Palaeochannel controlled cretaceous sandstonetype uranium. Sandstonetype uranium deposit, reduction alteration, isotope. Pdf sandstone type uranium deposits in the ordos basin. Like the classical tabular sandstone uranium deposits, the ordos uranium deposits are characterized by finegrained, disseminated mineralization, and formed from interaction between oxidizing and reducing basinal fluids. Why might it be unsatisfactory to use this uranium for dating the sandstone. In australia, sandstone hosted uranium is being produced from the beverley deposit in the frome. So far, a series of uranium ore deposits have been discovered in yili, turfanhami, ordos, eren, and other basins.
Pdf association of large sandstone uranium deposits with. Lignite black shale deposits other types of deposits literature. Because of its very specific depositional environment, the. The interlayer permeable type is widely accepted as the dominant mineralization type for sandstonetype uranium deposits within largescale basins, also designated as the interlayer. Geological survey, federal center, denver, colorado 80225 abstractan unusual vanadium chlorite precipitated during the formation of a vanadium uranium ore. Three types of sandstone uranium deposits are recognized. Time and spatial distribution sandstone type uranium deposits can be timely divided into premesozoic and. In contrast, sandstone type deposits are much more widespread. The usa has large resources in sandstone deposits in the western cordillera region, and most of its uranium production has been from these deposits, recently by in isl. Association of large sandstone uranium deposits with hydrocarbons.
The uranium is typically deposited as uranium oxides and, to a lesser extent, uranium silicates. Uranium deposit in wingate sandstone 0 uranium deposit or group of deposits in the chinle formation uranium deposito group of deposits in the shinarump member of the chinle formation 50 0 loomiles figure 6. The southwestern portion of the region, the rio grande embayment, contains all the necessary factors required for roll type uranium deposits. Sandstone type uranium deposits in the ordos basin, northwest china. Bhp is the worlds largest resource of lowgrade uranium and accounts for about 66 percent of australias reserves plus resources. Sandstone hosted uranium deposits occur in sandstones that are contained above and below impermeable shale units. Methodology and exploration for sandstonetype uranium. Each district is colorcoded according to the predominant type of deposit. Uraniumseries disequilibria in the groundwater of the. The geology of uranium deposits in kazakhstan points to similar deposits in australia. An introduction to uranium deposits geology for investors. These deposits make up only a small proportion of the worlds uranium resources.
Geochemistry and mineralogy of the colorado plateau uranium ores. Mining districts that have uranium deposits and other areas favorable for uranium in new mexico modified from mclemore and chenoweth, 1989. Pdf geochemistry of sandstone type uranium deposit in tarat. The permeable sandstone allows fluids to move freely between the impermeable shale units. Sandstonetype is the general term used for uranium deposits hosted by sandstones, arkoses, conglomerates and related. Phanerozoic sandstone type of deposits formed in continental fluvial or marginal marine sedimentary environment western cordillera region in usa, central asia, niger also account for 21% of the world uranium resources. Genesis of sandstonetype uranium deposits along the northern. Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Uranium metal is also used for xray targets for the production of highenergy xrays. 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 oreforming. Tabular sandstone uranium deposits mined by conventional methods underground, open pit 1 ft zones hard to impossible to mine, 4 ft better redistributed or rolltype uranium deposits mined by conventional methods underground, open pit mined by in situ recovery isr methods below the water table permeable. The kintyre deposit is a large tonnage and lowgrade unconformity.
