Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Uranium”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
USGS1953

Search for uranium in western United States

The search for uranium in the United States is one of the most intensive ever made for any metal during our history. The number of prospectors and miners involved is difficult to estimate but some measure of the size of the effort is indicated by the fact that about 500 geologists are employed by government and industry in the work--more than the total number of geologists engaged in the study of all other minerals together except oil. The largest part of the effort has been concentrated in the western states. No single deposit of major importance by world standards has been discovered but the search has led to the discovery of important minable deposits of carnotite and related minerals on the Colorado Plateau; of large, low grade deposits of uranium in phosphates in the northwestern states and in lignites in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico; and of many new and some promising occurrences of uranium in carnotite-like deposits and in vein deposits. Despite the fact that a large number of the districts considered favorable for the occurrence of uranium have already been examined, the outlook for future discoveries is bright, particularly for uranium in vein and in carnotite-like deposits in the Rocky Mountain States.

Trace Elements Investigations↗
USGS1953

Reconnaissance during 1952 for uranium-bearing carbonaceous rocks in parts of Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming

A reconnaissance for uranium-bearing carbonaceous rocks was made during the 1952 field season in 23 areas in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Uranium in small amounts occurs in several of the areas examined, but no deposits were found that might have commercial possibilities. As much as 0.03 percent uranium is in the ash of coal in the Caribou Mountain area in southwestern Idaho; 0.012 percent in the ash of coal in the Burnt Fork area of southwestern Wyoming; and 0.009 percent in the ash of coal from near Driggs in eastern Idaho. Seven additional areas were examined in which beds of coal or carbonaceous shale contained more than 0.002 but less than 0.007 percent uranium in the ash. Unweathered samples of bituminous sandstone from the Vernal area, Utah, contain minor quantities of uranium. ilities.

Colorado;Idaho;Utah;Wyoming↗
USGS1954

Exploration for uranium deposits in the Spring Creek Mesa area, Montrose County, Colorado

The U.S. Geological Survey explored the Spring Creek Mesa area from July 11, 1951, to August 14, 1953. During that period, 280 diamond-drill holes were completed for a total of 180,287 feet. Sedimentary rocks of Mesozoic age are exposed in and adjacent to the Spring Creek Mesa area. These rocks consist of, from oldest to youngest: the Upper Jurassic Morrison formation, the Lower Cretaceous Burro Canyon formation, and the Upper Cretaceous Dakota formation. The Morrison formation consists of two members in the Spring Creek Mesa area: the lower is the Salt Wash member and the upper is the Brusby Basin member. All of the large uranium-bearing deposits discovered by the Geological Survey drilling in the Spring Creek Mesa area are in a series of coalescing sandstone lenses in the uppermost part of the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation. Most of the ore deposits are believed to be irregular tabular or lens-shaped masses and probably lie parallel to the bedding, although in detail, they may crosscut the bedding. Also, ore deposits that take the form of narrow elongate concretionary-like structures, locally called “rolls”, may be present in the Spring Creek Mesa area. The mineralized material consists mostly of sandstone which has been selectively impregnated and in part replaced by uranium and vanadium minerals. Also, rich concentrations of uranium and vanadium are commonly associated with thin mudstone seams, beds of mudstone pebbles, and carbonaceous material of various types. Two suites of ore minerals are present in the ore deposits - - an oxidized suite of secondary uranium and vanadium minerals and a relatively unoxidized suite of “primary” uranium and vanadium minerals. The following geologic criteria are useful as guides to ore in the Spring Creek Mesa area: 1. Large ore deposits generally occur where the “ore-bearing sandstone” is more than 40 feet thick. 2. The color of the mudstone associated with the “ore-bearing sandstone” in the vicinity of large ore deposits is commonly gray instead of the usual red. 3. The “ore-bearing sandstone” is normally a light red, but in the vicinity of oxidized ore deposits it is light brown and in the vicinity of relatively unoxidized ore deposits it is gray. 4. The “ore-bearing sandstone” in the vicinity of relatively unoxidized ore deposits commonly contains sparse to abundant disseminated pyrite. In the vicinity of oxidized deposits it commonly contains abundant limonite spots and widespread limonite staining.

