Vein type uranium deposits : report of the Working Group on Uranium Geology

415 Pages·1986·33.187 MB·English

by  International Atomic Energy Agency. Working Group on Uranium Geology

IAEA-TECDOC-361
VEIN TYPE
URANIUM DEPOSITS
REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON URANIUM GEOLOGY
ORGANIZED BY THE
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
A TECHNICAL DOCUMENT ISSUEDY TB HE
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 1986
VEIN TYPE URANIUM DEPOSITS
IAEA, VIENNA, 1986
IAEA-TECDOC-361
Printed by the IAEA in Austria
January 1986
PLEASEE BA WARE THAT
ALL OF THE MISSING PAGES IN THIS DOCUMENT
WERE ORIGINALLY BLANK
FÜREWORD
The great surge of interest and activity in exploration for uranium deposits
eolhvates rt des caaaddhd eed signifr ikucnoao nwotlltef ydugor eanium geology
a enhntda tur feou ranium deposits. e Mhiutn cffoh ormation ths aabth een deve-
loped by government and industry programmes has not been widely available and in
many cases has not had the benefit of systematic gathering, organization and pub-
lication. With the current cut-back in uranium exploration and research efforts
there is a real dagger that much of the knowledge gained will be lost and, with
the anticipated resurgence of activities, will again have to be developed, with
a consequent loss of time, money and effort. In an effort to gather together the
most important informe athttyi ponf eonuo s ranium depositsa , serief ros eports
is being prepared, each covering a specific type of deposit. These reports are a
product of the Agency's Working Group on Uranium Geology. This group, which has
been active since 1970, has gathered and exchanged information on key questions
of uranium geology and co-ordinated investigations on important geological ques-
tions .
The projee hcWtt ofrso king Groun poU ranium Geoe lhpto rgdonayj ect leaders
are:
Sedimentary Basins and Sandsto; e-type Deposits
- Warren Finc-h
Uranium Deposits in Proterozoic Quartz-Pebble Conglomerates
- Desmond Pretorius -
Vein-type Uranium Deposits
- Helmut Fuchs -
Proterozoic Unconformitd nySa tratabound Uranium Deposits
- John Ferguson-
Surficial Deposits
- Dennis Teens -
The success of the projects is due to the dedication and efforts of the pro-
ject leaders and their organizations, and the active participation and contribu-
tion of world experts on the types of deposits involved. The Agency wishes to ex-
l s tiltete nahpnihv ar dtonoo lkjtnves reicto dhtfes ir effoe rrhteTspo. rts
constitutn eai mportant addit eihlto iontt eraturn eou ranium geols oas gdunyac h
are expected to have a warm reception by the meirfoer states of the Agency and the
uranium community worlwide.
Dr. Helmut Fuchs, who guided the work of this project on vein-type deposits,
his employer, Urangesellschaft mbH in Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Ger-
many,s ih dnac olleagueso hw assisted, deserve special recognitionr of their-fe
forts in the preparation of this volume.
John A. Patterson
Scientific Secretary
NOTE
Special thanks are given to all the authors participating in this project,
ao nttd heir organizations which permite tphetud blicatif ootn heir wsoir tkI.
hoped uhat the additional information published in this volume will help to ever
better understand the origin and formation of veiu-type uranium deposits around
the world.
I am very much indebted to Mrs. Gundula Meri/v3ld-Kollmann for fyping the
manuscrio pMtti ,s. Elfriede Frier dprorifoc ohfo rLteia nSdcionnlagn , Page
and Dr. George Strnad for helping to improve the English of some papeis.
Helmut Fuchs
Project Manager
Eaitor
EDITORIAL NOTE
In preparing this material for the press, staff of the International Atomic Energy Agency
have mounted ndap aginatee hdto riginal manuscripts ass ubmitte heta ydbu thord nsag iven
some attention to the presentation
The views expre ehpstas nepidee histst,a tementse hgmte adnndeaer al style adopetread
the responsibility of the named authors The views do not necessarily reflect those of the govern-
ments of the Member States or organizations under whose auspices the manuscripts were produced
m th iess Tbuhoe ok of paiticular designatiof ocnos untr ritoees rritories t dotoymnensp alv
judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of
their authord i'tnnie easdhst eittlu ifmtoi oirtnaost if ootnh eir boundaries
The mention of specific companies or of their products or brand names does not imply any
endorsemer rnoet commene Idhe Apthaa Ettf oirnAot on
Ae utrthhaeomrss elves respor noosibbfte lae nhienctinesg sary permio sstteiopn roduce
copyright material from other sources
CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................................... 7
.DF u.cHhs
e phrTobf luoer manium mineralizatn iPior necambrian metamorphic
shear tectonites - with particular reference to the Singhbhum
copper-uranium belt, Eastern India ...........................9.....
