Geology and mineral deposits of the Turtle Lake quadrangle, Washington
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Bulletin↗
Geology topics
George E. Becraft
Publications and source records attributed to George E. Becraft.
Uranium in carbonaceous rocks in the Townsend and Helena valleys, Montana
Uranium-bearing carbonaceous shale and lignite beds are exposed in five areas in the Townsend and Helena Valleys in western Montana. The greatest number of exposures is in an area of several square miles northeast of Winston in the Townsend Valley. The uranium-bearing beds are in the lower part of a Tertiary unit that consists largely of thin-bedded, white to buff, pure and impure tuffs, locally altered to bentonite. The uranium occurrences, none of which appear to be commercial, have three characteristics in common: (1) they are in and adjacent to carbonaceous shale or lignite interbedded with light-gray of white, fine-grained tuffs and lapilli tuffs, (2) the stratigraphic section in the vicinity of the deposits includes bentonite and partly bentonized tuff, and (3) the distribution of the uranium in the favorable beds is erratic. The uranium was probably leached from the tuffs and lapilli tuffs by meteoric water during bentonization and was concentrated in the carbonaceous shale and lignite. Similar Tertiary rocks are present in many of the major valleys in Western Montana and probably warrant prospecting for uranium. Areas containing white, fine-grained tuff or lapilli tuff, bentonite, and coal, or carbonaceous shale would be particularly favorable for prospecting.
Montana↗
Reconnaissance examination of the uranium deposits northeast of Winston, Broadwater County, Montana
Anomalous radioactivity and a yellow secondary uranium mineral tentatively identified as carnotite have been found in Tertiary sedimentary rocks about 3 miles northeast of Winston, Mont. The uranium is in tuffs and tuffaceous shales and particularly in beds rich in organic matter. Carnotite(?) was identified from three localities, principally coating fractures but in places part replacing organic material, and anomalous radioactivity without recognizable uranium minerals has been detected at four localities. Six of the seven localities are at approximately the same stratigraphic horizon. The deposits are virtually unexplored and consequently their size and grade are not known. Selected specimens assay as high as 0.36 percent eU. Exploitable deposits of uranium may be found in this area, as well as in similar areas of western Montana that are underlain by Tertiary tuffaceous rocks.
Trace Elements Memorandum↗
Uranium deposits of the northern part of the Boulder Batholith, Montana
Uranium minerals and radioactivity anomalies occur in many silver-lead veins and chalcedony veins and vein zones in the Boulder batholith of southwestern Montanao Pitchblende has been identified in a few silver-lead veins. These veins occupy shear zones along which there is no evidence of large-scale lateral displacement. The wall rock adjacent to the veins is intensely silicified and sencitized quartz monzonite and granodiortte. The veins have yielded substantial quantities of lead, silver, zinc, and gold. The silver-lead veins consist principal1y of galena, spha1erite, tetrahedrite, cha1copyrite and pyrite in a gangue of light to dark gray quartz, altered rock, gouge, and subordinate chalcedony and carbonate minerals. No anomalous radioactivity nor uranium minerals have been found in similar veins in pre-batholithic rocks of the area. Chalcedony veins and vein zones, some of which are ttraniferous, are distinctly different from the silver-lead veins and, with a single except1on, are known only in the batholith. The chalcedony vein zones consist of one or more discontinuous stringers or veins of cha1cedony and microcrystalline quartz in silicified and sericitized quartz monzonite and granodiorite, and in less strongly altered alaskite. On1y small amounts of silver ore have been produced from these chalcedony veins and vein zones. All of the veins are ear1y Tertiary in age, but the silver-lead veins probably are older than the chalcedony veins. Uranium is closely associated with chalcedory and microcrystalline quartz in both types of veins. This association suggests that all of the uranium in the area is of the same age. If so, some of the silver-lead veins must have been reopened during the period of chalcedony vein formation.
Trace Elements Memorandum↗
Preliminary report on the Clancy Creek area, Jefferson City quadrangle, Jefferson County, Montana
Several radioactivity anomalies and secondary uranium minerals have been found in the Clancy Creek area near the northern margin of the Boulder batholith. These are principally associated with chalcedonic zones that consist of one or more discontinuous stringers and veins of cryptocrystalline silica and fine-grained quartz in silicified quartz monzonite and alaskite. Uranium ore has been produced at the W. Wilson mine from one of these vein zones, and exploration work is being done on another--the G. Washington-A. Lincoln. Some very fine-grained pyrite and minute quantities of other sulfides have been recognized in deposits of this type. At the Lone Eagle mine small amount of uranium ore has been developed along a siliceous vein that contains sooty pitchblende (?) in small irregular fractures; significant amounts of galena and sphalerite are distributed sporadically along the vein. In the Clancy Creek area, no anomalous radioactivity has been detected in the pre-batholithic volcanic rocks or in the post-batholithic dacite and andesite.
Montana↗