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At least 541 records · Page 30Linked to original sources
USGS2024

Tungsten skarn quantitative mineral resource assessment and gold, rare earth elements, graphite, and uranium qualitative assessments of the Kuldjuktau and Auminzatau Ranges, in the central Kyzylkum region, Uzbekistan

A new quantitative mineral resource assessment for tungsten skarn was conducted for the Auminzatau and Kuldjuktau mountain ranges in Central Uzbekistan, along with qualitative assessments of orogenic gold, rare earth elements (REEs), amorphous graphite, and uranium. By integrating a variety of geological, geochemical, geophysical, and remote sensing data sets, estimates of undiscovered tungsten skarn deposits in permissive tracts are combined with grade and tonnage distributions of known deposits to generate probabilistic estimates of undiscovered resources. Undiscovered deposits in Auminzatau are estimated to contain median resources of 98 thousand metric tons (kt) of WO 3 with a 70 percent (%) probability of at least 28 kt and a 10% probability of at least 468 kt, of which 16 kt to 293 kt may be economic to extract. In Kuldjuktau, the undiscovered deposits are estimated to contain median resources of 27 kt of WO 3 with a 60% probability of at least 12 kt and a 10% probability of at least 208 kt, of which 5 kt to 132 kt may be economic to extract. Our results suggest that the Auminzatau–Kuldjuktau Mountains area is highly prospective for additional discovery of significant Au and U resources and has low prospectivity for discovery of significant REE and graphite resources.

Minerals↗
USGS2018

Mineralogy of uranium and thorium (R.J. Lauf)

As stated by the author in this 352-page book’s preface, the intention is to present “a systematic guide to uranium and thorium minerals and their occurrences for the serious student or mineral collector seeking to better understand the specimens in his or her collection.” A secondary purpose is to provide an up-to-date reference to the mineralogy of radioactive raw materials for the exploration geologist. The author emphasizes that this is not a guidebook designed to direct amateur mineral collectors to mineral collection localities.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1985

The Schwartzwalder uranium deposit. I: Geology and structural controls on mineralization.

Numerous uranium veins occupy fractures and faults in brittle Proterozoic gneisses along the east central Front Range of Colorado. The deposit size correlates with the density and localization of brittle fracture. The largest deposit, the Schwartzwalder, is explained by a singular configuration of complexly broken, deep-reaching brittle gneisses between impervious schists. The gneisses are described as being derived from volcanic rocks, shales, and chemical sediments, including iron, quartz and sulphide formations.-G.J.N.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1970

Uranium ore rolls in the United States

About 40% of the uranium ore reserves in the United States, minable at $8 per pound of contained U 3 O 8 , are in roll-type deposits in the State of Wyoming. The host rocks are arkosic sandstones, deposited in intermontane basins under fluvial conditions, and derived from the granitic cores of mountain ranges that flank the basins. The host rocks are Eocene and possibly Paleocene in age and are, or were, overlain by a sequence of continental tuffaceous siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates 400 - 700 m thick.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1973

The concept of growth and maturity of ore-stage pyrite in roll-type uranium deposts

Roll-type uranium deposits contain both ore-stage pyrite and preore or diagenetic pyrite that was present in the host rock before the deposits began to form. Ore-stage pyrite forms as the result of redistribution and accretion from the preore pyrite. Accretion of the ore-stage pyrite seems to be governed by natural laws that limit its concentration to only a few times the concentration of the preore pyrite. Accumulations of ore-stage pyrite build up along the leading edge of a supergene oxidation zone which spreads through the host rocks, literally pushing the ore deposits ahead of it. The ore-stage pyrite probably progresses much as a wave that first grows to a nearly fixed amplitude and thereafter is steadily maintained as the mature deposit continues to advance.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1977

Preparation of pyrite-coated sand grains for research on roll-type uranium deposits

Ordinary quartz sand grains can be coated with pyrite for use in laboratory experiments on the genetic geochemistry of roll-type uranium deposits. The sand is first added to a ferric chloride solution. The slow addition of sodium hydroxide to the mixture gives the sand grains an iron oxide coating. This coating is then converted to pyrite by reaction with hydrogen sulfide, thus yielding a product suitable for experimental use.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1977

Exploration geochemical studies of some sandstone copper-uranium deposits, Bradford, Columbia, and Lycoming Counties, Pa

Semi-quantitative spectrographic analyses of mineralized and unmineralized sandstone, siltstone, and claystone from the Catskill Formation of Devonian age in Bradford, Columbia, and Lycoming Counties, Pa., suggest that copper, silver, and uranium are the principal metallic elements concentrated in the mineralized rock. Lead, mercury, and molybdenum may be concentrated slightly in mineralized rock but values are too low to be of use in exploration. The deposits are too small to make large anomalies in stream sediments except in drainage basins of less than a few acres. However, if a large deposit were exposed to weathering, it would probably be detectable by stream sediment sampling. Analyses of oxalic acid leachates of the minus 80-mesh fraction of the stream-sediment samples gave more useful values than analyses of the minus 80-mesh samples in separating drainage basins that have copper deposits from those that have no known copper deposits.

