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USGS1976

Preliminary report on uranium-, thorium-, and rare-earth-bearing rocks near Golovin, Alaska

Uranium-, thorium-, and rare-earth bearing rocks were found by a U.S. Geological Survey field party 15 miles northeast of Golovin, Alaska, in the southeastern Seward Peninsula (fig. 1) in June 1976. The mineralized areas occur in syenite and appear to be concentrated along the margins of alkaline dikes, with allanite tentatively identified as the principal mineral containing the uranium-, thorium-, and rare-earths. Samples contain as much as 0.15 percent U 3 0 8 and 1.05 percent Th0 2 , and over 2 percent rare-earth elements. These mineralized rocks are closely associated with alkaline dikes which are part of a dike swarm that crops out over at least 250 km 2 (100 mi 2 ). This large dike swarm is thus of considerable economic interest. These uranium-, thorium-, and rare-earth-rich rocks occur near the west end of the western Alaska uranium-thorium province (West, 1953; Clark and others, 1975; Miller, 3976) and were found during a regional investigation of this province by the Geological Survey. The alkaline dikes were known from previous mapping by the two senior authors (Miller and others, 1972) to be anomalously radioactive. The mineralized areas described in this report were found while making a brief study of (1) alteration and/or mineralization associated with these dikes and (2) their relation to similar dikes and rocks which occur elsewhere in the province (Miller, 1972).

Alaska↗

USGS1976

Water and stream-sediment sampling techniques for use in uranium exploration

Methods of sampling water and stream sediments for uranium were established in this study. Water samples should be taken using a US DH-48 water sampler across the stream channel and should be filtered and acidified in situ. Stream sediments should be taken as a composite sample up and across the axis of the channel. Only sediment fractions less than 90 ?m (170 mesh) should be analyzed for uranium. The elements As, Ca, Al, B, Mg, K, and Na exhibit a positive correlation with uranium in surface waters, while a much larger suite of elements exhibit a positive correlation with uranium in stream sediments: K, Mn, Mg, Ti, Ca, Al, Fe, Pb, Cr, Y, Zr, Li, Zn, Th, and As. Analyses have revealed that anomalies detected in either the dissolved or suspended fractions of water, or the stream sediments, are frequently not reflected in the other two; hence, all three should be sampled and analyzed.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1977

Uranium, radium, and selected metallic-element analyses of spring water and travertine samples from the Grand Canyon, Arizona

Samples for this report were collected from springs and travertine deposits along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Sampling was done in April and May of 1976. Data obtained from these samples will be used by R. A. Cadigan and J. K. Felmlee as part of a project designed to determine the value of subsurface waters in prospecting for uranium deposits. Sample sites were preselected at approximately equal intervals, but river conditions and accessibility forced some modification of the sampling plan at each spring visited, a 2-liter untreated water sample was collected to be analyzed for uranium and radium. At two of the sample locations, an additional 4-liter water sample was collected, filtered, acidified, and later analyzed for the 24 additional elements listed in table-2. A more detailed description of the sampling technique is presented in Brown and others, 1970. All samples were placed in full, tightly capped plastic containers. Temperature and conductivity were measured in the field. Measurements of the pH of the non-acidified samples were made in the laboratory a few weeks after the samples were collected. An effort was made to collect the freshest possible travertine samples, but the freshness of the samples varied, as noted in the descriptions of the sample sites. Analyses were performed by laboratories of the U.S. Geological Survey. Radium values were determined by radiochemical methods; uranium, by extraction fluorometry; eU (equivalent uranium), by beta-gamma count; and other elements, by semiquantitative emission spectrography. Table 1 is a description of the sample sites. The analytical results for spring water are presented in table 2. Table 3 gives the analyses of the travertine samples.

Arizona↗

USGS1979

Possible uranium mineralization, Mineral Mountains, Utah

The Mineral Mountains block in west-central Utah is a horst whose core stands structurally high relative to all nearby basin-and-range fault blocks. Rocks of the Mineral Mountains range from Precambrian to Quaternary in age, but mostly consist of Tertiary granitic rocks. The range lies with the Wah Wah-Tusher mineral belt. Lead, silver, gold, and tungsten have been mined commercially. During a geochemical survey conducted in the summer of 1978, 30 water samples and 29 stream-sediment samples were collected from the Mineral Mountains area. The interpretation of simple plots of uranium concentrations and the results of a Q-mode factor analysis indicate that potential exists for uranium mineral deposits within the Mineral Mountains. The most favorable areas are in the granitic pluton near its contacts with sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. The most likely source of the uranium anomalies is uraninite-bearing epigenic veins along faults and fractures within the pluton. Three hypothetical models are proposed to account for the uranium mineralization.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1979

