The Cenex uranium deposit occurs in gneisses and schists of the Tazin Group which represent supracrustal rocks folded and metamorphosed to amphibolite rank during the Hudsonian orogeny. During the late stages of the orogenic uplift, cataclastic deformation caused partial retrogression of the rocks to greenschist facies assemblages and their transformation into mylonites, ultramylonites, and mylonite schist. Continued uplift of these rocks led to their brittle fracture, and, contemporaneous erosion on surface resulted in the formation of successor basins in the area. The orebody occurs at the intersection of northwest and northeast-trending fault zones and the ore is localized in breccia zones, along faults, and in veins and the adjacent wallrocks. The host rocks are quartzo-feldspathic mylonites and ultramylonites and chlorite, sericite, quartz, graphite, feldspar mylonite schist. The uranium-bearing minerals are pitchblende and a uraniferous titanate, which commonly occur finely disseminated in the host rocks. Cross-cutting relationships between mineralized structures indicate five stages of uranium mineralization separated by fracturing events· The earliest episode of mineralization is associated with late-stage retrograde metamorphic processes in the mylonite schist, whereas later stages of mineralization are dominated by the intense hematization, carbonatization, and chloritization of the quartzo-feldspathic mylonites and ultramylonites. Traditional genetic models, which metamorphic-hydrothermal sources propose magmatic for the uranium and ore-bearing fluid, have been evaluated and found to be ·inconsistent with the geological history of the rocks and the relative time of emplacement of uranium mineralization. In the Cenex mine area there appears to have been contemporaneity of late uplift, erosion, and deposition of continental clastics on the one hand, and· brittle fracture and uranium mineralization in the basement, on the other. This suggests that the hydrologic system, during and after sedimentation, may have played an important role as a source for ore-bearing fluids- This source would be most important in areas of the basement which were faulted, fractured, and occurred close to the continental clastics - hence the close spatial relationship of the uranium deposits in the Beaverlodge area with the basal unconformity of the Martin Group.

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A system for the analysis of urine bioassay samples for the purpose of inversely investigating an unknown exposure to uranium has been developed. This technique involves the use of a thin flow electrochemical cell in conjunction with an anodized glassy carbon electrode to selectively separate uranium atoms out of solution for later analysis on an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. A series of uranium urinalysis bioassay sample results can be used to investigate the time frame and type of exposure. This analysis uses an exposure database and regression analysis to best fit urinalysis uranium excretion data to expected profiles using commercially available mathematics software. The least number of data points to determine an acceptable confidence interval is ten bioassay samples taken at least a week apart. The system was benchmarked using a random sampling of urinary excretion samples from a known case at the Y-12 plant in the 1960’s. The electrochemical system was characterized using U.S. Department of Energy synthetic urine quality assurance standards from an inter-laboratory exercise in 2012. The separation apparatus was able to consistently separate uranium from the synthetic urine solutions with a consistent recovery between ten and fifteen percent and up to fifty percent. The method is isotope independent and maintains the enrichment of any excreted material. This allows for the material to be compared to operational logbooks at facilities using multiple enrichments in the nuclear fuel cycle. This methodology is recommended for spot estimation in support of a traditional bioassay program.

Historically, the Inuit of Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake) have expressed strong opposition to uranium mining in their territory, in part due to concerns that it would be detrimental to their harvesting practices. During these struggles, the Inuit of Qamani’tuaq had the support of various Inuit Organizations. The first decade of the 2000s saw the relevant Inuit Organizations change their policies from ones which opposed uranium mining to ones which support it. This thesis is an attempt to understand if Inuit at the community level have changed their opinions about uranium mining and, if so, why. During my time in Qamani’tuaq, it became apparent that the shift in policy has been followed by a gradual change in perspective among some members of the community. While opposition to uranium mining is by no means dead, the seemingly united stance the community previously held has become fragmented. This change is due to a number of factors, including an increased astuteness on the part of the mining industry, certain aspects of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and ongoing economic dependency upon the market economy.