S.C. Sarkar
Uranium genesis we iAhtrhjtic nplog-Arvidsjaur-Sorsele uranium pro-
, 1Nor thveirnn2c eSweden ..................................... .......
U. Halenius, J.A.T. Smellie, M.R. Wilson
Vein-type uranium mineral occurrences in South Greenland ............... 43
P. Nyegaard. A,A rmour-Brown. A,S teenfelt
Geological environme ehvtn eftoi n-type depose ihAt tpnsih ebian
basement of the Carswell structure on the Athabasca Plateau
(Northern Saskatchewan) - Comparison with other deposits
e shatme ftoype ........................................7..5....... .
P. Artru, M. Bervillé, M. Moreau, F. Tona
The Pandanus Creek uranium mine, Northern Territory, Australia .......77..
B.D. Morgan, .D Campi
Structure-related uranium mineralization in the Westmoreland
district, Queensland, Australia ...............................5.8...
W.E. Schindlmay. rBB, eerbaum
Mt. Painter uranium deposits ........................................... 101
I.P. Youles
Petrographic-geochemical characteristics and genesis of an
albitized uraniferous granite in Northern Cameroon, Africa ........ 113
M. Oesterlen, U. Vetter
Uranium-bean ryionugn gseiirl igcreaonuis t evse,in Esastern
Desert, Egypt ..................................................... 143
H.A. Hussein, M.A. Hassan, M.A. El-Tahir,. A Abou-Deif
Geology and origin of the Schwartzwalder uranium deposit,
Front Range, Colorado, USA ........................................ 159
A.R. Wallace
e df PguierhtnnoacGenehtsiao iulM smoi gndyete,poasi ts
Saguache County, Colorado ......................................... 169
J. T. Nash
Uranium veins in Portugal .............................................. 181
I.R. Basham, J.M. Matos Dias
Sobre el origen de los yacimientos filonianos de uranio en
rocas metasedimentarias: el caso de Mina Fê,
Salamanca (Espana) ............................................39.1...
A. Arribas
Uranium deposits spae tFirahelnltcyh o rgenrltaanti ietd es
part of the Hercynian orogen ...................................... 215
B. Poty, J. Leroy, M. Cathelineau, M. Cuney, M. Friedrich,
M. Lespinas .sTeLu ,rpin
e uhraTnium deposit 'e KSrhouutntkh eelnrbnia cBh l1ack
Forest, Federal Republf iGoc ermany .........................7.4.2....
H.W. Bültemann, W.D. Bültemann
The Großschloppen-Hebanz uranium occurrenca ep-rs ototyfpoe
mineralized structure zones characterizedy b desilicifi-
cation and silicification ......................................... 261
H.G. Dill, S.G. Kolb
Fault-controlled uranium black ore mineralization from the
western edge of the Bohemian Massif (NE Bavaria,
FR Germany) ...................................................... 2~5
H.G. Dill
Uranium deposf Jioat chymov, Czechoslovakia ....................3.9.2.....
J. Komine. kTV, esely
Uranium deposit of Pribram, Czechoslovakia ............................ 307
R. Petroä. ,S Prokeä,. J Kominek
Contribution to the problems on prc-Variscan precursors of
uranium vein deposits in the Bohemian Massif ..................... 319
J.G. Strnad
The two uranium deposits in the Polish part of the Sudety
Mountains ........................................................ 335
M. Banas, K. Mochnacka
Vein uranium deposits in granites of Xiazhuang ore field .............. 359
Li Tiangang, Huang Zhizhang
Granite-type uranium deposits of China ................................ 377
Du Letian
Uranium mineralization of collapse breccia pipes in
Northern Arizona, Western United States .......................... 395
K.J. Wenrich
Metallotectonic control of the uranium mineralization in
vein-type deposits of Central Iran (Anarak District) ............. 415
M.R. Espahbod
INTRODUCTION
H.D. Fuchs
UrangesellschafHbtm
Frankfurt am Main
Federal Republic of Germany
Abou5 t1y ears age ohtl ,nii gn ha afto ssumed substantially increased demand
for uranium worldwide, the International Atomic Energy Agency established the idea
of creating a Geological Working Group on Uranium Geology to study the different
types of uranium deposits, their formation processes, and to \vork out their gene-
cictoncepa trsse\s. ult, individual projects were establisr hvoeaCdr ious types
of deposits (NN (1) ). During the past years, however, the approach to classify
and evalue auhttre anium deposiy tbds ifferent projects wite hWhiton rking Group
has changed considerably due to the discovery of new types of uranium deposits and
the better understanding of their origin. This resulted in the change from the pre-
vious project 'Vein-type and Similar Uranium Deposits in Rocks Younger than Prote-
roic' (NN (2) ) to 'Vein-type Uranium Deposits' to be able to include all uranium
occurrend cdneeaps osf ittoh siso ettx yctplueubd, e those whe idrciarh ec-tslay
sociated with the jnportant Proterozoic unconformity.
