International Atomic Energy Agency IUREP N.F.S. No. 112 November 1977 Distr. LIMITED Original: ENGLISH

INTERNATIONAL URANIUM RESOURCES EVALUATION PROJECT

IUREP

NATIONAL PAVOURABILITY STUDIES

HONG KONG

77-10260

INTERNATIONAL URANIUM RESOURCES EVALUATION PROJECT

I U R E P

NATIONAL FAVOURABILITY STUDIES

IUREP NoF.S. No. 112

HONG KONG

CONTENTS

SUMMARY PAGE

A. INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL GEOGRAPHY 1-

B. GEOLOGY OP HONG KONG IN RELATION TO POTENTIALLY FAVOURABLE URANIUM BEARING AREAS

C. PAST EXPLORATION 3.

D. URANIUM OCCURRENCES AND RESOURCES 3.

E. PRESENT STATUS OF EXPLORATION 3.

F. POTENTIAL FOR NEW DISCOVERIES 3.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 3.

FIGURE

S U M M A R Y

Hong Kong is a densely populated British Colony of the south- east coast of China comprising slightly over 1000 sq. km. of area containing nearly 4-5 million people. Geologically, it has limited quantities of "both source and host rocks of unknown quality, plus iron, lead and tungsten mineralization,, Mining of iron, kaolin, feldspar and quartz presently of some importance.

A category 1 (0-1000 tonnes U) uranium potential is assigned.

- 1 -

A. IWERODUCTION AM .GENERAL GEOGRAPHY

Hong1 Kong is a British crown colony off the Kwangtung coast of southern China, comprising the island of Hong Kong and adjacent islets, peninsula and Stonecutters Island and the leased on the mainland with surrounding islands. The total area of the colony is 1050 sq km, it lies 150 Ian S.E. of Canton and 65 km E of Portuguese Macao. It is separated from the mainland by a channel which is about lg- km broad between Victoria the island's capital, and Kowloon, -g- km at its narrowest point. The harbour formed by the channel-can'take ocean-going ships up to 40,000 tons, and compares in size and beauty with any in the worldo

Climate

Ikying only just inside the northern tropic, Hong Kong is classed as subtropical. It's highly contrasting seasons whidh range from a hot, humid summer mean 27.78 C to a cool, temperate winter 15«56 C. The climate is controlled by the northeast monsoon, which blows from October to April, and the southwest monsoon, from June to August: the area received three-quarters of its annual rainfall during the latter period. In summer there are periods of bad weather caused by typhoons as well as strong winds and heavy rains caused by tropical depressions. The mean relative humidity exceeds QCffo in the summer, but occasionally falls to as low as 20% in early winter„ The average daily duration of sunshine ranges from three hoursdn March to seven hours in October. There is a wide range of annual rainfall: with an average of 215 cm.

Access.

Hong Kong has regular shipping, air, cable, and wireless services to all parts of the world. The government owns and operates a 35 mile railway and there are 14 deep water berths for ships. The Hong Kong airport can handle both land and sea aircraft. There are 1,100 km of roads, almost all of which are hard surfaced. Hong Kong's only railroad is.35 .km long and reached between its terminus at Kowloon to the Chinese frontier at Lown.

Industry, PopulatjLonaand ..Currency

Rice occupies about ^/^ of all farm land and 6 to eight crops of vegetables are harvested annually. Fruit production is developing rapidly. Fores "try is the only economic form of land development for nearly 75 percent of the colony.

Marinefish is the primary product of Hong Kong with the largest volume of any of the British Colonies. Heavy industries include more than 20 ship building yards, steel mills and cemment factories. Light industries provide about one-third of the colony's income. Mining produces iron, lead , tungsten, kaolin, feldspar sand and crushed .

The population of Hong Kong (mid 1975) was 4,366,600 of which 98 percent are Chinese. The unit of currency is the Hong Kong dollar and SUS 1.00 = about SHK4.75.

Bo GEOLOGY. OF HONG KONG .IN RELATION..TO .POTEjjTIALLY FAVOURABLE ..IEA3JIIM BBflRIKG_ AREAS. Hong Kong and the New Territories are part of the great "bath- ' 4 olith of granitic rocks which covers southeast China from Chekiang to Cam"bodia. The age relationships of the major groups of rocks are associated with the intrusions of mountain "building of the , Laramide and Alpine revolutions. Apart from small areas of sedimentary rocks belonging to the Lias (Early Jurassic) and Eocene systems, the rest of the colony (approximately 9Cffo) is composed of acid volcanic, porphyritic and granitic rocks. The general structure of the region is that of an asymmetrical anticline which strikes northeast to southwest and is parallel in trend with the China coast. The axis of the monocline passes almost exactly through the centre of Hong Kong and is marked by a depression of the . .

Generally the area consists of numerous rugged and irregular islands with deeply dissected peninsulas, A general picture is that of an upland terrain which has been invaded by the sea. The uplands and mountains are eroded remnants of rock formations. Weathering is almost entirely caused by chemical action aided by the alternation of wet dry seasons. As a result, decay to a mantle of laterite is common, often to depths exceeding 100 ft. The high- est peaks and the most prominent ranges of hills are composed of either porphyries or volcanics. They are in contrast to the granite hills which occur generally at lower elevations but which have well-etched peaks and sharp ridge lines. The plains are all recent alluvial deposits. Benches, marking former sea levels up to 400 ft or more, indicate the deep submergence of the whole region within recent geological times. Submerged weathered rock surfaces overlain by peat deposits have been discovered by boring in the harbour.

Wo rock analysis is available for the rocks of Hong Kong, but normally contain a few parts per million of uranium, and may be source rocks. The sedimentary rocks, although of unknown type may be favourable hosts.

No more specific geologic data is available. - 3 -

C. PAST EXPLORATION

There has "been no known uranium exploration in Hong K0ng«

D. URAjjTUM OCCURRENCES AMD RESOURCES

There are no known uranium occurrences, and no uranium resources in any category have ever been reported,

STATIB, OF EXPLORATIOM

There is no known uranium exploration programme being carried out.

F. .POTENTIAL FOR .NEW DISCOVERIES.

The relatively small area of Hong Kong and only sketchy geologic information about the area precludes a substantial potential estimate for Hong Kong. However, both possible source rocks and probably limited host rocks can be found, so the potential may be greater than zero, also of some importance in terms of mineral ization are the occurrences of other minerals including iron, lead, and tungsten. Therefore a category 1 potential is assigned to Hong Kong.

Compiled by M V Hansen November 1977 IAEA Vienna

BIBLIOGRAPIff

1. Encyclopedia Britannica 2. Europa Yearbook 1977 3. Encyclopedia of Nations