In 1951 uranium deposits contained carnotite were discovered in the southern Black Hills near Edgemont, Fall River County, S. Dak. Numerous carnotite deposits have since been found in sandstones in the Inyan Kara group of early Cretaceous age, and uranium-bearing material has been discovered in the Pennsylvania Minnelusa sandstone of Pennsylvanian age and the Deadwood formation of Cambrian age in the southern Black Hills. Ore has been produced only from the Inyan Kara group, mostly within an area of about 30 square miles along the southwest flank of the Black Hills uplift between Dewey and Hot Springs in Custer and Fall River Counties. In addition, occurrences of uranium in other parts of the Black Hills and the surrounding area are known or reported from sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks of pre-Cambrian to Tertiary age. The upper and lowermost formations of the Inyan Kara group - the Fall River and Lakota sandstones - contain the productive uranium deposits. These terrestrial formations are composed predominantly of massive sandstone lenses within units of thinly bedded sandstone and mudstone, but locally these formations contain abundant mudstone and thinly bedded sandstone. Massive sandstone lenses in the Lakota sandstone commonly overlap and truncate underlying lenses. The lenses are separated by thin units of thinly bedded sandstone and mudstone. Iron stain, carbonaceous material, thin seams of gypsum, ripple marks, concretions, and fossil roots are common in the mudstone and thinly bedded portions of these formations. Some high angle normal faults of small displacement are found in the area containing the largest number of uranium occurrences in the Inyan Kara group. Although no ore deposits seen were cut by faults, high-angle fractures parallel and at right angles to the faults contain carnotite for short distances. The productive uranium deposits are most common where the Fall River and Lakota sandstones locally contain a large proportion of mudstone and thinly bedded sandstone. Other deposits are in the massive sandstone lenses of the Lakota sandstone and in the thin units between the lenses. Although carnotite is the most conspicuous and important mineral in most deposits, corvusite is an important constituent of some deposits. Other uranium minerals in the deposits are tyuyamunite, rauvite, and autunite. Ore produced in 1952 from the Fall River and Lakota sandstones contained about 0.2 percent U 3 O 8 and 0.6 percent V 2 O 5 . In general, deposits in the Fall River and Lakota sandstones contain about the same percentage of U 3 O 8 , but the deposits in the Fall River sandstone appear to have a higher percentage of vanadium. The grade of individual deposits, however, is highly variable. Most deposits are small, but a few have yielded as much as a thousand tons of ore.

South Dakota↗

USGS1954

Geology of the Egnar quadrangle, Dolores and San Miguel counties, Colorado

The Egnar quadrangle is one of eighteen 7 1/2-minute quadrangles covering the principal carnotite-producing area of southwestern Colorado. The geology of these quadrangles was mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Atomic Energy Commission as part of a comprehensive study of carnotite deposits. The rocks exposed in the eighteen quadrangles consist of crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age and sedimentary rocks that range in age from late Paleozoic to Quaternary. Over much of the area the sedimentary rocks are flat lying, but in places the rocks are disrupted by hih-angle faults, and northwest-trending folds. Conspicuous among the folds are large anticlines having cores of intrusive salt and gypsum. Most of the carnotite deposits are confined to the Salt Wash sandstone member of Jurassic Morrison formation. Within this sandstone, most of the deposits are spottily distributed through an arcuate zone known as "Uruvan Mineral Belt". Individual deposits range in size from irregular masses containing only a few tons of ore to large, tabular masses containing many thousands of tons. The ore consists largely of sandstone selectively impregnated and in part replaced by uranium and vanadium minerals. Most of the deposits appear to be related to certain sedimentary structures in sandstones of favorable composition.