A uranium occurrence in the Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation on Kuiu Island, southeast Alaska

Radioactive anomalies as high as 50 times background and uranium-bearing samples were discovered in parts of the nonmarine Tertiary Kootznahoo Formation in southeast Alaska by K. A. Dickinson and John Mitchell. Samples containing as much as 1300 ± 400 ppm uranium, measured by beta eU, were found. These samples have the highest uranium contents so far reported from Tertiary sedimentary rocks in southeast Alaska. Eakins (1975) reported two samples containing 12 and 13 ppm uranium and an anomaly of 13 times background from the same area. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of present studies and to suggest further work.

Alaska↗

USGS1979

The importance of dissolved free oxygen during formation of sandstone-type uranium deposits

One factor which distinguishes t, he genesis of roll-type uranium deposits from the Uravan Mineral Belt and other sandstone-type uranium deposits may be the presence and concentration of dissolved free oxygen in the ore-forming. solutions. Although dissolved oxygen is a necessary prerequisite for the formation of roll-type deposits, it is proposed that a lack of dissolved oxygen is a prerequisite for the Uravan deposits. Solutions that formed both types of deposits probably had a supergene origin and originated as meteoric water in approximate equilibrium with atmospheric oxygen. Roll-type deposits were formed where the Eh dropped abruptly following consumption of the oxygen by iron sulfide minerals and creation of kinetically active sulfur species that could reduce uranium. The solutions that formed the Uravan deposits, on the other hand, probably first equilibrated with sulfide-free ferrous-ferric detrital minerals and fossil organic matter in the host rock. That is, the uraniferous solutions lost their oxygen without lowering their Eh enough to precipitate uranium. Without oxygen, they then. became incapable of oxidizing iron sulfide minerals. Subsequent localization and formation of ore bodies from these oxygen-depleted solutions, therefore, was not necessarily dependent on large reducing capacities.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1982

Uranium in Wheeler Basin, Grand County, Colorado

Two kinds of radioactive anomalies are found in Wheeler Basin, both of which consist of biotite concentrations in Precambrian rocks, but the ones in migmatized biotite gneiss contain uraninite and the ones in Silver Plume Granite probably do not. At least 18 new uranium occurrences were found, most of which are less than a square meter. These discoveries enlarge the uraniferous area reported by Young and Hauff in 1975. Uranium in these biotite concentrations occurs in several modes: as uraninite grains; in accessory minerals, such as zircon; in fractures in plagioclase; and along grain boundaries and in cleavage openings in mica. Uranium mineralogy in the fractures, grain boundaries, and micas is not known. Yellow, secondary uranium minerals are seen locally on outcrop. Relative to crustal abundance, the radioactive biotite concentrations in migmatized biotite gneiss show depletion in Ca, Sr, Na, and, locally, Cu, but pronounced enrichment in U and Mo, and moderate enrichment in Pb, Ag, Th, and REE. The radioactive biotite concentrations in the Silver Plume Granite show pronounced enrichment in Th, and moderate enrichment in U, Sn, Zr, and Ag. Enrichment in light REE predominates over heavy REE. As U is more abundant in biotite concentrations in migmatized biotite gneiss than in biotite concentrations in Silver Plume Granite, I have concluded that U in the migmatized biotite gneiss was present before intrusion of the Silver Plume Granite, and that metamorphic effects of the Silver Plume intrusion remobilized U to form pockets of enrichment (biotite concentrations).

Open-File Report↗

USGS1982

Radioactive mineral spring precipitates, their analytical and statistical data and the uranium connection

