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C. T. Pierson

Publications and source records attributed to C. T. Pierson.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
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

Comparison of the chemical characteristics of the uranium deposits of the Morrison Formation in the Grants uranium region, New Mexico

Statistical treatment of the chemical data of samples from the northeast Church Rock area, Ruby deposit, Mariano Lake deposit, and the Ambrosia Lake district indicates that primary ore-forming processes concentrated copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, vanadium, yttrium, arsenic, organic carbon, and sulfur, along with uranium. A barium halo that is associated with all of these deposits formed from secondary processes. Calcium and strontium were also enriched in the ores by secondary processes. Comparison of the chemical characteristics of the redistributed deposits in the Church Rock district to the primary deposits in the Grants uranium region indicates that calcium, manganese, strontium, yttrium, copper, iron, magnesium, molybdenum, lead, selenium, and vanadium are separated from uranium during redistribution of the deposits in the Church Rock area. Comparisons of the chemical characteristics of the Church Rock deposits and the secondary deposits at Ambrosia Lake suggest some differences in the processes that were involved in the genesis of the redistributed deposits in these two areas.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1983

Comparison of abundances of chemical elements in mineralized and unmineralized sandstone of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, Smith Lake District, Grants uranium region, New Mexico

Statistical treatment of analytical data from the Mariano Lake and Ruby uranium deposits in the Smith Lake district, New Mexico, indicates that organic carbon, arsenic, barium, calcium, cobalt, copper, gallium, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, strontium, sulfur, vanadium, yttrium, and zirconium are concentrated along with uranium in primary ore. Comparison of the Smith Lake data with information from other primary deposits in the Grants uranium region and elsewhere in the Morrison Formation of the Colorado Plateau suggests that these elements, with the possible exceptions of zirconium and gallium and with the probable addition of aluminum and magnesium, are typically associated with primary, tabular uranium deposits. Chemical differences between the Ruby and Mariano Lake deposits are consistent with the interpretation that the Ruby deposit has been more affected by post-mineralization oxidizing solutions than has the Mariano Lake deposit.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1978

Summary of the geology and resources of uranium in the San Juan Basin and adjacent region, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado

The San Juan Basin and adjacent region lie predominantly in the southeastern part of the uranium-rich Colorado Plateau of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Underlying the province are rocks of the Precambrian basement complex composed mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks; a thickness of about 3,600 meters of generally horizontal Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks; and a variety of Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic igneous rocks. Sedimentary rocks of the sequence are commonly eroded and well exposed near the present basin margins where Tertiary tectonic activity has uplifted, folded, and faulted the sequence into its present geologic configuration of basins, platforms, monoclines, and other related structural features. Sedimentary rocks of Jurassic age in the southern part of the San Juan Basin contain the largest uranium deposits in the United States, and offer the promise of additional uranium deposits. Elsewhere in the basin and the adjacent Colorado Plateau, reserves and resources of uranium are known primarily in Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous strata. Only scattered occurrences of uranium are known in Paleozoic

Open-File Report↗
USGS1977

A summary of the geology and mineral resources of the Paris Plateau-House Rock Valley area, Coconino County, Arizona

The Paria Plateau-House Rock Valley area of north-central Arizona is located on the southwestern edge Of the Colorado Plateau physiographic province in an area underlain by about 5,000 meters of fossiliferous marine and continental sedimentary rock ranging in age from Precambrian through Quaternary. The area, which lies north of the Grand and Marble Canyons, is bounded on the west by the East Kaibab monocline and on the east by the Echo monocline. The Paria Plateau, bounded on the South by the scenic Vermilion Cliffs, is composed of continental red-beds of Triassic and Jurassic age, which dip gently northward at 2? to ? away from the north end of the Marble Platform upon which the Paria Plateau sits.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1967

Mineral investigations in northeastern Thailand

Fifty-eight mineral prospects of base metals (copper, lead, zinc), iron, manganese, gold, limestone (cement grade), barite, gypsum, and salt were investigated by geological, geophysical, and geochemical surveys, and by pitting, exploratory mining, and diamond drilling from January 1963 to May 1966. Fifty-six of the prospects are in the Loei-Chiengkarn area of northeast Thailand where regional geological, aeromagnetic, and geochemical studies were also performed; the other two prospects are on the Khorat Plateau. The base-metal prospects are in volcanic or carbonate rocks. Four prospects have been tested by diamond drilling; disseminated copper deposits were found at two prospects and local lead-zinc mineralization at the other two.The two copper deposits have estimated proven and probable reserves of 16million tons containing about 1 percent copper, and possible reserves of 62 million tons. The iron prospects are mostly metasomatic, at contacts of granodiorite with sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Four of the iron prospects were tested by diamond drilling; proven, probable, and possible reserves of about 27million tons containing 52 percent iron were developed predominantly in two deposits. Twelve manganese and two gold prospects were investigated, but all are small or low grade. Nonmetallic deposits of barite, gypsum, and limestone (cement grade) were examined in the Loei-Chiengkarn area, and salt was studied at Chaiyaphum. Reserves of approximately 5.5 million tons of barite, half a million tons of gypsum, 12 million tons of limestone (cement grade), and 2,000 million tons of salt were estimated to be present. Economic development of these deposits must await recommended economic feasibility studies and additional geological work, including diamond drilling.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1953

Uranium in the metal-mining districts of Colorado

Many varieties of abnormally radioactive rocks and ores have been found in Colorado as a result of more than eight years of geologic studies by the U. S. Geological Survey, but only a small proportion of these contain uranium in sufficient quantities to be of possible commercial interest.

Colorado↗
USGS1953

Occurrences of uranium-bearing minerals in the St. Kevin District, Lake County, Colorado

Two hundred and seventy-one prospect pits, mine dumps, or mine workings within the Sugar Loaf-St. Kevin mining districts and vicinity were tested for radioactivity by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1951 during six weeks of investigation on behalf of the Division of Raw Materials of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. One hundred and twenty-two weak radioactivity anomalies were found in the St. Kevin district and vicinity, and eight slight anomalies were noted in the Sugar Loaf district, which adjoins the St. Kevin district on the south. Most of the radioactivity anomalies were found in igneous and metamorphic rocks of pre-Cambrian age, but some were found in metalliferous veins of Tertiary age. Samples of altered granite or schist contain as much as 0.065 percent uranium, probably in the form of secondary uranium minerals. Samples of vein material contain as much as 0.013 percent uranium, also probably in the form of secondary uranium minerals. At only a few localities has the identity of the uranium-bearing minerals been determined. Torbernite, associated with turquoise, malachite, and chrysocolla, occurs as disseminations and fracture coatings in altered granite at the Josie May turquoise mine; metatobernite is disseminated in granite at the Turquoise Chief mine. Commonly the limonite-stained fractures in the altered granite and schist are radioactive; metatorbernite has been identified in limonite stain at one locality. A uranium-variety of florencite, a hydrous cerium aluminum phosphate, is disseminated in the granite on the dump of a mine just west of the St. Kevin district, and autunite (?) is disseminated in fine-grained, highly silicified rock in the northeastern part of the St. Kevin district. None of the uranium occurrences are of commercial importance. They are for the most part in non-glaciated terrane, which has been subjected to a very long period of weathering. Thus, chemical leaching within the zone of weathering may have greatly reduced the uranium content of material near the surface, and occurrences of even small quantities of secondary uranium minerals might be related to stronger, primary concentrations at depth.

Colorado↗