Colorado↗
USGS1954

Uranium occurrences in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Eleven occurrences of uraniferous argillite in the Lockatong lithofacies and five occurrences of uraniferous sandstone in the Stockton lithofacies, both of Triassic age, are known in Buck County, Pa. and Hunterdon County, N.J. Most of the occurrences were discovered by the Geological Survey, though prospectors found several. The Delaware quarry, Bucks County, Pa., was mapped and sampled in detail because the best exposed and most uraniferous argillite known crops out there. Sketches of two sandstone occurrences were made. Two stratigraphic sections of part of the Stockton formation were made in an unsuccessful effort to find key beds to which the uranium occurrences might be referred. The argillite occurrences contain as much as 0.034 percent uranium but commonly contain only about 0.010 percent uranium. They are known to extend for several hundred feet along the strike and may possibly extend several thousand feet, but less than a mile. They range from about 1 to 6 feet in thickness. The sandstone occurrences are characterized by the presence of pyrite or limonite and the alteration of feldspar to clay. The most uraniferous parts of the sandstone contain mud pebbles or lenses. The sandstone with mud pellets generally contain from 0.01 to 0.03 percent uranium, but selected parts of the pellets contain as much as 0.29 percent uranium. The known occurrences are small, about 1 to 2 feet thick and 20 to 30 feet long. None of the argillite or sandstone occurrences are now of economic importance.

New Jersey;Pennsylvania↗
USGS1955

Geology of the Copper King uranium mine, Larimer County, Colorado

The Copper King mine in Larimer County, Colo., in the northern part of the Front Range of Colorado, was opened in World War I in an unsuccessful attempt to mine copper and zinc ore. In 1949, following the discovery of pitchblende on the dump, the mine was reopened, and it was worked until 1953 for uranium. A total of 652 tons of ore that contained an average of 0.28 percent U 3 O 8 was shipped. The bedrock consists predominantly of biotite granite, part of the Precamblian Log Cabin batholith, and minor metasedimentary rocks -- biotite-quartz-plagioclase gneiss, amphibole skarn, biotite schist, quartzite, amphibolite, and biotite sköls. The metasedimentary rocks occur as inclusions that trend northeast, essentially parallel to the prevailing foliation in the granite. In places the metasedimentary rocks are crosscut sharply by the granite and form angular, steep-walled blocks in the granite. Faults, confined to a narrow easterly-trending zone through the mine, cut all the Precambrian rocks. Mineral deposits of two types are present at the mines 1) sulfide-magnetite ore and 2) a uranium deposit in a filled fissure that cuts the skarn. The sulfide-magnetite deposits are small and consist of pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and at places magnetite. Alpha-helium age determinations on ore magnetite by Hurley indicate that the mineral assemblage is late Precambrian in age. The deposits are pyrometasomatic in origin and possibly related to the granite. The uranium deposit consists of pitchblende and associated vein-forming minerals that occur in the Copper King fault and locally in pyrite boxwork adjacent to the fault. Three phases of black pitchblende have been identified -- uraninite, "coffinite", and UO 3 -rich pitchblend. Colored secondary minerals are absent. The pitchblende occurs in a steeply plunging, tabular shoot between 45 and 135 feet below the surface that has a horizontal length of about 50 feet. Within the shoot the pitchblende occurs in pods or layers generally only a few feet in height and length and as much as a foot thick that are separated by nearly barren vein. The grade of the ore within the pods ranges from 0.2 percent uranium to as much as 20 percent but averages about 1 to 2 percent. Age determinations by the Pb 206 /U 238 and Pb 207 /U 235 methods on two samples of hard pitchblende from the vein, not from the pyrite boxwork, gave ages by the two methods after suitable common lead corrections, ranging from 55 to 76 million years, corresponding to an early Tertiary age. Diamond core drilling and reconnaissance for radioactivity have not disclosed other uranium deposits the Prairie Divide region; nevertheless, it seems likely that other deposits are present.