To ay voncaiod ntroversy with e rgheets npeoetctit c e ovhratir gifiooun s
depo ssadiwe tctsii, da o ed oteed nsslucy riptive defie nhdtii tfrifoeofrn ent
types of deposits. Nevertheless, there may occur an overlap of projects, i.e. that
some occurree nr e e ochdpaotbneetrsh ospos e onijrrsgeoa.oincctte t sd
e hTterm 'vein-type deposit' usen idt his publicatios nio nlya descriptive
term and follows the definition of Lindgren (3), page 155" 'Veins are tabular- or
sheet-like ma fsmsoien serals occupf r yfofiroo nal cgtl-oewsia nf graa crtuor e
tures in the enclosing rock; they have been formed later than the country rock and
fractures, eithy ebfr ie lhotlp iefnnog spy apb carerost ir aocl omplete replace-
e mhated nfjoto ining roc romk ost commonly bby otf oht hese processes combined.'
This definition just describes the physical properties independently of the source
of uraniue mhmti, neralizing pro echhetos sdstnea s rock ssAa. lready Waldknear
Ostenvald (4) had pointed out, this definition is simple and does not lead to any
misinterpretation, but is also to some extend limited to just describing the form
e dheo ttpr tco o dosusonnfihebs taos i,pd eer other also important characteristics.
Above given definition, however, leads in some cases to an overlap to other
types of uranium deposits: no sharp line can be drawn between vein-type uranium
deposits and metasomatic uranium deposits. The latter or parts of them usually have
a vein-typr e eeuxor haaafmntppip l ueemasr aoanccc uerf rEesonpc ienharas (Fuchs
n eiB uhr)tra adz)nn5iai(l u.mle at deposf ioZt holtye Vody (Bele.vlta steev
e UhS ntSb IRon .tih )ca s)e6s(, ae cachbotor vdoei tnd gefinitie ohnwa ,ve vein-
type depositse h.Tr easoa nuyh,rw anium occurree nhtsc foeo -called metasomatic
stbayehpe en inclun dtieh dis publico e asttghh ritoseo wanit , varif etoth yis
typef o depositse .ht si tuI ranium occurrencef o Kitongon i Cameroon (Oesterlen
d na Vetter.J j7(
Concerning the relationship between the 'classic' veins and the unconformity-
related uranium deposits, it is still more difficult to draw a dividing line, since
most of these deposits or parts of them are vein-type deposits. Due to their econo-
mic importance a, separation e fcrhlotam ssic ves ijinus stified. .l( AaSr )tt,re u
however, show convincingly that alson i this casea close relation exists between
thos owett ypef sod eposits. Even between sedimentary depositd nsva ein-type depo-
sits eht boundart oyn sia lways ivell defines i tdik sa nown frome ht uranium depo-
sit of Gabon (Ampamba-Gouerangue (9) ). Here, the vein-type deposits show a very
close relatioo tns tratiform deposits.
Since vein-type uranium occurred ndnceaep soe s\ri\ati dscly distributed \\ith
respect to time, space and rock type, it is very difficult to propose a carman syn-
thesis for such uranium concentration, io approach this problem, it may be necessa-
ry to classify the vein-type deposits by genetic sub-groups to define their common
featureo ts dcna ompare these different sub-groups with each other. Suc-pha na
proach, however, is beyond the scope of this publication.
As pointed out before, no specific classification of the various groups of
vein-type uranium deposits ashb een proposo teb turdb ing system inte hotp resen-
tation of the individual papers, the volume begins with the occurrences and depo-
sits known fd rlosohm ielde hsater dedniaams entary belts surrounding them. They
are followed by papers describing the European deposits mostly of Variscan age,
and by similar deposits known from China being of Jurassic age. The volume is com-
po wlptea tpyeet bdire fxse a hgttcwio thnvn lieiocy ndh scheme.
REFERENCES
(1) NN, Discussions of the Uranium Geology Working Group IGC, Sydney, Techn.
Rep. series no. 183, IAEA, Vienna (1978) 88 pp.
(2) NN, Foreword in: Vein-type and Similar Uranium Deposits in Rocks Younger
than Proterozoic, IAEA, Vienna (1982) 385 pp.
(3) LINDGREN, W., Mineral Deposits, 4th Ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., New York,
London (1933).pp 039
(4) WALKER, G.W., OESTERWALD, F.W., Introduction to the geology of uranium-bear-
ing veins in the conterminous United States, including sections on geogra-
phic distributd incoaln assificatif oovn ei: nnGsie, olof goUy ranium-bear-
e inChgotn Vteenriimn isnous United States, Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 455-A
(1963) 1-28.
