Comparison of granite-related uranium deposits in the Beaverlodge district (Canada) and South China – A common control of mineralization by coupled shallow and deep-seated geologic processes in an extensional setting

[Display omitted] •Beaverlodge (Canada) and South China granite-related uranium deposits share many similarities.•Uranium mineralization in both areas are associated with red bed basins and mafic magmatism in an extensional setting.•Red bed basins served as reservoirs of oxidizing fluids, and elevated geothermal gradients facilitated fluid circulation.•Coupling of shallow (red bed basins) and deep (mantle-derived magmatism) processes is critical for uranium mineralization. Many uranium deposits are related to granitic rocks, but the mineralization ages are much younger, thus excluding a direct magmatic-hydrothermal link between the mineralization and the granites. Two such examples are the Proterozoic “vein-type” uranium deposits in the Beaverlodge district in Canada and the Mesozoic granite-related uranium deposits in South China. Both areas have been extensively studied, but the critical factors that control the mineralization remain unclear. The uranium mineralization in the Beaverlodge district occurs in quartz – carbonate ± albite veins and breccias developed within and near major deformation zones, and are mainly hosted by ca. 2.33 – 1.90 Ga granitic rocks and ca. 2.33 Ga Murmac Bay Group amphibolite. These rocks are unconformably overlain by the Martin Lake Basin, which was formed during a period of regional extension in the later stage of the Trans-Hudson orogeny and is filled with red beds. A ca. 1820 Ma mafic magmatic event is manifested as volcanic rocks occurring within the Martin Lake Basin and as dikes crosscutting the basement rocks and lower Martin Group strata. Uraninite U-Pb and Pb-Pb ages range from ca. 2290 Ma to 145 Ma) and broadly contemporaneous with development of the red bed basins and mafic magmatism. Comparison of the two study areas reveals striking similarities in ge