Mineralogical Notes on the Uranium Deposits of the Grants and Laguna District, New Mexico Abraham Rosenzweig, 1961, Pp
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New Mexico Geological Society Downloaded from: http://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/12 Mineralogical notes on the uranium deposits of the Grants and Laguna district, New Mexico Abraham Rosenzweig, 1961, pp. 168-171 in: Albuquerque Country, Northrop, S. A.; [ed.], New Mexico Geological Society 12th Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, 199 p. This is one of many related papers that were included in the 1961 NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebook. Annual NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebooks Every fall since 1950, the New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS) has held an annual Fall Field Conference that explores some region of New Mexico (or surrounding states). Always well attended, these conferences provide a guidebook to participants. Besides detailed road logs, the guidebooks contain many well written, edited, and peer-reviewed geoscience papers. 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No material from the NMGS website, or printed and electronic publications, may be reprinted or redistributed without NMGS permission. Contact us for permission to reprint portions of any of our publications. One printed copy of any materials from the NMGS website or our print and electronic publications may be made for individual use without our permission. Teachers and students may make unlimited copies for educational use. Any other use of these materials requires explicit permission. This page is intentionally left blank to maintain order of facing pages. 168 NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 0' TWELFTH FIELD CONFERENCE MINERALOGICAL NOTES ON THE URANIUM DEPOSITS OF THE GRANTS AND LAGUNA DISTRICTS ABRAHAM ROSENZWEIG University of New Mexico INTRODUCTION within the sandstone. The ore is primarily black and un- In the eleven years since the uranium deposits in the oxidized with a concentration of oxidized minerals near vicinity of Haystack Butte first attracted attention, the the surface and along faults which are younger than the Grants and Laguna districts have developed into major deposit. Minor amounts of sulfides, primarily pyrite and uranium-producing areas of the United States. A single marcasite, but containing significant amounts of molyb- deposit in the Laguna district, the Jackpile mine, represents denum and selenium, are characteristic of this deposit. about one-third of the total uranium reserves of New Sandstone ores of the Laguna district. The Jackpile Mexico. In addition to their great economic significance, deposit is characteristic of deposits in the Laguna district. these deposits have shed considerable light on the geo- The host rock is the Jackpile sandstone (local usage) in chemistry and mineralogy of uranium deposits in sedimen- the upper part of the Brushy Basin member of the Mor- tary rocks. Several new minerals have been discovered in rison formation. The largest of the ore bodies, the North the area, which, though not spectacular, are of consider- ore body, consists of two subparallel layers whose total able scientific interest. The mineral collector may find thickness averages 20 feet. The ore body is about 1,300 here outstanding specimens of uraninite and some of its feet wide and several thousand feet long. In the lower alteration products. grade parts of the ore layers, and especially in the zone Most of the deposits in the two districts are in Jurassic between the two layers, there are concentrations of uran- rocks. Those in the Laguna district are in the sandy facies ium associated with carbonaceous material in rod-like ver- of the Brushy Basin member of the Morrison formation, tical bodies. The ore is primarily of the unoxidized type, and those of the Grants district are in the Westwater but a wide variety of oxidized minerals is also present. Canyon member of the Morrison formation and in the The Woodrow deposit, about one mile east of the Todilto limestone. Several minor deposits occur in other Jackpile mine, is unique in the area, it being the only de- Jurassic rocks and in the Dakota sandstone. The nature posit in a sandstone pipe. Several similar structures are of the host rock, limestone or sandstone, provides a con- known in the Laguna district but none of them is signifi- venient as well as economically significant classification cantly mineralized. The pipe is nearly vertical, extends of the ore types. A more fundamental scheme of classifi- to a known depth of 230 feet, and is approximately 35 cation can be established on the basis of the oxidation state feet in diameter. The pipe cuts the Brushy Basin member of the uranium and vanadium and the ratio of these of the Morrison formation and is separated from it by a elements to one another (Weeks and others, 1959), there- complex, branching ring fault. The average tenor of the by separating the ores into unoxidized and oxidized types. ore is about two percent uranium, the highest concentra- A genetic classification, though very desirable, is as yet tion being in the upper part of the pipe and along the impractical, for ten years of intensive research has failed bounding ring fault. The core of the pipe is essentially to resolve the question of origin of these deposits. barren. The ore minerals are primarily of the unoxidized Todilto limestone ores. The Todilto limestone of the type, but many secondary minerals are also present, es- Grants district is typically gray in color and has a dis- pecially near the surface. tinctly fetid odor. It varies from thin bedded in the lower THE MAJOR ORE MINERALS part to massive in the upper part. The mineralized zones The terms primary and secondary have frequently are irregular tabular bodies several feet thick and up to been used in referring to the minerals of these and other several tens of thousands of square feet in area. Mineral- Colorado Plateau uranium deposits. In view of the con- ization is generally concentrated in areas of small-scale troversy regarding the origin of the deposits, the terms intraformational folding and faulting. The ores are gen- primary and secondary should be replaced by unoxidized erally of the unoxidized type, and have been subdivided and oxidized, respectively. The oxidized minerals are in into uranium, uranium-fluorine (fluorite), and uranium- fact secondary in a genetic sense in that they are derived vanadium ores (Truesdell and Weeks, 1960). This sub- from the unoxidized minerals, primarily through the action division is not practical in a general discussion, for the of ground water. The unoxidized minerals, however, are ore varies rapidly from one type to another within a single primary only in the sense that they are the source of small deposit. Hematite staining of the limestone is com- material for the oxidized minerals. In the unoxidized ores mon in the higher grade ores. Fracture zones and vugs are the uranium is ideally in the tetravalent state and the commonly coated with oxidized uranium and vanadium vanadium is in the trivalent or tetravalent state. In the minerals. oxidized ores the uranium is hexavalent, usually as the Sandstone ores of the Grants district. The Poison uranyl (U0,) + 2 ion, and the vanadium is almost always Canyon deposit is typical of the deposits in the Morrison pentavalent. In general the unoxidized minerals are of the formation in this district. The ore body is in the Poison greatest economic importance, but the oxidized minerals Canyon sandstone (local usage), a tongue of the West- are locally important, especially in the Todilto limestone. water Canyon member extending into the Brushy Basin The great permeability of the sandstones may account for member. The deposit is tabular, consisting of several the removal of the highly soluble uranyl ion. nearly parallel layers as much as 20 feet thick. The Uraninite. Uraninite or pitchblende is the major un- greatest concentration of mineralization is near the base oxidized uranium mineral in the Todilto limestone deposits of the host unit and directly above thin mudstone beds and is an important constituent of the sandstone ores. NEW MEXICO GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY • TWELFTH FIELD CONFERENCE 169 Ideally it has the composition UO 2 , but partial oxidation but is probably not present in sufficient quantities to be will have frequently taken place so that the U:0 ratio may important economically. The analagous calcium compounds, range from 1:2 to 1:2.6. In none of the ores do we find tyuyamunite and metatyuyamunite (differing only in the the cubic crystal habit, the form generally being as small hydration state), are far more important, making up a masses, blebs, and seams in the host rock, or as coatings significant part of the ore in some of the Todilto limestone on the sedimentary grains. The mineral is black, has a deposits. All three minerals are bright yellow, powdery or submetallic to pitchlike luster ( limestone ores), or may scaly in habit, and form incrustations on the unoxidized be dull and earthy (sandstone ores). In the Todilto lime- minerals or coat fractures and bedding planes in the lime- stone, the uraninite content may be quite high, and where stone. When associated with recrystallized calcite they this is true the limestone may be heavily stained with may be found in rather spectacular specimens.