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Research about McKinley County, New Mexico

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including McKinley County, New Mexico.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1986

Origin of the Mariano Lake uranium deposit, McKinley County, New Mexico

The Mariano Lake uranium deposit, hosted by the Brushy Basin Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation, occurs in the Smith Lake district of the Grants uranium region, New Mexico. The orebody, contains abundant amorphous organic material, which suggests that it represents a primary-type deposit; however, the orebody is close to a regional reduction-oxidation interface, which suggests that uranium was secondarily redistributed by oxidative processes. Uranium contents correlate positively with organic carbon contents. Petrographic evidence points to uranium residence in amorphous organic material that was post- depositionally introduced in the diagenetic history of the host sandstone. Uranium mineralization was preceded by precipitation of pyrite (δ 34 S values of — 11.0 to — 38.2 per mil), mixed-layer smectite-illite clays, and quartz and potassium feldspar overgrowths; and also partial dissolution of some detrital feldspars. Alterations associated with uranium mineralization include precipitation of the organic material, microcrys- talline quartz, and pyrite and marcasite (δ 34 S values of -29.4 to -41.6 per mil), and the destruction of detrital Fe-Ti oxide grains. Following mineralization, calcite, dolomite, barite, and kaolinite were precipitated, and some iron disulfides were replaced by ferric oxides. Geochemical data and petrographic observations both indicate that the Mariano Lake orebody is a primary-type deposit. Oxidative processes have not noticeably redistributed uranium in the immediate vicinity of the deposit, nor have they greatly modified geochemical characteristics in the ore. Impedance of ground-water flow by local folds and the lower porosity characteristics of ore zones may have helped to preserve the deposit.

New Mexico↗
USGS1981

Geophysical log suite from drill hole No. 4, Mariano Lake-Lake Valley drilling project, McKinley County, New Mexico

In the fall of 1980, the U.S. Geological Survey contracted with .Longman Drilling Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico to rotary drill and core twelve holes along a north-south line from Mariano Lake to the vicinity of Lake Valley, New Mexico. This report incorporates the logs from drill hole no. 4. Similar reports on holes no. 1, 2, and 3 were released by the U.S. Geological Survey (1981a, b). The drilling project is funded under a reimbursable interagency agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The program was designed by representatives of the BIA, USGS, and the Minerals Department of the Navajo Tribe.

New Mexico↗