MINFILE Mineral Inventory

MINFILE Record Summary

MINFILE No 082ENW067

File Created:	20-Mar-1987	by	Larry Jones (LDJ)
Last Edit:	25-Jan-1996	by	Jay W. Page (JWP)

SUMMARY

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		NMI
Name	STINKHOLE, FAULDER, LITTLE STINK, STINKHOLE LAKE, STINKHOLE POND	Mining Division	Osoyoos
		BCGS Map	082E062
Status	Prospect	NTS Map	082E12E
Latitude	049º 37' 46''	UTM	11 (NAD 83)
Longitude	119º 44' 23''	Northing	5501037
		Easting	302159
Commodities	Uranium, Molybdenum	Deposit Types	B08 : Surficial U
Tectonic Belt	Intermontane	Terrane	Overlap Assemblage, Plutonic Rocks

Capsule Geology

The STINKHOLE prospect is a postglacial uranium concentration in lake-bottom sediments and surrounding marshes. It is located in the Stinkhole pond, approximately 10.5 kilometres northwest of Summerland.

This is one of many young uranium occurrences discovered by D. G. Leighton & Associates Ltd. in the late 1970s. Work prior to the uranium moratorium in 1980 consisted of detailed auger sampling. The area is underlain by granodiorite of the Jurassic Okanagan Intrusions.

The occurrence is recent, having formed from the interaction between uranium-rich groundwater and unconsolidated material containing organics or clay. This process is believed to still be taking place. The source of the uranium is thought to be the surrounding igneous rocks, where groundwaters rich in carbonate and alkali ions have leached labile uranium from fresh rock exposed after glaciation.

Uranium enrichment occurs over an area measuring 14,900 square metres. The STINKHOLE pond is approximately 60 metres by 150 metres and is set in a marsh which is almost 500 metres long by 100 metres at the widest point. Augering of the STINKHOLE to an 8-metre depth revealed that the highest uranium content exists near the bottom (Assessment Report 6575). One hole averaged 0.0274 per cent over 8 metres, with the bottom 3 metres averaging 0.0476 per cent (Assessment Report 6575). A 1.0-metre section of another hole analysed 0.0580 per cent uranium (Assessment Report 6575). The marsh was augered to 1 metre depth, with the best uranium value being 0.0140 per cent (Assessment Report 6575).

The STINKHOLE and surrounding marsh averages 0.0353 per cent uranium over a 5.2 metre thickness, beginning at 2.8 metres depth (Culbert, 1979). The highest 0.5-metre intersection analysed 0.0984 per cent (Culbert, 1979). Molybendum enrichment (up to 0.07 per cent) also occurs (Culbert, 1988).

An adjacent area to the southeast, informally known as the "Little Stink", occupies an area of 5,000 square metres and it averages 0.0212 per cent over 3.5 metres depth beginning at the surface (Culbert, 1979). The highest 0.5-metre intersection analysed in the Little Stink was 0.0885 per cent uranium (Culbert, 1979).

Bibliography

EMPR ASS RPT *6575

EMPR EXPL 1977-34,35

EMPR FIELDWORK 1979, pp. 11-15

EMPR OF 1990-32; 1994-8

EMPR RGS 29

GSC MAP 538A; 15-1961; 1701A; 1712A; 1713A; 1714A; 1736A; 7686G; 8521G

GSC OF 409; 736; 1969

CIM BULL 1978, Vol. 71, #783, pp. 103-110

CJES *Vol. 21, 1984 pp. 559-566

*IAEA TECDOC 322 (Surficial Uranium Deposits, Technical Document, Vienna, 1984), pp. 179-191.

Bates, D.V.; Murray, J.W.; Raudsepp, V. (1980): Royal Commission of Inquiry, Health and Environmental Protection, Uranium Mining; Commissioners' Report, Vol. 1, pp. 35-36, 183-184.

*Culbert, R.R. (1979): Post-Glacial Uranium Concentration in South Central British Columbia, Royal Commission on Uranium Mining, Accession List #2109S01, 20 pages.

Culbert, R.R. (1979): Uranium Equilibrium - Disequilibrium as Observed in the Natural Environment in British Columbia, Royal Commission on Uranium Mining, Accession List #2017S, 15 pages with Appendices

*Culbert, R.R. and Leighton, D.G. (1988): Young Uranium; in Unconventional Uranium Deposits, Ore Geology Reviews, Vol. 3, pp. 313-330.

EMPR PFD 753