Uranium deposits South Limb of the Quirke syncline Elliot Lake, Ontario

Special Volume, Vol. SV 33, No. 1986, 1986

Uranium, thorium and yttrium have been recovered, since the 1950s, from pyritic quartz-pebble conglomerates occurring in the basal sediments of the Quirke syncline at Elliot Lake. Gold, an element of interest in similar type deposits occurring worldwide, is a very minor constituent of the Elliot Lake conglomerates because the provenance area of the sediments had few gold-bearing rocks. Uranium, thorium and rare elements are found in resistate and diagenetic minerals occurring in the matrix of the conglomerates. The valuable elements are recovered from the acid soluble minerals during the milling process. Large uranium reserves occur in mines found on both limbs of the Quirke syncline. Major reserves are being developed on the South Limb of the syncline, where the Stanleigh Mine, among four past-producers, has been reactivated.

Mots Clés: Uranium, Uranium exploration, Elliot Lake, Quirke syncline, milling