Colorado↗

USGS1953

Carnotite resources of the Spud Patch area, San Miguel County, Colorado

The Spud Patch area comprises about 8 square in T. 43 M., R. 18 and 19 W., San Miguel County, Colo., and is about 4 miles northeast of Egnar, Colo. Claims of the United States Vanadium Co. and the Vanadium Corp. of America cover about half the area. Claims of other owners, public land, and patented agricultural land, comprise the remainder of the area. The area is about 38 miles from the Government mill at Montecello, Utah, and 55 miles from the Vanadium Corp. of America mill at Naturita, Colo. Between 1940 and 1951, the Spud Patch area yielded about 24,000 short tons of carnotite ore that probably averaged 0.21 percent U 3 O 8 and 2.2 percent V 2 O 5 . The deposits are in a broad sandstone lens near the top of the Salt Wash member of the Jurassic Morrison formation. Although the deposits mined have been mainly impregnations of sandstone by carnotite and gray vanadium-bearing clay minerals, some of the richer deposits found by Geological Survey drilling have a finely disseminated black uranium mineral but no carnotite. The deposits commonly are thin irregular tabular layers, which locally thicken to form elongate masses called "rolls". These rolls have a dominant northeasterly trend. Geologic features found to be most useful as guides to ore are listed. From November 1949 to May 1952, the U.S. Geological Survey drilled 415 diamond-drill holes totaling 67,215 feet in the Spud Patch area. The purpose of this drilling was to find deposits that would make new mines and to appraise the reserves in the unexplored area. As a result of Geological Survey drilling, indicated and inferred reserves computed at the cutoff of 1 foot or more thick and 0.10 percent U 3 O 8 or 1.0 percent V 2 O 5 total 20,500 short tons, averaging 0.28 percent U 3 O 8 and 2.1 percent V 2 O 5 . These reserves and those computed at a lower grade cutoff of 0.05 percent U 3 O 8 or 0.50 percent V 2 O 5 and the pounds of contained metal are summarized in table 1. Potential reserves, whose existence is based on geologic evidence alone, are predicted to total about 42,000 short tons, averaging 0.25 percent U 3 O 8 and 2.0 percent V 2 O 5 . No additional exploratory-type drilling by the Geological Survey is planned in the Spud Patch area. Recommendations are offered for additional development-type drilling, preferably by claim owners or lessees in specific areas in the vicinity of deposits discovered by Geological Survey drilling.

Colorado↗

USGS1953

Geology of the Horse Range Mesa quadrangle, Colorado

The Horse Range Mesa quadrangle is one of eighteen 7 1/2-minute quadrangles covering the principal carnotite-producing area of southwestern Colorado. The geology of the quadrangles was mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Atomic Energy Commission as part of a comprehensive study of carnotite deposits. The rocks exposed in the eighteen quadrangles consist of crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age and sedimentary rocks that range in age from late Paleozoic to Quaternary. Over much of the area the sedimentary rocks are flat lying, but in places the rocks are disrupted by high-angle faults, and northwest-trending folds. Conspicuous among the folds are large anticlines having cores of intrusive salt and gypsum. Most of the carnotite deposits are confined to the Salt Wash sandstone member of the Jurassic Morrison formation. Within this sandstone, most of the deposits are spottily distributed through an arcuate zone known as the "Uravan Mineral Belt". Individual deposits range in size from irregular masses containing only a few tons of ore to large, tabular masses containing many thousands of tons. The ore consists largely of sandstone selectively impregnated and in part replaced by uranium and vanadium minerals. Most of the deposits appear to be related to certain sedimentary strictures in sandstones of favorable composition.

Colorado↗

USGS1953

Geology of the Joe Davis Hill quadrangle, Dolores and San Miguel counties, Colorado

The Joe Davis Hill quadrangle is one of eighteen 7 1/2-minute quadrangles covering the principal carnotite-producing area of southwestern Colorado. The geology of these quadrangles was mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Atomic Energy Commission as part of a comprehensive study of carnotite deposits. The rocks exposed in the eighteen quadrangles consist of crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age and sedimentary rocks that range in age from late Paleozoic to Quaternary. Over much of the area the sedimentary rocks are flat lying, but in places the rocks are disrupted by hih-angle faults, and northwest-trending folds. Conspicuous among the folds are large anticlines having cores of intrusive salt and gypsum. Most of the carnotite deposits are confined to Salt Wash sandstone member of the Jurassic Morrison formation. Within this sandstone, most of the deposits are spottily distributed through an arcuate zone known as the "Uravan Mineral Belt". Individual deposits range in size from irregular masses containing only a few tons of ore to large, tabular masses containing many thousands of tons. The ore consists largely of sandstone selectively impregnated and in part replaced by uranium and vanadium minerals. Most of the deposits appear to be related to certain sedimentary structures in sandstones of favorable composition.

Colorado↗