Major radioactive mineral springs are probably related to deep zones of active metamorphism in areas of orogenic tectonism. The most common precipitate is travertine, a chemically precipitated rock composed chiefly of calcium carbonate, but also containing other minerals. The mineral springs are surface manifestations of hydrothermal conduit systems which extend downward many kilometers to hot source rocks. Conduits are kept open by fluid pressure exerted by carbon dioxide-charged waters rising to the surface propelled by heat and gas (CO2 and steam) pressure. On reaching the surface, the dissolved carbon dioxide is released from solution, and calcium carbonate is precipitated. Springs also contain sulfur species (for example, H2S and HS-), and radon, helium and methane as entrained or dissolved gases. The HS- ion can react to form hydrogen sulfide gas, sulfate salts, and native sulfur. Chemical salts and native sulfur precipitate at the surface. The sulfur may partly oxidize to produce detectable sulfur dioxide gas. Radioactivity is due to the presence of radium-226, radon-222, radium-228, and radon-220, and other daughter products of uranium-238 and thorium-232. Uranium and thorium are not present in economically significant amounts in most radioactive spring precipitates. Most radium is coprecipitated at the surface with barite. Barite (barium sulfate) forms in the barium-containing spring water as a product of the oxidation of sulfur species to sulfate ions. The relatively insoluble barium sulfate precipitates and removes much of the radium from solution. Radium coprecipitates to a lesser extent with manganese-barium- and iron-oxy hydroxides. R-mode factor analysis of abundances of elements suggests that 65 percent of the variance of the different elements is affected by seven factors interpreted as follows: (1) Silica and silicate contamination and precipitation; (2) Carbonate travertine precipitation; (3) Radium coprecipitation; (4) Evaporite precipitation; (5) Hydrous limonite precipitation and coprecipitated elements including uranium; (6) Rare earth elements deposited with detrital contamination (?); (7) Metal carbonate adsorption and precipitation. Economically recoverable minerals occurring at some localities in spring precipitates are ores of iron, manganese, sulfur, tungsten and barium and ornamental travertine. Continental radioactive mineral springs occur in areas of crustal thickening caused by overthrusting of crustal plates, and intrusion and metamorphism. Sedimentary rocks on the lower plate are trapped between the plates and form a zone of metamorphism. Connate waters, carbonate rocks and organic-carbon-bearing rocks react to extreme pressure and temperature to produce carbon dioxide, and steam. Fractures are forced open by gas and fluid pressures. Deep-circulating meteoric waters then come in contact with the reactive products, and a hydrothermal cell forms. When hot mineral-charged waters reach the surface they form the familiar hot mineral springs. Hot springs also occur in relation to igneous intrusive action or volcanism both of which may be products of the crustal plate overthrusting. Uranium and thorium in the sedimentary rocks undergoing metamorphism are sometimes mobilized, but mobilization is generally restricted to an acid hydrothermal environment; much is redeposited in favorable environments in the metamorphosed sediments. Radium and radon, which are highly mobile in both acid and alkaline aqueous media move upward into the hydrothermal cell and to the surface.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1983

Statistical treatment and preliminary interpretation of chemical data from a uranium deposit in the northeast part of the Church Rock area, Gallup mining district, New Mexico

Statistical treatment of analytical data from 106 samples of uranium-mineralized and unmineralized or weakly mineralized rocks of the Morrison Formation from the northeastern part of the Church Rock area of the Grants uranium region indicates that along with uranium, the deposits in the northeast Church Rock area are enriched in barium, sulfur, sodium, vanadium and equivalent uranium. Selenium and molybdenum are sporadically enriched in the deposits and calcium, manganese, strontium, and yttrium are depleted. Unlike the primary deposits of the San Juan Basin, the deposits in the northeast part of the Church Rock area contain little organic carbon and several elements that are characteristically enriched in the primary deposits are not enriched or are enriched to a much lesser degree in the Church Rock deposits. The suite of elements associated with the deposits in the northeast part of the Church Rock area is also different from the suite of elements associated with the redistributed deposits in the Ambrosia Lake district. This suggests that the genesis of the Church Rock deposits is different, at least in part, from the genesis of the primary deposits of the San Juan Basin or the redistributed deposits at Ambrosia Lake.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1983

Sedimentology of the lower part of the upper Triassic Chinle Formation and its relationship to uranium deposits, White Canyon area, southeastern Utah

Closely spaced measured stratigraphic sections of the lower part of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation in the White Canyon area of southeastern Utah depict a fluvial-deltaic-lacustrine depositional sequence that hosts uranium deposits in basal fluvial sandstones. The basal Shinarump Member consists of predominantly trough-crossbedded, coarse-grained sandstone and minor gray, carbonaceous mudstone and is interpreted as a valley-fill sequence overlain by deposits of a braided stream system. The overlying Monitor Butte Member is composed of cyclic- and foreset-bedded siltstone, sandstone, and mudstone and is interpreted as a succession of low-energy fluvial, deltaic and orqanicrich, lacustrine-marsh sediments. The overlying Moss Back Member is composed of a laterally extensive, coarse- to medium-grained, conglomeratic sandstone and is interpreted as a braided-stream system that flowed north to northwest. The entire sequence was deposited in response to changes in local base level associated with a large lake that lay to the west. Isopachs of lithofacies indicate distinct lacustrine basins and a correspondence between these facies and modern structural synclines. Facies changes and coincidence of isopach thicks suggest that structural synclines were active in the Late Triassic and influenced the pattern of sediment distribution within the basins. Uranium mineralization appears to be related to certain low-energy depositional environments in that uranium is localized in fluvial sandstones that lie beneath organic-rich lacustrine-marsh mudstones and carbonaceous delta-front sediments. The reducing environment preserved in these facies may have played an important role in the localization of uranium.

