minerals Article Multivariate Analysis Based on Geochemical, Isotopic, and Mineralogical Compositions of Uranium-Rich Samples Loretta Corcoran 1,* , Antonio Simonetti 1 , Tyler L. Spano 1,2, Stefanie R. Lewis 1, Corinne Dorais 1, Stefanie Simonetti 1 and Peter C. Burns 1,3 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA 2 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Rd, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA 3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 5 August 2019; Accepted: 3 September 2019; Published: 5 September 2019 Abstract: The chemical and isotopic (U, Pb, Sr) signatures for a suite (n = 23) of pristine (>80 wt. % UO2) and altered uraninite samples (>70–80 wt. % UO2) from various locations worldwide have been determined for the purpose of identifying potential fingerprints for nuclear forensic analysis. The characterization of the uraninite samples included determination of major, minor and trace element contents, Sr, Pb, and U isotopic compositions, and secondary mineral assemblages. Due to the multivariate approach adopted in this study, principal component analysis (PCA) has been employed to allow the direct comparison of multiple variable types. The PCA results indicate that the geological origin (sandstone, metamorphite, intrusive, granite and unconformity) of pristine uraninite can be readily identified utilizing various combinations of major and/or trace element concentrations with isotopic compositions. Keywords: uraninite; principal component analysis; nuclear forensics; uraninite provenance 1. Introduction Over the past few decades, there has been increased interest in developing novel methods/approaches for the forensic analysis of nuclear materials.