International Atomic Energy Agency IUREP N.F.S. NO. 71 August 1977 Distr. LIMITED Original: ENGLISH
INTERNATIONAL URANIUM RESOURCES EVALUATION PROJECT
IUREP
NATIONAL FAVOURABILITY STUDIES
HAITI
77-7713
INTERNATIONAL URANIUM RESOURCES EVALUATION PROJECT
I U R E P
NATIONAL FAVORAEILITY STUDY
HAITI
CONTENTS
PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. GEOLOGY IN RELATION TO POTENTIALLY FAVORABLE URANIUM-BEARING AREAS
3. PAST EXPLORATION
4. URANIUM OCCURRENCES AND RESOURCES
5. PRESENT STATUS OF EXPLORATION
6. AREAS FAVORABLE FOR URANIUM MINERALIZATION AND POTENTIAL FOR NEW DISCOVERY
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
MAP OF HAITI
1. INTRODUCTION
(a) Geography
Haiti has an area of 27,713 square kilometers. The capital is Port-au-Prince. The territory includes the Goriave and Cayemites islands in the Gulf of Gonave, Tortue off the northern coast and Vache in the Caribbean. Haiti occupies the western third of Hispaniola Island. Its principal valleys and mountain ranges are continuations of those in the Dominican Republic. The country has an irregular coastline with a short northern peninsula and a long southern one. The Massif du Nord, though less than 1,219 meters in elevation, is rugged and complexly dissected. Central Haiti has lower ranges - the Montagnes Noires and Chaine de Mateaux. The highest mountains lie along the entire southern peninsula, with the Massif de la Hotte and Massif de la Selle ranging from 2,134 to.almost 2,862 meters in elevation. The chief lowland areas are the northern, central and Artibonite plains and the Cul de Sac. High evap- oration causes semiarid to arid conditions over much of the latter two regions. There also are smaller coastal plains and basins together with scattered mountain lowlands* The country is subject to some hurricane danger.
(b) Climate
Haiti has generally warm to hot temperatures with rather high humidity though modified by altitude in. the mountains and by sea breezes on the coastal lowlands. Rainfall is greatly variable both locally and seasonally.
(c) Access
The country's 4,000 km. of largely unpaved roads are poorly main- tained and mostly impassable in rainy weather. Few bridges have been built over water area, and only foot or animal trails link numerous interior towns. A program to build and repair roads is underway, with major emphasis on a 282-km. stretch between Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien. Rail service is essentially lacking. There are some small airports. International air service is through Port-au-Prince. Most of the rivers are shallow with seasonal flow and are subject to considerable evaporation.
2. GEOLOGY IN RELATION TO POTENTIALLY FAVORABLE URANIUM-BEARING AREAS
Haiti is located in the central Greater Antilles and is a rugged land of steep ridges and narrow valleys. High ridges border the north and south coasts and form long peninsulas extending toward Cuba to the. west. Between them, a central region contains two narrow synclinal valleys separated by two short anticlinal ridges from each other and from a southern valley which opens to the sea at Port-au-Prince. That valley is a graben extending eastward into the Dominican Republic, at some places descending below sea level•
The greater part of the island is underlain by Paleocene to Miocene limestones and less common clays, sandstones, and conglomerates. Con- centrated in the north and south coastal ridges are Upper Cretaceous volcanic and sedimentary rocks, mainly basalts and minor argillites and radiolarites in the south, and a mixture of basalt, andesite, dacite, and quartz diorlte, and minor sedimentary rocks in the north. The north range also contains andesite, dacite, and basalt lava and tuff of Eocene and younger ages interbedded with and cutting the Tertiary sedimentary roqks. The youngest volcanic rocks are nepheline basalts and tuffs about 27 km. north of Port-au-Prince, but other basalts crop out along the north wall of the graben mentioned above.
Unconformities break the stratigraphic succession near the top of the Eocene, Oligocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene, and also within the Pliocene. Middle and upper Miocene deposits are the most extensive nonc^'-ine strata, including lignite, evaporites, conglomerate, and marl. Conglomerates and other clastic rocks occur at other stratigraphic levels in Haiti. A Pliocene continental formation of gravel and sand also has a wide distribution.
3. PAST EXPLORATION
No past exploration for uranium has been reported.
4. URANIUM OCCURRENCES AND RESOURCES
No uranium occurrences have been reported.
5. PRESENT STATUS OF EXPLORATION
No current exploration for uranium has been reported.
Foreign governments and employees of the Haitian government may not obtain mining permits or concessions. Individuals or companies meeting the reqjii£i^e__tjechnical ajtcM[inancial criteria may be granted exploration or exploitation rights.
6. AREAS FAVORABLE FOR URANIUM MINERALIZATION AND POTENTIAL FOR NEW DISCOVERY
Possible source rocks are andesite and perhaps dacite tuffs exposed in central and northern Haiti. Possible host rocks include terrestrial deposits of Miocene and Pliocene ages deposited on or near surfaces of unconformity. Sinkhole deposits are present in the upland areas but no phosphate deposits are reported. Lignite deposits of Miocene age are mapped at Maissade,. Camp Perrin and I/Asil£.
The uranium potential is estimated to be less than 1,000 tonnes.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bowln, CO,,, The geology of Hispaniola: in press.
Butterl4-n, J., 1956, La constitution geologique et la structure des Antilles: Paris, Centre Nat. de la Recherche Scientifique, 453 p.
, I960, Geologie generale et regionale de la Republique d'Haiti: Paris, Trav. Mem. Inst. Hautes Arner. Lat., 194 p.
Cheilletz, A. and Samama, J.C., 1976, Les gites mineraux de la Republique d'Haiti et leur distribution geologiquej 7th Carib. Geol..Conf., Guadeloupes Trans., p. 277-283.
Kesler, S.E., 1971, Fetrology of the Terre Neuve igneous province, northern Haiti: Geol. Soc. America Memoir, 130, p. 119-137.
Compiled by USERDA August 1977