O sandstonehosted deposits tyuyamunite uranyl vanadate cauo 2 2 vo 4 2 6h 2 o sandstonehosted deposits uranophane uranyl silicate cah 2 sio 4 2 uo 25h 2 o sandstonehosted deposits table 2 the most common uranium minerals found in economic deposits. Formation of this type deposits is recognized from devonian period 400 ma in paleozoic era to the present time. Diantou uranium deposit is a sandstone type uranium deposit between fade alteration zoning that top of lower member of zhiluo formation is in middle jurassic and graycolor sandstone. Based on isotope trace studies of sandstonetype uranium deposits in. Most of deposits exhibit bedded form, and associated with organic matters and pyrite. Map and index list for sandstonetype uranium deposits in europe. Uranium ore bodies formed where an abrupt change in redox conditions occurred. The importance of dissolved free oxygen during formation of. Uranium deposits in fluvial sedimentary rocks such as sandstones and conglomerates, especially arkose sandstones. Sandstone uranium deposits account for approximately 30% of annual global production, largely through in situ leach isl mining. Four mile deposit is likely a hybrid of sandstone u and is higher grade than beverley. The sawafuqi uranium deposit, which is located in the south tian shan.
Distribution of sandstone type uranium deposits and identification of mineral deposit modelsmodel series 1 2. Most of this production has come from deposits in the western united states, niger and kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, canada, and australia are the top three producers and together account for 70% of world uranium production. Exploration for clones of standard deposit types could overlook important variantshybrids e. Penney australian sandstone hosted uranium deposits applied earth science trans. Map of part of the colorado plateau showing the location of 75 uranium deposits in the salt wash member of the morrison formation sampled for this investigation. The remaining third of production comes from a variety of the remaining 10 or so deposit types. Chemical composition as a guide to the size of sandstonetype. Sandstone type deposits are abundant in sedimentary rocks of the colorado plateau and found on the navajo nation. Mineral paragenesis and textures associated with sandstone. The objective of this study is to use useries disequilibria and u concentrations in groundwaters.
Biological characteristics imply that the ordos basin went through multiple arid to humid climatic evolutions during mesozoic. Geology of uranium deposits world nuclear association. B 2012 vol 121 no 2 73 the beverley deposit lies in san ds within the overlying. Structural control of uraniumbearing vein deposits and districts in. A case study and an overview article pdf available may 2017 with 841 reads how we measure reads. Surficial uranium deposits report of the working group on uranium geology, iaeatecdoc322, 1985. However, outside of kazakhstan and uzbekistan, this type of deposit is little known in asia. Unconformityrelated deposits account for around on third of the worlds uranium production, while sandstone uranium deposits account for another third. Penney australian sandstonehosted uranium deposits applied earth science trans. Iaea 20 classification of uranium deposits the 20 iaea classification is a combination between the iaea classification used in the red book since 1991 and the dahlkamp 1993, 2009 classifications. At the mulga rock deposit, 230 km eastnorth east of kalgoorlie, uranium mineralisation is in peat layers interbedded with sand and clay within a buried palaeochannel. Uranium is commonly associated with molybdenum and fluorine. This type of uranium deposit is easier and cheaper to mine than the other types because the uranium is found near the surface of the earth. However, the classical tabular sandstone uranium deposits were formed in early.
Download full text 27281 kb pdf vein type uranium deposits report of a working group on uranium geology, iaeatecdoc361, 1986. Geology of u rani urn deposits in triassic rocks of the. Uranium ore pitchblende in dolomite from the vein type deposit niederschlemaalberoda polymetallic uranium ore, marienberg, erzgebirge mts, germany vein deposits play a special role in the history of uranium. Mar 08, 2012 a sandstone rock which lies above the igneous rock contains traces of uranium 235 and of lead207. Deposit type brief description typical grade ppm u examples. Orestage and uranium mineralization uranium deposits of the type that occur in the yl and tuha continental basins are similar with respect to morphology and mineralogy. Dongsheng area of ordos basin, south margin in yili basin and turpanhami. The olympic dam, currently operated by bhp billiton nyse. In the buss pit area, the buss fault zone appears to poses a complex blend of. They are most common in sedimentary basins of cenozoic and mesozoic ages. Sometimes the sandstone units are associated with concentrations of organic matter, sulphides or hydrocarbons. Mobility of uranium with ground water in near surface earth conditions and its association with sandstone formations of continental depositional environments require an increase in the understanding and application of depositional characteristics in exploration.
