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At least 523 records · Page 29Linked to original sources
USGS1959

Geology of uranium and associated ore deposits, central part of the Front Range mineral belt, Colorado

The Central City district and adjoining mining areas in the central part of the Front Range mineral belt have supplied small quantities of uranium ore intermittently since the discovery of pitchblende at Central City in 1871. During the early years of development the uranium production form the region was of national importance, and until 1951 the region was this country's principal domestic source of pitchblende. In recent years, however, the production has been insignificant although the search for uranium has been greater than at any previous time. The pitchblende occurs as a local minor constituent of gold- and silver-bearing base-metal sulfide veins, chiefly valuable for their gold content, which have yielded ores valued at about $200 million.

Colorado↗
USGS1958

Areal geology of the Little Cone quadrangle, Colorado

The Little Cone quadrangle includes an area of about 59 square miles in eastern San Miguel County in southwestern Colorado. It lies within and adjacent to the northeastern boundary of the Colorado Plateau physiographic province. The precipitous front of the San Juan Mountains lies a few miles to the east and northeast, and an outlier of the San Juans, the San Miguel Mountains, lies about a mile to the south. The quadrangle contains features characteristic of both the plateaus and the mountains, and has been affected by geologic events and processes of two different geologic environments.

Colorado↗
USGS1956

Botanical prospecting for uranium in the Circle Cliffs area, Garfield County, Utah

Astragalus pattersoni and Stanleya pinnata broadly define some uraniferous localities adjacent to the contact of the Moenkopi formation and the Shinarump member of the Chinle formation, but the general paucity of Astragalus in the Circle Cliffs area limits the usefulness of this genus. Astragalus pattersoni , Stanleya pinnata , and Aster venustus (?) may serve as guides to mineralized parts of the Salt Wash sandstone member of the Morrison formation in the Circle Cliffs area. Thick and thin sandstones of the Shinarump member generally can be distinguished by pinyon-juniper ration studies. These studies may supplement drilling to define channel-fill sandstones which are associated with ore deposits in the Circle Cliffs area. Ratio studies appear to be applicable to other areas throughout the Colorado Plateau where similar geological and ecological conditions exist.

Utah↗
USGS1957

Distribution of elements in the Salt Wash member of the Morrison Formation in the Jo Dandy area, Montrose County, Colorado

A study of the distribution of elements in the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation of Jurassic age from samples taken in the Jo Dandy area, Montrose County, Colo., was made to determine average chemical composition of mudstone and sandstone and to determine the magnitude of variations in concentrations of elements within similar rock types. Analytical data were obtained by semiquantitative spectrographic and radiometric methods. Results of the study show that variations in concentrations of about 20 elements commonly detected by semiquantititive spectrographic analyses of sedimentary rocks are small for a specific rock type; therefore, considerable confidence may be placed upon the average chemical appears to be no significant relation between chemical composition of mudstone or sandstone and distance from known uranium-vanadium ore or mineralization rock. Mudstone generally contains greater concentrations of the elements studied than sandstone. The chemical composition of red mudstone is similar to the chemical composition of green mudstone except that red mudstone was found to contain almost twice as much calcium as green mudstone in the Jo Dandy area. Samples of the unoxidized sandstone from the Jo Dandy area contain about twice as much calcium, three times as much strontium, but only about one-half as much as zirconium as oxidized sandstone; except for these elements the chemical compositions of both categories of sandstone are similar. Samples of sandstone of the Salt Wash member in the Jo Dandy area contain more potassium, magnesium, vanadium, and nickel than “average sandstone” of the Salt Wash member. The distribution of bismuth in rocks of the Jo Dandy area suggests that bismuth and perhaps part of the potassium and magnesium found in rocks of the Salk Wash member were either derived from solutions which ascended from the underlying salt- and gypsum-bearing Paradox member that was incorporated with rocks of the Salt Wash during sedimentation.

Colorado↗
USGS1950

Reconnaissance for trace elements in North Dakota and eastern Montana. Part 1. Geology and radioactivity. Part 2. Reserves and summary