Colorado↗
USGS1955

Uranium-bearing minerals in placer deposits of the Red River Valley, Elk City district, Idaho County, Idaho

Uranium-bearing multiple oxide minerals were first recognized in the jig-bed concentrate of !the Tyee Mining Company'ss gold dredge on the Red River about 10 miles south of Elk City. Idaho County, Idaho, in late 1951 or early 1952. The gravels of the placer deposits were derived from the Idaho batholith and a roof pendant of Precambrian rocks in the batholith. Three samples taken for analysis show that the jig-bed concenuate contains 0.134 percent uranium. The nonmagnetic, non-radioactive fractions of the samples assayed 0.2 percent niobium, but no columbite was recognized in the samples. The uranium-bearing placer mineals are brannerite. euxenitte, davidite. betafite, and also contain niobium; ilmenite in the gravels may also contain some niobium. Pegmatites are believed to be the somce of the uranium- and niobium-bearing minerals, but the possibility of finding a pegmatite in the area ,that can be mined economically for uranium or niobium is remote.

Idaho↗
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↗
USGS1951

Uranium in the Copper King Mine, Black Hawk No. 1 Claim, Larimer County, Colorado

Radioactive rock was discovered on the dump of the Copper King mine, sec. 8, T. 10 N., R. 72 W., Larirrier County, Colo., in the summer of 1949. The mine had been prospected intermittently for copper and zinc since 1,916, but there is no record that ore was produced. The country rock is pre-Cambrian granite containing many schist inclusions and narrow pegmatite dikes. Pitchblende disseminated in chlorite and sulfides was deposited in an obscure vein system during an intermediate stage of mineralization. This stage was preceded by biotitic alteration of amphiboles and sulfide deposition. The latest stage of mineralization is represented-by the limonitic dense quartz vein followed during mining. The uranium-bearing vein is about 2-3 feet wide and the dense quartz vein is less than 6 inches wide. Both veins are bordered by 1-3 feet of biotite- and sulfide-bearing granite and arriphibole schist. The uranium content of 26 samples taken in the mine and on the dump ranges from 0.002 to 1.40 percent. These samples contained as much as 2.97 percent copper and 5.96 percent zinc. The general outlook for further prospecting near the Copper King shaft is not favorable, because much of the 'immediately surrounding area has been thoroughly investigated without finding abnormal radioactivity. The most favorable environment for concentration of uranium minerals appears to have been in or near schist inclusions in granite, and further exploration in nearby prospects may result in the discovery of other uranium-bearing deposits. In the Copper King mine, additional exploration would aid in determining the extent of the uranium-bearing material.

Colorado↗
USGS1952

Geology of the area adjacent to the Free Enterprise uranium-silver Mine, Boulder District, Jefferson County, Montana

Uranium minerals.occur in pods associated with cryptocrystalline silica, silver minerals, and scattered sulfide mineral grains in a hydrothermal vein that cuts quartz monzonite and alaskite at the Free Enterprise mine, 2 miles west of Boulder, Mont. The Free Enterprise vein is one of many silicified reef-like structures in this area, most of which trend about N. 60° E. The cryptocrystalline silica zones of the area are lenticular and are bordered by an altered zone where quartz monzonite is the wall rock. No alteration was noticed where alaskite is adjacent to silica zones. No uranium minerals were observed at the surface, but radioactivity anomalies were noted at 57 outcrops. Underground mining has shown that leaching by downward percolating waters has removed most of the uranium from the near-surface part of the Free Enterprise vein and probably has enriched slightly, parts of the vein and the adjacent wall rock from the bottom of the leached zone to the ground-water level. It is possible that other veins that show low to moderate radioactivity at the surface may contain significant concentrations of uranium minerals at relatively shallow depth. The quartz monzonite appears to be a more favorable host rock for the cryptocrystalline silica and associated uranium minerals than the alaskite. The alaskite occurs as vertical_dikes plug-like masses, and as irregularly shaped, gently dipping masses that are believed to have been intruded into open fractures formed during the cooling of the quartz monzonite.