Groundwater prospecting for sandstonetype uranium deposits. Journal of geochemical exploration, 1980 201219 201 elsevier scientific publishing company, amsterdam printed in the netherlands groundwater prospecting for sandstonetype uranium deposits. The channelfill comprises of about 10 m to 55 m grey to dark grey coloured, reduced, coarse to medium grained feldspathic sandstone along. The powder river basin in wyoming, the colorado plateau and the gulf coast plain in south texas are major sandstone uranium provinces. Sandstonetype uranium deposits and uraniferous conglomerates have sup plied the bulk of world production of uranium since about 1954 and probably constitute the worlds largest resource of uranium ore. This paper, therefore, summarizes significant relationships of uranium geochemistry in the supergene environments and depositional. Multistage enrichment of the sawafuqi uranium deposit. Geological environments of sandstone type uranium deposits report of the working group on uranium geology. Introduction sandstone hosted rollfront uranium deposits occur on nearly every continent and are an economically a significant source of uranium throughout the world.
Apr 16, 2016 sandstonetype uranium deposit hosted by reduced feldspathic sandstone sequence of lower part of cretaceous mahadek formation occurs at lostoin area of mahadek basin and is confined within a prominent palaeochannel of nnessw trend with flow towards ssw. Pdf the study aimed at investigating the geochemistry of a sandstonetype uranium deposit in tarat formation for provenance, paleoredox. Vein type uranium deposits related to granites are best exemplified by the mideuropean variscan uranium province, which extends over more than 2,000 km from spain to the bohemian massif. Hematite breccia type was not a known u deposit type prior to 1975 discovery of od e. Combining the results of this study with previous studies on the. Methodology and exploration for sandstonetype uranium deposits.
Sandstonetype uranium deposits colorado plateau 19 112 111 110 109 108 colorado new mexico ship rock eb uranium deposit or group of deposits figure 3. Sedimentary basins and sandstone type deposits warren finch uranium deposits in proterozoic quartzpebble conglomerates desmond pretorius vein type uranium deposits helmut fuchs proterozoic unconformity and stratabound uranium deposits john ferguson surficial deposits dennis toens. Only one ironorecoppergold iocg deposit of this type is known to contain economically significant quantities of uranium. Uranium mineralized skarns are another type of deposit related to metasomatic processes. April 4sandstonelimestone uranium deposits april 8nmgs spring meeting students free only if you preregister report will be required april 9field trip april 11mark pelizza in situ recovery of uranium, final given out april 18, 25class presentations april 25metallurgy abe gundiler.
April 4sandstonelimestone uranium deposits april 8nmgs spring meeting students free only if you preregister report will be required april 9field trip april 11mark pelizza in. They are confined to a relatively small portion of the basin, about 7,500 km2, known as the alligator rivers uranium field. In situ recovery of sandstonehosted uranium deposits in new. In the early 1960s, when uranium mining in wyoming represented a large portion of the states extractive energy industry, geologists discovered what has become an industry standard used worldwide for locating sandstonetype uranium ore deposits. Depleted u is used in inertial guidance devices, gyro compasses, counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as ballast for missile reentry vehicles and as a shielding material. Examples include the colorado plateau, the tertiary. Index map of part of the colorado plateau region showing the location of area represented in. This type of deposit is an attractive exploration target as it is amenable to in. Genetic and grade and tonnage models for sandstonehosted. Geological environments of sandstone type uranium deposits report of the working group on uranium geology, iaeatecdoc328, 1985. Chatham department of chemistry and geochemistry, colorado school of. Rollfronts are the predominant uranium deposit in the rmibup and the cpup, and the only type found in the gcup.
796 1202 551 457 466 1561 1403 955 118 1303 534 1214 182 1466 938 948 1046 1573 1622 733 1444 1256 444 1303 22 913 1132 1163 366 1646 1122 267 890 784 114 640 631 382