The Andrew Lake shear zone, perhaps the most prominent one in the area, has been identified, mapped and sampled. Studies to date show that plutonic granitoid rocks have intruded older gneiss granitoids of the TMZ basement. This indicates that large volumes of fluid have been introduced into the mylonite zones, which is of interest in the search for gold-bearing shear zones. Because the Athabasca Basin continues into northeastern Alberta, it is instructive to compare the Alberta portion with the mainpart of the Basin in Saskatchewan. Metallogenic studies in northeastern Alberta are being conducted in selected areas with a particular focus on previously unreported features.
Studies show that prominent unconformities extend into Alberta from Saskatchewan.
These include the main unconformity between Athabasca Group sediments and the underlying Precambrian metamorphic rocks, and several other unconformities within the Athabasca Group itself. In the search for economic deposits, the presence of unconformities in the Athabasca Basin of Alberta is a favourable sign. In addition, basement rocks below the Athabasca Basin succession in Alberta are enriched in several elements, including nickel, while chromium enriches the upper parts of the Athabasca succession. These factors increase the potential of finding economically valuable deposits of uranium-polymetals in northeastern Alberta. Knowledge of the glacial and post-glacial history of this area, including studies of diamond indicator minerals, is needed in order to use glacial drift studies as prospecting tools.