Montana↗
USGS1951

Garo uranium deposits, Park County, Colorado

The uranium deposits, three-fourths of a mile south of Garo, Park County, Colo., were mined over 30 years ago for radium ore. The old workings are now abandoned and inaccessible. Forty tons of ore that contained 1.0 percent uranium are reported to have been mined from two light-gray sandstone beds that are stratigraphically about 100 feet apart. The minerals reported to occur in these sandstones are carnotite, malachite, azurite, calciovolborthite, and volborthite. The deposits are in close proximity to a radioactive cherty limestone which is one foot thick, that contains as much as 0.01 percent uranium. The uranium in the carnotite and the uranium in the chert may be genetically related. Mr. ¥. H. Gaddis of Hartsel, Colo., has recently attempted to reopen some of the workings, but as of April 1951 this operation had not revealed any significant new data. Future prospecting should be initiated in the two sandstone beds that have been mineralized. The chert can be used as a marker bed in correlating the sandstones from one exposure to another.

Colorado↗
USGS1950

Preliminary examination of uranium deposits near Marysvale, Piute County, Utah

Autunite and other uranium minerals were discovered in 1948 by Pratt Seegmiller about 3 1/4 miles north of Marysvale, Piute County, Utah. Mining operations were begun in the summer of 1949 by the Vanadium Corporation of America on the Prospector and the Freedom claims, and by the Bullion Monarch Mining Company a the Bullion Monarch claims. These claims were examined briefly in December 1949 and January 1950 by the writers. The uranium deposits of the Marysvale district are in north-easterly striking fault zones in quartz monzonite that intrudes rocks of the "older" Tertiary volcanic sequence. Flows and tuffs of the "younger" Tertiary volcanic sequence uncomfortably overlie the earlier rocks. Autunite, tobernite, uranophane, schroeckingerite, and at least one unidentified secondary uranium mineral occur in the upper parts of the deposits. Pitchblende has been mined from the underground workings of the Prospector No. 1 mine. The uranium minerals are associated with dense quartz veins and intensely argillized wall rock. In the upper parts of the deposits pyrite is completely oxidized. The secondary uranium minerals probably were formed by the alteration of primary pitchblende by circulating meteoric waters.

Utah↗
USGS1948

Preliminary notes on distribution of uranium in the Florida pebble phosphate field and suggestions for studying and sampling

The accompanying map and sections show examples of the present state of information about the occurrence of the "Leached" uranium-bearing bed in the Florida pebble phosphate district. The dashed lines on the map define, as closely as present data permit, the limit of the area in which this bed contains significant amounts of uranium. The figures next to localities on the map indicate first, the thickness of the bed in feet; and second the uranium content in thousandths of percent. For example, the figures 16-10 next to the TVA localities in Secs. 9 and 10, T. 32 S., R. 26 E. indicate 16 feet at 0.010 percent uranium. A "0" by a locality indicates either that the uranium content is less than 0.001 percent or less than the concentration in the underlying phosphate beds (matrix of the miners) or that the leached bed is not present.

Florida↗
USGS1958

Reconnaissance for uranium in the coal of Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Uranium-bearing coal and carbonaceous shale of the Rio Bonito formation of Pennsylvanian age have been found in the States of Sao Paulo, Santa Catarlna and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The uranium oxide content of the samples collected in the State of Sao Paulo ranges from 0.001 percent to 0.082 percent. The samples collected in Santa Catarina averaged about 0.002 percent uranium oxide; those collected in Rio Grande do Sul, about 0.003 percent uranium oxide. Since the field and laboratory investigations are still in their initial stages, only raw data on the radioactivity and uranium content of Brazilian coals are given in this report.

Trace Elements Memorandum↗
USGS1972

Distribution and isotopic composition of uranium in lower Nueces River, Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay, Texas

The uranium concentration and isotopic composition of water and suspended sediment from the Nueces River, Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay were determined by alpha-spectroscopy. The average dissolved uranium concentration and radioactivity ratio (U 234 /U 238 ) of Nueces River water were determined to be 2.44 µg/1 and 1.15 respectively. Water from a tributary of the Nueces River, Cayamon Creek, was found to contain an average dissolved uranium concentration of 42.8 µg/1 with an isotopic radioactivity ratio of 1.56. Close inspection of the lateral concentration and isotopic activity ratio of uranium revealed an increase below the confluence of Cayamon Creek with the Nueces River. A model was derived based on equations used in isotopic dilution analysis, which predicts these increases within analytical error. This model may be useful in future studies to locate anomalous uranium within the hydrologic environment.