Utah↗

USGS1984

Occurrence of uranium in ground water in the vicinity of the U.S. Department of Energy Feed Materials Production Center, Fernald, Ohio

Process wastes are stored on site in rubber-lined and clay-lined pits and in large tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC), where purified uranium and uranium compounds are produced. Water samples collected from off-site domestic and commercial wells in December 1981 and in August 1982, contained concentrations of dissolved uranium that ranged from < 0.4 to 430 micrograms/L (ug/L). The wells whose samples contained unusual concentrations of uranium (> 10 ug/L) lie roughly along a line extending about 2000 ft south from the southern boundary of FMPC. The offsite area affected by these concentrations is probably < 100 acres. It is not possible to determine the exact point of origination of contaminants in the groundwater on the basis of available data. (Author 's abstract)

Open-File Report↗

USGS2010

Hydrological, geological, and biological site characterization of breccia pipe uranium deposits in Northern Arizona

On July 21, 2009, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar proposed a two-year withdrawal of about 1 million acres of Federal land near the Grand Canyon from future mineral entry. These lands are contained in three parcels: two parcels on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land to the north of the Grand Canyon (North and East Segregation Areas) and one on the Kaibab National Forest south of the Grand Canyon (South Segregation Area). The purpose of the two-year withdrawal is to examine the potential effects of restricting these areas from new mine development for the next 20 years. This proposed withdrawal initiated a period of study during which the effects of the withdrawal must be evaluated. At the direction of the Secretary, the U.S. Geological Survey began a series of short-term studies designed to develop additional information about the possible effects of uranium mining on the natural resources of the region. Dissolved uranium and other major, minor, and trace elements occur naturally in groundwater as the result of precipitation infiltrating from the surface to water-bearing zones and, presumably, to underlying regional aquifers. Discharges from these aquifers occur as seeps and springs throughout the region and provide valuable habitat and water sources for plants and animals. Uranium mining within the watershed may increase the amount of radioactive materials and heavy metals in the surface water and groundwater flowing into Grand Canyon National Park and the Colorado River, and deep mining activities may increase mobilization of uranium through the rock strata into the aquifers. In addition, waste rock and ore from mined areas may be transported away from the mines by wind and runoff.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS1953

Preliminary reconnaissance survey for thorium, uranium, and rare-earth oxides, Bear Lodge Mountains, Crook County, Wyoming

An area about 6 miles north of Sundance, in the Bear Lodge Mountains, in Crook County, Wyo., was examined during August 1950 for thorium, uranium, and rare-earth oxides and samples were collected. Uranium is known to occur in fluorite veins and iron-manganese veins and in the igneous rocks of Tertiary age that compose the core of the Bear Lodge Mountains. The uranium content of the samples ranges from 0.001 to 0.015 percent in those from the fluorite veins, from 0.005 to 0.018 percent in those from the iron-manganese veins, and from 0.001 to 0.017 percent in those from the igneous rocks. The radioactivity of the samples is more than that expected from the uranium content. Thorium accounts for most of this discrepancy. The thorium oxide content of samples ranges from 0.07 to 0.25 percent in those from the iron-manganese veins and from 0.07 to 0.39 percent in those from the sedimentary rocks, and from0.04 to 0.30 in those from the igneous rocks. Rare-earth oxides occur in iron-manganese veins and in zones of altered igneous rocks. The veins contain from 0.16 to 12.99 percent rare-earth oxides, and the igneous rocks, except for two localities, contain from 0.01 to 0.42 percent rare-earth oxides. Inclusions of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks in the intrusive rocks contain from 0.07 to 2.01 percent rare-earth oxides.