(5) FUCHS, H.D., DA FONTE, J., SUCKAU, V., THAKUR, V., The Espinharas Uranium
Occurrence: n,iU ranium Exploration Case Histories, IAEA, Vienna (1981) 3-13.
) 6( BELEVTSEV, Y.N., BATASHOV, E.G., KOVAL, V.B.e ,hTZ holtye Vody Uranium depo-
sit and the Iron Ore Deposits of Krivoi Rog, Internat. Geol. Congress, XXVII
Session, Moscow, Guide Book, Naukova Dumka Publishers, Kiev (1984) 32 pp.
(7) OESTERLEN, M., VETTER, U., Petrographic-geochemical characteristics and ge-
nesis of an albitized uraniferous granite in Northern Cameroon, Africa
(1985) 121-151.
) 8( ARTRU,, .P BERVILLE,, .M MOREAU, ,.M TONA,, .F Geological environmentfo
the vein-type deposits in the Aphebian basement of th- Carswell structure
e Ahttoh nabasca Plateau (Northern Saskatchewa- nC )omparison with other
deposits of the same type (1985) 57-78.
(9) AMPAMBA-GOUERANGUE, P., Uranium in Gabon, in: Uranium and Nuclear Energy
1982, Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium held by the Uranium
Institute - London, 1st - 3rd September 1982 Butterworths (1982) 93-125.
E HTPROBLEF MO URANIUM MINERALIZATION NI PRECAMBRIAN
METAMORPHIC SHEAR TECTONITES - WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE
E HT SOTINGHBHUM COPPER-URANIUM BEL!/ EASTERN INDIA
S.C. Sarkar
Department of Geological Sciences
Jadavpur University
Calcutta
India
abstract
E PHRTOBF LLOER MANIUM MINERALIZATN IPIOR NECAMBRIAN METWORPHIC SHEAR TECTONITES
- WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE SINGHBHUM COPPER-URANIUM BELT, EASTERN INDIA
Uranium mineralization has taken place discontinue!, sly along the 200 km
long Singhbhun Copper-Uranium Belt, Eastern India, concentration being more in
the central part. The early Proterozoic rocks containing the mineralization are
chlonte-biotit° quartz schist containing apatite, magnetite and tour-
maline,
gaartz-chlorite schist containing apata inmtaae gnetite,
biotite-chlorite schist,
- brecciated quartzid tnsae oda (-silica)-metasomatites.
The rocks are characterized by L-S type structures and zones of mylonitization
e hTsheet-like orebodies, sometimes occurrie a inpttoamhgl eaanonc eera,
conformable with the compositional banding and schistosity in the host rocks. The
e lrsoohn ogee oh rpttaaa s xe rfihodast ol mloietnl ant line eahhttoi sonntis
rocks that are almost down-dip. The principal orebod^ at TTQjguda extends for
more than 1 km along the dip (40° to 60°). There is evidence on all scales that
deform saotauihto lne amsritonee dralizate izhoo fTnnio e.n stense cdopnpae r
uranium mineralization do not coincide, although some uranium is recoverable from
the tailings of the copper ores from most of the deposits mined.
The average grade of the uranium ore from the Singhbhum Belt is<0.01% 0303.
The principal ore mineral, uraninite, occurs as disseminated grains and crystals.
Other uranium-bearing minerals are sooty pitchblende, a complex U-Ti oxide, alla-
nite, xenotime, davidite, pyrochlore-microlite, clarkeite, autunite, torbernite,
schoepid tnuae ranophane Ni(-Co)-Mo-S(-As-Se)-mineralization occurs closote
e Jhaf ttdmhou aag ntnuidiua -mBhatin see cdthooTmr i.nf aunorc aeninite over
pitchblende, the presence of several percents of REE in uraninite, the develop-
ment of hematite-bearing quartz and sodic oligoclase at places, the local asso-
ciatif ooun ranium mineralizatd iNnoian( -Co)-Mo-S(-As-Sel-mineraleihzta tdinoan
continuation of some of the ore veins to considerable depth suggest these ores
formed at moderately high temperatures. The age of mineralization is 1500 to
1600 Ma.
e hoTrigin, concentratd indoaen positif ooun ranium, le ehaftdo ironmtga -
e ohrteb ofts dioisiote n isll us npsioo slstvieIbdl .e e uthrhtaa ntium ini-
tially came from the Singhbhum Granite to the south, was deposited in the basal
sedimene tht Dsfoh anjori-Chaibasa sequens acw ldenaa ter mobilized durineght
subsequent geologicale qhetuv ee o,se bslothB osuiteo lt oltfvsifnt Ieioo. d n
how the uranium initially precipitated as U (IV), became oxidized to U (VI) for