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File Created: 29-Jan-1988 by Larry Jones (LDJ)
Last Edit:  25-Jan-1996 by Jay W. Page (JWP)

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NMI
Name ENEAS A, ENEAS, FAULDER, ENEAS CREEK CANYON, ENEAS CANYON Mining Division Osoyoos
BCGS Map 082E062
Status Showing NTS Map 082E12E
Latitude 049º 39' 56'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 119º 44' 47'' Northing 5505069
Easting 301825
Commodities Uranium Deposit Types B08 : Surficial U
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Overlap Assemblage, Plutonic Rocks
Capsule Geology

The ENEAS A is a postglacial uranium concentration in peat near the junction of Eneas Creek with an unnamed tributary.

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

The occurrence is recent, having formed from the interaction between uranium-rich groundwater and unconsolidated material containing organics or clay. This is a process which is believed to still be taking place (Culbert and Leighton, 1988). 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 in stream sediments and valley soils over an area measuring 59,000 square metres (Culbert, 1979). An auger hole intersected a 3.5-metre thick layer averaging 0.0130 per cent uranium with a 0.5-metre section averaging 0.0232 per cent uranium (Culbert, 1979). The uraniferous layer lies 1.0 metre below the surface (Culbert, 1979). A cross-section of this site shows a 3-metre thickness of peat grading 0.0100 to 0.0250 per cent uranium (Culbert and Leighton, 1988, Fig. 11). The peat layer is interrupted by a thin silt layer at approximately 3 metres depth. A 0.5-metre section grades 0.0250 to 0.0500 per cent uranium at 4.5 metres depth (Culbert and Leighton, 1988, Fig. 11). The section is based on 8 auger holes to 4.5 metres depth. The ENEAS A is classified as a fresh water paleochannel deposit (Culbert and Leighton, 1988, Fig. 14).

Bibliography
EMPR ASS RPT 6575, 7308, 7972
EMPR EXPL 1977-34-35; 1978-35; 1979-45
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
IAEA TECDOC 322 (Surficial Uranium Deposits, Technical Document, Vienna, 1984), pp. 179-191
Bates, M.D.; 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 761, 1025

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