Uranium in Alkaline Rocks
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Eu A.-78 '78 LBL-7029 URANIUM IN ALKALINE ROCKS M. Murphy, H. Wollenberg, B. Strisower, H. Bowman, S. Flexser, and I. Carmichael April, 1978 Earth Sciences Division Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory University of California *Principal Investigator metadc784600 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract W-7405-ENG-48 LEGAL NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the Depart- ment of Energy, nor any of their employees, nor any of their con- tractors, subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, appa- ratus, product or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Printed in the United States of America Available from National Technical Information Service U. S. Department of Commerce 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Price: Printed Copy, $ 9.00 Domestic; $18.00 Foreign Microfiche, $ 3.00 Domestic; $ 4.50 Foreign LBL-7029 URANIUM IN ALKALINE ROCKS M. Murphy, H. Wollenberg,* B. Strisower, H. Bowman, S. Flexser, and I. Carmichael *Principal Investigator Work performed under Agreement 77-044X with Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance furnished by members of the Geological Survey of Greenland, Bjarne Leth Nielsen, Per Nyegaard, and Henning Bohse and their colleagues, in arranging the visit to Il imaussaq and for guidance in the field. In Brazil valuable discussions were held with Dr. J. R. de Andrade Ramos of the Comiss o Nacional de Energia Nuclear, and visits to field sites were arranged by Drs. J. M. A. Forman and Mario Fraenkel of Empresas Nucleares Brasileiras SA (NUCLEBRAS). Guidance in the field was ably provided by Dr. Asturio Garcia and his colleagues of NUCLEBRAS at Pogos de Caldas, Dr. Carlos Kasbergen of the Mining Company of the State of Goias (METAGO) at Catalan, and Dr. Mauro Marchetto of Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao at Araxa. Valuable discussions were held with Professor H. H. G. J. Ulbrich at the University of Sao Paulo. The authors appreciate the help in the field of William Short of Bendix Field Engineering Corporation in the visit to Ilfmaus- saq, and of Mary McNeil of Bendix in the visits to the Brazilian sites. Valuable discussions pertinent to the project were held with Dr. David Dahlem of the U.S. Department of Energy's Grand Junction Office. In the analysis of U.S. sites we appreciate the contributions of Dr. Raymond Stroud of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Little Rock, Arkan- sas, and Dr. Charles Stone of the Arkansas Geological Commission, of unpublished data and discussions of the Magnet Cove area. Dr. Peter L. Siems of the University of Idaho, Moscow, provided information on the Idaho occurrences, and Dr. Robert Forbes of the University of Alaska, discussed Alaskan occurrences with us. Drs. Mortimer Staatz, Ted Armbrustmacher, and Tom Nash, all of the Uranium/Thorium Branch, U.S.G.S., Golden, Colorado, provided important commentary on a variety of topics related to this project. We are grateful to Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory colleagues Alan Smith, who performed the gamma-spectral analyses, Ashwani Mathur, for Russian translation, T. N. Narasimhan, for data and first-hand information on Indian occurrences, Orah Goldman and Ruthie Redic, who typed repeated drafts of sections of the report, Chris Weaver and Susan Schwartz who helped with computer problems, Odeana Kelley and others of the keypunching group, and personnel of the Technical Information Division who helped produce the report. iii URANIUM IN ALKALINE ROCKS ABSTRACT Geologic and geochemical criteria were developed for the occur- rence of economic uranium deposits in alkaline igneous rocks. A lit- erature search, a limited chemical analytical program, and visits to three prominent alkaline-rock localities (Ilfmaussaq, Greenland; Pogos de Caldas, Brazil; and Powderhorn, Colorado) were made to establish criteria to determine if a site had some uranium resource potential. From the literature, four alkaline-intrusive occurrences of differing character were identified as type-localities for uranium mineralization, and the important aspects of these localities were described. These characteristics were used to categorize and evaluate U.S. occurrences. The literature search disclosed 69 U.S. sites, encompassing nephe- line syenite, alkaline granite, and carbonatite. It was possible to compare two-thirds of these sites to the type localities. A ranking system identified ten of the sites as most likely to have uranium resource potential. Further study is needed of the petrology, mineralogy, and geochem- istry of sites of known uranium mineralization. Interpretation of these new data will strengthen the important criteria to judge the uranium potential of U.S. alkaline igneous rocks. V CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION . 