To: loantech who wrote (1473 ) 10/30/2005 4:04:40 PM From: E. Charters Respond to of 78421 Maybe it's Sibley Rivalry along the Ramparts. -----------------------------------------------------------Similarities between the Athabasca and Nipigon basins are: Both are unmetamorphosed, continental sedimentary basins. Both basins are of Helikian age (Athabasca Formation 1,350 my, Sibley Group 1,339 my). Both basins have well developed regolith (deep paleo-weathering) of basement rocks at the unconformity where the sediments overlie Archean to early Proterozoic basement rocks. Both basins overlie basement rocks with high background uranium contents and/or zones of uranium enrichment. Both basins have been intruded by Helikian-age mafic magmatic activity (e.g. diabase dykes and sills in the Athabasca Basin; the Nipigon sills in the Nipigon Basin). The basement rocks under both basins contain chemical traps (such as graphitic units) that are capable of reacting with uranium-bearing groundwater to precipitate and concentrate uranium mineralization. The southern part of the Nipigon Basin, between Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior, is the most favourable for uranium exploration. In this area, Sibley Group sediments overlie "uranium-rich" metasediments and granitic intrusives of the Quetico subprovince. At the northern margin of the Quetico rocks, the basement rocks change to metavolcanics and metasediments of the Wabigoon subprovince, containing abundant graphitic units, sulphide zones and iron formations, all of which represent potential chemical traps for uranium. The southern part of the Nipigon Basin is very accessible, with an extensive network of logging roads, which allow overland access to most areas for exploration purposes. Recent government airborne radiometric and magnetic surveys and high-density lake sediment surveys have provided an excellent database to guide project selection and regional exploration.