Pennsylvania↗
USGS1987

A review of applications of U-Th-Pb isotope systematics to investigations of uranium source rocks.

U, Th and Pb concentrations and the isotopic composition of Pb can be used to evaluate crystalline rocks as a source for U in sedimentary deposits. Under favourable geologic circumstances, the technique can yield information on both the timing and the amount of U released to the sedimentary environment. The technique is best suited to the study of Archean rocks that have high U/Pb, a known common Pb composition, and a simple two-stage history. Less ideal rock units can also be evaluated, but conclusions reached for rocks of Phanerozoic age or younger will generally be qualitative at best.-Author

Uranium↗
USGS2018

Assessment of chronic low‐dose elemental and radiological exposures of biota at the Kanab North uranium mine site in the Grand Canyon watershed

High‐grade U ore deposits are in various stages of exploitation across the Grand Canyon watershed, yet the effects of U mining on ecological and cultural resources are largely unknown. We characterized the concentrations of Al, As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, Ag, Tl, Th, U, and Zn, gross alpha and beta activities, and U and Th radioisotopes in soil, vegetation ( Hesperostipa comata , Artemisia tridentata, Tamarix chinensis ), and rodents ( Peromyscus maniculatus , P. boylii ) to waste material at the Kanab North mine, a mine with decades‐long surficial contamination, and compared the concentrations ( P < 0.01) to those at a premining site (Canyon Mine). Rodent tissues were also analyzed for radium‐226 and microscopic lesions. Radioactivities and some elemental concentrations (e.g., Co, Pb, U) were greater in the Kanab North mine biological samples than in Canyon Mine biota, indicating a mining‐related elemental signature. Mean rodent Ra‐226 (111 Bq/kg dry weight [dry wt]) was 3 times greater than expected, indicating radioactive disequilibrium. Multiple soil sample U concentrations exceeded a screening benchmark, growth inhibition thresholds for sensitive plants, and an EC 20 for a soil arthropod. Lesions associated with metals exposure were also observed more frequently in rodents at Kanab North than those at Canyon Mine but could not be definitively attributed to U mining. Our results indicate that Kanab North biota have taken up U mining‐related elements owing to chronic exposure to surficial contamination. However, no literature‐based effects thresholds for small rodents were exceeded, and only a few soil and vegetation thresholds for sensitive species were exceeded; therefore, adverse effects to biota from U mining‐related elements at Kanab North are unlikely despite chronic exposure.

Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management↗
USGS2013

Characterizing particle-scale equilibrium adsorption and kinetics of uranium(VI) desorption from U-contaminated sediments

Rates of U(VI) release from individual dry-sieved size fractions of a field-aggregated, field-contaminated composite sediment from the seasonally saturated lower vadose zone of the Hanford 300-Area were examined in flow-through reactors to maintain quasi-constant chemical conditions. The principal source of variability in equilibrium U(VI) adsorption properties of the various size fractions was the impact of variable chemistry on adsorption. This source of variability was represented using surface complexation models (SCMs) with different stoichiometric coefficients with respect to hydrogen ion and carbonate concentrations for the different size fractions. A reactive transport model incorporating equilibrium expressions for cation exchange and calcite dissolution, along with rate expressions for aerobic respiration and silica dissolution, described the temporal evolution of solute concentrations observed during the flow-through reactor experiments. Kinetic U(VI) desorption was well described using a multirate SCM with an assumed lognormal distribution for the mass-transfer rate coefficients. The estimated mean and standard deviation of the rate coefficients were the same for all <2 mm size fractions but differed for the 2–8 mm size fraction. Micropore volumes, assessed using t-plots to analyze N2 desorption data, were also the same for all dry-sieved <2 mm size fractions, indicating a link between micropore volumes and mass-transfer rate properties. Pore volumes for dry-sieved size fractions exceeded values for the corresponding wet-sieved fractions. We hypothesize that repeated field wetting and drying cycles lead to the formation of aggregates and/or coatings containing (micro)pore networks which provided an additional mass-transfer resistance over that associated with individual particles. The 2–8 mm fraction exhibited a larger average and standard deviation in the distribution of mass-transfer rate coefficients, possibly caused by the abundance of microporous basaltic rock fragments.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS1994

