dawn Lake Uranium Mineralization, with detailed petrography providing mineralogical orientation for SHRIMP analysis, and coordinated stratigraphic and structural logs of relevant drill core linking the geochronology to the regional EXTECH IV structural-stratigraphic-alteration context and regional geochronologic studies listed below. To be co-led by Irv. Annesley, Dan Jiricka and Richard Stern.
2. SHRIMP geochronology of detrital zircon and monazite of the Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Group of Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta, to be co-led by Rob Rainbird, Richard Stern (GSC) and Dave Quirt (SRC), with input by Charlie Jefferson & Jerry Ross (GSC) and Gary Yeo (SEM). Detailed petrography and full stratigraphic contextual studies as for Strategy #1.
3. SHRIMP geochronology of authigenic xenotime of the Paleoproterozoic Athabasca Group of Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta, to be co-led by Rob Rainbird, Richard Stern (GSC), and Dave Quirt (SRC). Detailed petrography and full contextual studies as for Strategy #1.
4. SHRIMP analysis of hydrothermal xenotime associated with uranium mineralization, to be co-led by Dave Quirt (SRC) and Richard Stern (GSC). Detailed petrography and full contextual studies as for Strategy #1.
5. If possible, geochronology of basement structural - tectonic elements - to be co-led by Colin Card (SEM), Ghislain Tourigny (SEM) and Richard Stern (GSC).
6. If possible, linking of Strategy 2 and possibly 1 & 3 with correlative basins in Canada and internationally.

2002-2003 Activities and Results

Summary of Detrital Zircon Geochronology of the Athabasca Group, Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta (PDF)