Recent Development in 2D and 3D Seismic Imaging of High-Grade Uranium Ore Deposit Related Environments, in the Eastern Athabasca Basin, Canada Hajnal, Z. [1] , Pandit, B. [1] , Reilkoff, B. [1] , Takacs, E. [1] , Annesley, I. [2] , Wallster, D. [3] _________________________ 1. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada 2. Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada 3. Hathor Exploration Ltd, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ABSTRACT The diverse and often strongly deformed assemblages of igneous and metamorphic rocks, of variable ages, host important mineral resources at variable depth (Eaton et al., 2003). Mapping of these subsurface environments can be extremely challenging. Recent seismic 2 and 3D reflection surveys in the uranium district of the eastern Athabasca Basin successfully outline the 3D subsurface setting of known ore deposits, revealed new previously unrecognized, target areas and determine the complexity of the ore related structural framework. In the active exploration district of the Russell Lake area, intersecting seismic profiles outline regional and local structural settings highly comparable to surroundings of known ore deposits, establishing specific drilling targets zones in depth. The results also demonstrate that some modifications are necessary, in both of the data acquisition and data processing phases of the reflection method, to achieve its successful implementation for exploration in the Athabasca Basin. INTRODUCTION In the past decade a number of high-resolution and regional multi-channel seismic reflection investigations were initiated, in the Athabasca Basin. The first was under the auspices of the AREVA (COGEMA) RESOURCES. This was followed by the highly successful EXTECH-IV Athab asca Multidisciplinary Uranium Studies Program and more recently by the support of Hathor Exploration Ltd. The two overall goals of the seismic program are to develop a functional seismic technique as an efficient tool for uranium exploration, and to contribute to the four-dimensional geoscience framework for uranium exploration within the deeper recesses of the Athabasca Basin. More specifically, objectives of the high-resolution 2D and 3D surveys were: 1) to define the basement structures underlying the basin; 2) to map the stratigraphic architecture of the Athabasca Group Sandstone; 3) to image the sandstone/basement unconformity; 4) to locate faults controlling the uranium deposits; 5) to establish possible relationships between sedimentation and deformation and 6) to determine the seismic signature of a known uranium deposit. Figure 1: Geological framework of the Athabasca Basin with the location of the study areas, the McArthur River mine site (2) and Russell Lake area (3); more details on Figures 2 and 3. GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK The Mesoproterozoic Athabasca Basin (Figure 1) consists of a maximum 1500 m thick succession of mainly fluvial- continental deposits, referred to as the Athabasca Group Sandstones. It is dominated by quartz -rich sandstones of varying grain-size Ground and Borehole Geophysical Methods _____________________________________________________________________________________ Paper 109 ___________________________________________________________________________ In "Proceedings of Exploration 07: Fifth Decennial International Conference on Mineral Exploration" edited by B. Milkereit, 2007, p. 1131-1135