A reconnaissance for sources of radioactive material in North Dakota and eastern Montana was made in 1948. This reconnaissance was followed by a more detailed survey of parts of Golden Valley and Slope counties, southwestern North Dakota, in June 1949. The radioactivity of representative sections of all formations known to be exposed in the area and of three manganiferous spring deposits was determined with portable Geiger-Mueller counters. At 86 localities 82 samples were taken of these formations and also of 10 ground and surface waters. Only the lignites in the upper part of the Sentinel Butte member of the Fort Union formation in the southwestern part of N. Dak. contained more than 0.005 per cent equivalent to U 3 O 8 . The ground and surface waters tested were for the most part non-radioactive. Water sample number 291 from locality 100, however, contained 0.17 parts per million U 3 O 8 . The radioactive lignites of N. Dak. appear to be limited to the higher buttes, such as Sentinel, Flat Top (Square Top), Bullion, H-T(Black), and White(Chalky) Buttes. One to five lignite beds are found in a 90-foot stratigraphic interval near the top of the Sentinel Butte member of the Fort Union formation, and from about 40 to 140 feet beneath the base of the overlying White River formation. The thickness of the beds ranges from a few inches to over six feet. The nomenclature, and therefore correct correlation, of all the beds above the middle part of the Sentinel Butte member is in doubt. The lignites and associated sand and clay beds are believed to be either equivalent to, or close to the base of, the Eocene Golden Valley formation. The exact mode of origin of the uranium in the lignite is not known. Uranium may have accumulated in swamps at the same time as the organic debris, or it may have been introduced by ground water after the formation of lignite. In either case carbon or carbon compounds apparently caused the precipitation or fixation of uranium. Further work is needed to determine the origin of this type of uranium deposit.

Montana, North Dakota↗
USGS1959

Comparison of thickness, grade, and depth of radioactive layers as determined by gamma-ray logging and by core sampling

Thickness, grade, and depth data were obtained by analyzing gamma-ray logs and core samples from 56 diamond drill holes penetrating uranium deposits in the Colorado Plateau. The data from the two methods were compared to determine variations found in gamma-ray log interpretation and chemical and radiometric analyses of the drill core. Correlations within each parameter varied among the drilling areas analyzed. Gamma-ray interpretations of grade compared to chemical analyses were within the range of -10 to +25 percent. Most depth measurements determined by gamma-ray log interpretation compared to drill core measurement were within 0.5 percent. Results of the study indicate a need for better thickness definition in both gamma-ray logging and core scanning equipment.

Trace Elements Investigations↗
USGS1956

Volumetric determination of uranium using titanous sulfate as reductant before oxidimetric titration

A new method for determining uranium in samples containing 0.05 percent or more U 3 O 8 , using titanous sulfate as reducing agent, is much shorter, faster, and has fewer interferences than conventional methods using reductor columns. The sample is dissolved with sulfuric, nitric, perchloric, and hydrofluoric acids. Elements that would otherwise form insoluble fluorides are kept in solution by complexing the fluoride ion with boric acid. A precipitation is made with cupferron to remove interfering elements. The solution is filtered to remove the precipitated cupferrates instead of extracting them with chloroform as is usually done. Filtration is preferred to extraction because any niobium that may be in solution forms an insoluble cupferrate that may be removed by filtering but is very difficult to extract with chloroform. Excess cupferron is destroyed by oxidizing with nitric and perchloric acids, and evaporating to dense fumes of sulfuric acid. The uranium is reduced to U(IV) by the addition of titanous sulfate, with cupric sulfate used as an indicator of the completeness of the reduction. Metallic copper is formed when all the uranium is reduced. The reduced copper is then reoxidized by the addition of mercuric perchlorate, an excess of ferric sulfate added, and the solution titrated immediately with standard ceric sulfate with ferroin as an indicator. Precision of the method compared favorable with methods in common use, both for uranium ores and for most types of uranium-rich materials.

Trace Elements Investigations↗
USGS1956

Uranium distribution in pseudowollastonite slag from a phosphorus furnace

Silicate slag from the Victor Chemical Company phosphorus furnace at Tarpon Springs, Fla., has been found to consist essentially of pseudowollastonite, α-CaSiO 3 . The first-formed crystals are euhedral laths which form a mesh making up most of the slag. As the slag continues to solidify, its composition changes slightly and more equant, subhedral crystals of pseudowollastonite are deposited within the framework of the earlier material. Finally, anherdral masses of fibrous, poorly crystallized material are deposited in the remaining pore spaces which are not always completely filled. Spherules of iron phosphide, Fe 2 P, occur very sparsely in the slag as inclusions from the immiscible iron phosphide melt. Uranium content increases in the later crystal products of the slag, and by heavy-liquid fractionation it has been possible to segregate partially the phases and to obtain a fourfold concentration of uranium in 5 percent of the material and a twofold concentration in 30 percent of the material. Nuclear-emulsion studies indicate that the last phases of the silicate slag are actually eight times as radioactive as the early phases. In addition, the iron phosphide spherules are comparably enriches in uranium.

Trace Elements Investigations↗