Wyoming↗

USGS1953

Geology of the Shinarump No. 1 uranium mine, Seven Mile Canyon area, Grand County, Utah

The Shinarump No. 1 uranium mine is located about 12 miles northwest of Moab, Utah, in the Seven Mile Canyon area, Grand County, Utah. A study was made of the geology of the Shinarump No. 1 mine in order to determine the habits, ore controls, and possible origin of the deposit. Rocks of Permain, Triassic, and Jurassic age crop out in the area mapped. Uranium deposits are found in three zones in the lower 25 feet of the Upper Triassic Chinle formation. The Shinarump No. 1 mine, which is in the lowermost zone, is located on the west flank of the Moab anticline near the Moab fault. The Shinarump No. 1 uranium deposit consists of discontinuous lenticular layers of mineralized rock, irregular in outline, that, in general, follow the bedding. Ore minerals, mainly uranite, impregnate the rock. High-grade seams of uranite and chalcocite occur along bedding planes. Formation of unraninite is later than or simultaneous with most sulfides. Chalcocite may be of two ages, with some being later than uraninite. Uraninite and chalcocite are concentrated in the poorer sorted parts of siltstones. Guides to ore in the Seven Mile Canyon area inferred from the study of the Shinarump No. 1 deposit are the presence of bleached siltstone, copper sulfides, and carbonaceous matter. Results of spectrographic analysis indicated that the mineralizing solutions contained important amounts of barium, vanadium, uranium, and copper as well as lesser amounts of strontium, chromium, boron, yttrium, lead, and zinc. The origin of the Shinarump No. 1 deposit is thought to be hydrothermal, dated as later or early.

Utah↗

USGS1953

Uranium in the Poison Basin area, Carbon County, Wyoming - a preliminary report

Uranium minerals were found on October 15, 1953, about seven miles west of Baggs in the Browns Park formation of the Poison Basin area, Carbon County, Wyo. The occurrences extend over an area of at least several square miles in secs. 4 and 5, T. 12 N., R. 92 W., and secs. 32 and 33, T. 13 N., R. 92 W. Uranophane-bearing sandstones contain as much as 3.21 percent uranium in select samples. The occurrences cannot be evaluated because their dimensions and average grade have not been determined. The presence of uranium, however, is significant because it indicates that uranium deposits may be present in the Browns Park formation and also in the underlying formations unconformably overlapped by the Browns Park.

Wyoming↗

USGS1954

Reconnaissance for uranium in New Mexico in 1953

In the fall of 1953 a reconnaissance search for uranium was made in the Datil area, west-central New Mexico, and in the Cerrillos, Glorieta, and Tecolote districts and the Las Vegas and Colfax Sill areas in north-central and northeastern New Mexico. Traces of radioactive materials were detected at many places and occurrences of uranium minerals that may be of possible economic significance were found in the Datil area, near the village of Datil. Small amounts of uranium are widespread in sandstone beds in the Mesaverde formation. The highest-grade sample contained 0.056 percent uranium.

New Mexico↗

USGS1954

The stratigraphic and structural controls of the uranium deposits on Long Mountain, Fall River County, South Dakota

Numerous occurrences of uranium have been found in the Long Mountain area, Fall River County, S. Dak. Correlation diagrams prepared from drill, cores obtained from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission indicate that the uranium is most abundant in two sandstone units, separated by mudstone in the Lakota sandstone of Early Cretaceous age. The lower uraniferous unit is composed of thick beds of very fine- to fine-grained sandstone with a few interfingering lentils of mudstone. The upper uraniferous unit is composed of interfingering beds of very fine-, fine-, and coarse-grained sandstone and mudstone. The uranium deposits on Long Mountain and in the area to the west are most numerous in a northeast-trending zone about a mile wide between two normal faults. The deposits between these faults are in two groups of different trend; the northern group has been incompletely explored. The sedimentary structures of the upper and lower mineralized sandstone between the faults have controlled the deposition of uranium and vanadium.

South Dakota↗

USGS1954

Results of core drilling for uranium-bearing carbonaceous shale and lignite in the Goose Creek district, Cassia County, Idaho

Thirteen core holes, totaling 2,023 feet, were drilled during the fall of 1953 to explore the grade and extent of uranium-bearing beds of carbonaceous shale and lignite in the east-central part of the Goose Creek district, Cassia County, Idaho. The beds tested are interbedded with volcanic ash, bentonite, greenish-gray shale, sandstone, and conglomerate in two fairly well defined zones in the lower part of the Salt Lake formation of lower Pliocene age. Nine holes penetrated carbonaceous shale beds in the Barrett zone, and one hole penetrated carbonaceous shale and lignite beds in zone B, 160 feet stratigraphically below the Barrett zone. The highest concentration of uranium found by drilling is 0.10 percent in the upper part of a 4-foot bed of carbonaceous shale and lignite in zone B. The grade of carbonaceous shale beds in the Barrett zone ranges from 0.044 percent to less than 0.003 percent uranium. Inferred reserves in the district are estimated to be 790,000 tons in beds 1 foot or more thick containing an average of 0.014 percent or 120 tons of uranium.

Idaho↗