Calculation of Filtration Properties of the Antey Uranium Deposit Rock Massif at the Deformation Phases: Microstructural Approach

Abstract

The spatial and geometric parameters of various types and systems of microstructures were established, basing on the special technique of microstructural analysis, implemented by using the authors’ GIS module, in oriented rock samples of the Antey molybdenum-uranium deposit (Southeastern Transbaikalia, Russia). The sequence of activation of these microstructures was reconstructed by using additional methods for analysis of mineral substances. We investigated the fluid inclusion planes, which are microcracks that captured secondary fluid inclusions in the hydrothermal activity process, as reliable indicators of changing parameters of the stress-strain field and the identification of rock deformation phases. Thus, three successive structural phases in the history of the formation of the Antey deposit, were established. The established phases reflect the impacts of different stress-strain fields, which led to the formation of a specific set of microstructures generations that behaved as fluid-conducting channels within the hydrothermal process. The values of porosity and permeability were calculated for each identified structural phase of the deposit formation associated with certain deformations that directly influence the migration process of ore-bearing fluids.