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Geology, geochemistry and mineralogy of the lignite-hosted Ambassador palaeochannel uranium and multi-element deposit, Gunbarrel Basin, Western Australia

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Abstract

The Ambassador U and multi-element deposit occurs on the SW margin of the Gunbarrel Basin, Western Australia. Low-grade, flat-lying U mineralization averaging about 2 m thick at 0.03% U occurs in lignites at the redox front at the base of the weathering profile within a laterally extensive palaeochannel network. Uranium is principally associated with organic matter within the lignitic matrix, although rare discrete U minerals, such as coffinite and uraninite, are also present. The lignite is also enriched in a suite of other elements, principally base metals and sulphur, with concentrations of 0.3 ≥ 1% Cu, Pb, Ni, Co, Zn and total rare earth elements (REE) in some samples. Other element enrichments include: Cr, Cs, Sc, Se, Ta, Ti, Th, V and Zr as detrital heavy minerals of Zr, Ti and REE (oxides and silicates) or authigenic minerals of Cu, Bi, Pb, Zn, Ni, Se, Hg, Ti, Cr, Tl, V, U and REE (sulphides, vanadates, selenides, oxides, chlorides and native metals) and diffuse lignite impregnations. The Ambassador deposit probably formed from the convergence of redox-active weathering processes to unique source/host rocks, constrained within the palaeochannel. A proximal source of U and trace elements of lamproite/carbonatite origin is probable, as constrained by U–Pb isotope and U–Th disequilibria studies. Uranium and other metals were precipitated syngenetically with organic matter as it was deposited during a humid phase in the Late Eocene. Remobilization subsequently concentrated the metals in the upper 2 m of the lignite. This may have occurred during one or more periods of weathering and associated diagenesis, with the latest episode in the last 300,000 years.

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Acknowledgements

A number of present and former staff from CSIRO are acknowledged. These include A.Z. Gedeon and M. Pascoe (initial data compilation and SEM analyses), R. Bilz and J. Crabb (sample preparation) and M.K.W Hart and M. Cheeseman (XRF analysis). J. Turner is thanked for the groundwater isotopic analyses, G.R. Carr and D. Whitford for the Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic analyses and D.G. Longman for laboratory assistance. The project received logistical and financial support from PNC Exploration Ltd. and MERIWA.

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  1. CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag No 5, Wembley, WA, 6913, Australia

    Grant B. Douglas

  2. CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering, PO Box 1130, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Charles R. M. Butt & David J. Gray

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Douglas, G.B., Butt, C.R.M. & Gray, D.J. Geology, geochemistry and mineralogy of the lignite-hosted Ambassador palaeochannel uranium and multi-element deposit, Gunbarrel Basin, Western Australia. Miner Deposita 46, 761–787 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-011-0349-4

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