Texas↗
USGS1978

Iron-titanium oxide minerals and associated alteration phases in some uranium-bearing sandstones

Detrital iron-titanium (Fe-Ti) oxide minerals of the ulvospinel-magnetite (titanomagnetite) and ilmenite-hematite (titanohematite) solid solution series are common in uranium-bearing sandstones. Alteration of Fe-Ti oxide minerals in oxidizing environments formed secondary products (primarily hematite) that are distinct from those produced under reducing conditions (iron disulfide minerals). Oxidation of sulfidized Fe-Ti oxide minerals, by the processes that formed uranium rolls, produced ferric oxide minerals (limonite) having textures that mimic those of the iron disulfides. Titanomagnetite and titanohematite have been severely depleted in the ore-bearing zones of some uranium deposits. The alteration of detrital Fe-Ti oxide minerals near uranium ore deposits may produce characteristic signatures in the magnetization of the sandstone. Knowledge of the distribution and magnetic properties of these minerals can aid in interpreting data from total magnetic-field and magnetic-susceptibility surveys of uranium deposits.

Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming↗
USGS2002

Effects of depleted uranium on the health and survival of Ceriodaphnia dubia and Hyalella azteca

Depleted uranium (DU) has been used as a substitute for the fissionable enriched uranium component of atomic weapons tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (Los Alamos, NM, USA) since the early 1950s, resulting in considerable concentrations of DU in the soils within the test sites. Although the movement of DU into major aquatic systems has been shown to be minimal, there are many small-order ephemeral streams and areas of standing water in canyons throughout LANL that may be affected by inputs of DU via runoff, erosion, and leaching. Ninety-six-hour acute and 7-d chronic toxicity assays were conducted to measure the toxicity of DU on survival and reproduction of Ceriodaphnia dubia. A 14-d water-only assay was conducted to measure survival and growth of Hyalella azteca. The estimated median lethal concentration (LC50) to produce 50% mortality of the test population for the 96-h Ceriodaphnia dubia assay was 10.50 mg/L. Reproductive effects occurred at a lowest-observable-effect concentration ≥ 3.91 mg/L with a no-observable-effect concentration of 1.97 mg/L. The estimated 14-d LC50 for the Hyalella azteca assay was 1.52 mg/L No significant relationship was detected between growth and DU concentrations. Concentrations at which toxicity effects were observed in this study for both invertebrates exceeded concentrations of total uranium observed in runoff from LANL lands. Thus, it is likely that current runoff levels of uranium do not pose a threat to these types of aquatic invertebrates.

New Mexico↗
USGS1955

Germanium and uranium in coalified wood from upper Devonian black shale

Microscopic study of black, vitreous, carbonaceous material occurring in the Chattanooga shale in Tennessee and in the Cleveland member of the Ohio shale in Ohio has revealed coalified woody plant tissue. Some samples have shown sufficient detail to be identified with the genus Cauixylon . Similar material has been reported in the literature as “bituminous” or “asphaltic” stringers. Spectrographic analyses of the ash from the coalified wood have shown unusually high percentages of germanium, uranium, vanadium, and nickel. The inverse relationship between uranium and germanium in the ash and the ash content of various samples shows an association of these elements with the organic constituents of the coal. On the basis of geochemical considerations, it seems most probable that the wood or coalified wood was germanium-bearing at the time logs or woody fragmenta were floated into the basins of deposition of the Chattanooga shale and the Cleveland member of the Ohio shale. Once within the marine environment, the material probably absorbed uranium with the formation of organo-uranium compounds such as exist in coals. It is suggested that a more systematic search for germaniferous coals in the vicinity of the Chattanooga shale and the Cleveland member of the Ohio shale might be rewarding.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1957

Comparison of the isotopic abundance of U235 and U238 and the radium activity ratios in Colorado Plateau uranium ores

The isotopic abundances of uranium and the radium activity ratios of eleven samples of uranium ore from the Colorado Plateau have been measured. No significant variation in the isotopic abundance of the uranium was noted; with'in the experimental error, the average U 235 /U 238 ratio is 137.7. There is a significant variation in the Ra 226 /Ra 223 activity ratios (0.048−0.143), which indicates a relatively recent alteration of the ore samples. The variations do not, however, explain the lead-uranium and lead-lead age discrepancies.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