Dating of the Basal Aurignacian Sandwich at Abric Romanı́ (Catalunya, Spain) by Radiocarbon and Uranium-Series

Abric Romaní, a rock shelter located near Barcelona, Spain, contains a charcoal-bearing basal Aurignacian occupation level sandwiched between beds of moss-generated carbonate. The Aurignacian culture is the oldest artefact industry in Europe with which anatomically modern human remains have been associated. Radiocarbon analysis of charcoal fragments by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates the basal Aurignacian to about 37 ± 2 ka bp. U-series analyses by alpha spectrometry (AS) and mass spectrometry (MS) date the enclosing carbonate to 43 ± 1 ka bp. These results confirm the great antiquity of the Aurignacian in northern Spain and support the similar AMS dates from El Castillo and l'Arbreda caves. They also show that radiocarbon dates are significantly younger than U-series at 40 ka bp, as predicted by theory.

Catalunya↗
USGS2017

Evidence for the timing and duration of the last interglacial period from high-precision uranium-series ages of corals on tectonically stable coastlines

The last interglacial period has a timing and duration that can be estimated from U-series dating of emergent, coral-bearing deposits on tectonically stable coastlines. High-precision dating from Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Australia suggests that the last interglacial period had a sea level at least as high as present from ???128,000 to 116,000 yr B.P. Sea level reached a near-present level more quickly after the close of the penultimate glacial period than at the close of the last glacial period and the duration of high sea level is longer than that implied by the deep-sea record. ?? 2002 University of Washington.

Quaternary Research↗
USGS1980

Comparison of three techniques for the determination of uranium and thorium in rocks

U and Th concentrations have been determined in a series of selected whole-rock samples, using three different techniques: neutron activation analysis (INAA), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and isotope dilution mass spectrometry (ID). The INAA technique yields U and Th data that are comparable with those obtained by ID over the entire concentration range studied. XRF only provides data with comparable precision at relatively high concentrations (> 10 ppm) but has the advantage of being able to determine other useful elements such as Rb, Sr, Pb and K. The choice between INAA and XRF therefore depends on the concentration levels anticipated, together with the overall requirements for the particular study. ?? 1980.

Chemical Geology↗
USGS1981

Pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to characterize organic matter and its relationship to uranium content of Appalachian Devonian black shales

Gas Chromatographic analysis of volatile products formed by stepwise pyrolysis of black shales can be used to characterize the kerogen by relating it to separated, identified precursors such as land-derived vitrinite and marine-source Tasmanites . Analysis of a Tasmanites sample shows exclusively n- alkane "> n-alkane and -alkene pyrolysis products, whereas a vitrinite sample shows a predominance of one- and two-ring substituted aromatics. For core samples from northern Tennessee and for a suite of outcrop samples from eastern Kentucky, the organic matter type and the U content (<10−120ppm) show variations that are related to precursor organic materials. The samples that show a high vitrinite component in their pyrolysis products are also those samples with high contents of U.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1978

Uranium-isotope variations in groundwaters of the Floridan aquifer and Boulder Zone of south Florida

Water samples from four wells from the main Floridan aquifer (300-400 m below mean sea level) in southeast Florida exhibit 234 U 233 U activity ratios that are significantly lower than the secular equilibrium value of 1.00. Such anomalous values have been observed previously only in waters from sedimentary aquifers in the near-surface oxidizing environments. These four wells differ from six others, all producing from the same general horizon, in being located in cavernous highly transmissive zones. We hypothesize that the low activity ratios are indicative of a relic circulation pattern whereby water from the surface aquifer was channelled to lower levels when sea level was much lower. At a deeper cavernous level, known as the Boulder Zone (800-1,000 m below mean sea level), the U isotopes, along with other chemical constituents, show progressive changes with increasing distance from an inferred flow source in the Straits of Florida. This tends to support the hypothesized landward flow (though with a more northerly component) of cold seawater in the extensively transmissive Boulder Zone.

Florida↗
USGS1979

Uranium-series age of coral reef growth on Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Dating samples of corals and shell from the elevated coral reef terrace on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, indicate that in this region away from active plate boundaries the sea stood at least 3 m above present sea level 132,000 ± 5,000 years ago. There is no geologic evidence of other ancient reef-forming periods on this island.

Rottnest Island↗