1 A. General . 1 B. Literature Search . 2 C. Analysis of Samples from University of California Collections . 12 D. Comparison of Radioelement and Trace-Element Contents . 12 II. CHARACTERIZATION . 19 A. Classification of Alkaline Rocks . 19 1. General . 19 2. Peralkaline Granite . 21 3. Carbonatites . 22 B. Type Localities . 23 1. The Ilfmaussaq Type Locality, Greenland . 23 2. The Pogos de Caldas Type Locality, Brazil . 31 3. The Ottawa Graben Type Locality, Canada . 33 4. The Bokan Mountain Type Locality, Alaska . 38 III. EVALUATION OF ALKALINE OCCURRENCES IN THE UNITED STATES . 43 A. Introduction . 43 B. U.S. Tabulation . 43 C. Ranking System . 51 D. Descriptions of Promising Target Areas . 51 1. Magnet Cove, Arkansas . 51 2. Potash Sulphur Springs, Arkansas . 57 3. Diablo Plateau, Texas . 57 4. Beemerville, New Jersey . 58 5. Quincy, Massachusetts . 58 6. Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma . 58 7. Jamestown, Colorado . 60 8. Mount Rosa, Colorado . 60 9. Powderhorn, Colorado . 62 10. Rocky Boy, Montana . 62 E. Speculations . 62 1. Speculative Comments . 62 2. Further Occurrences of Interest .. .0. 66 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . 6868 vi CONTENTS (Continued) APPENDICES . 71 A.1. Trip Report: Visit to Il imaussaq Alkaline Intrusion, South Greenland, August 1977 (H. Wollenberg) . 71 A.2. Trip Report: Brazil, September 26-October 9, 1977 (H. Wollenberg) . 86 A.3. Trip Report: Colorado Rocky Mountains, October 13, 1977 (M. T. Murphy) . 108 B. Analytical Data . 117 C. Glossary of Rock and Mineral Names . 139 D. Bibliography . 175 E. Literature Base (microfiche-see pocket inside back cover) -1- URANIUM IN ALKALINE ROCKS I. INTRODUCTION A. GENERAL Significant reserves of uranium have been identified in alkaline igneous rocks in Brazil and Greenland, and uranium has been mined from peralkaline granite in southeastern Alaska. This project was undertaken to answer the question: Are there other alkaline intru- sive occurrences in the United States that are potential sources of uranium? The overall project objectives are to: (1) develop criteria by which one can judge the resource poten- tial of uranium in alkaline igneous rocks of the United States; and (2) identify potential uranium resource areas in alkaline rocks of the United States. Within the category of alkaline igneous rocks we have included alkaline-peralkaline granites, peralkaline nepheline syenites, and carbonatites. The interrelationship between these categories is dis- cussed in Section II of this report. To fulfill the objectives the following tasks were accomplished: (1) Through on-site visits and a search of the literature, we characterized the principal alkaline igneous occurrences of known uranium resource potential. (2) On the basis of type-localities established from this char- acterization we developed sets of criteria against which alkaline igneous occurrences in the U.S. could be compared. (3) From the literature search we identified 69 alkaline occur- rences in the U.S. for comparison. (4) The comparison identified ten localities which warrant further investigation of their uranium resource potential. In proceeding with these tasks it became apparent that petrologic- geochemical criteria which would be useful in assessing the uranium favorability of domestic alkaline rocks need to be more sharply defined. The phase of the project reported here was based primarily on a literature search, and involved only a limited laboratory geochemical program. Citations in the literature on the distribution and abundance of radio- elements in these rocks are sparse. Petrologic, mineralogic, and geochemical studies on samples from known uraniferous alkaline occurrences are required to sharpen these criteria. -2- In the introductory section of this report we briefly describe the literature search, chemical-analytical program, and resulting comparison of radioelement and companion element abundances. The extensive literature base, encompassing 1441 references, and the chemical-analytical data are included as appendices. Section II on characterization includes a description of the classification of alkaline rocks and a presentation of the type-locali- ties and criteria used for comparison with U.S. occurrences. In the third section we tabulate the U.S. occurrences, rank them according to the type-locality criteria, and identify the ten locali- ties that most warrant further investigation. In the final section we present our conclusions and recommendations for validation studies and further