TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 231 Age, Sedimentary Environments, and Other Aspects of Sandstone and Related Host Rocks for Uranium Deposits AGE, SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SANDSTONE AND RELATED HOST ROCKS FOR URANIUM DEPOSITS The following States are Members of the International Atom ic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN HUNGARY PHILIPPINES A LBA N IA ICELAND POLAND ALGERIA INDIA PORTUGAL A RG EN TIN A INDONESIA QATAR AUSTRALIA IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF ROM ANIA AUSTRIA IRAQ SAUDI ARABIA BANGLADESH IRELA N D SENEGAL BELGIUM ISRAEL SIERRA LEONE BOLIVIA ITA L Y SIN G A PO RE BRAZIL IVORY COAST SOUTH AFRICA BULGARIA JAM AICA SPAIN BURMA JAPAN S R I LANKA BYELORUSSIAN SOVIET JO RD A N SUDAN SOCIALIST REPUBLIC KENYA SWEDEN CANADA K O R EA , R E P U B L IC O F SWITZERLAND C H IL E KUWAIT SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC CO LO M BIA LEBANON THAILAND COSTA RICA LIBERIA TU N ISIA CU BA LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA TURKEY CYPRUS LIECHTENSTEIN UGANDA CZECHOSLOVAKIA LUXEMBOURG UKRAINIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA MADAGASCAR R EPU B LIC DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S M A LAYSIA UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF KOREA MALI R EPU B LIC S DENMARK M A U RITIU S UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DOMINICAN REPUBLIC M EXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT ECUADOR MONACO BRITAIN AND NORTHERN EGYPT M ONGOLIA IR ELA N D EL SALVADOR MOROCCO UNITED REPUBLIC OF ETH IOPIA NAMIBIA CAM EROON FIN LA ND NETHERLANDS UNITED REPUBLIC OF FRANCE NEW ZEALAND TANZANIA GABON NICARAGUA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC N IG ER U RU GU A Y GERMANY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF N IG ERIA V EN EZU ELA GHANA NORWAY V IE T NAM GREECE PA KISTAN YUGOSLAVIA GUATEMALA PANAMA Z A IR E H AITI PARAGUAY ZAMBIA H OLY S E E PERU The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world”. © IAEA, 1983 Permission to reproduce or translate the information contained in this publication may be obtained by writing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramerstrasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Printed by the IAEA in Austria December 1983 TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 231 AGE, SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SANDSTONE AND RELATED HOST ROCKS FOR URANIUM DEPOSITS Results of Correspondence from Members of the IAEA Uranium Geology Working Group Project II on Sedimentary Basins and Sandstone-Type Uranium Deposits INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 1983 AGE, SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF SANDSTONE AND RELATED HOST ROCKS FOR URANIUM DEPOSITS IAEA, VIENNA, 1983 STI/DOC/10/231 ISBN 92-0-145383-3 FOREWORD A Panel on Uranium Exploration Geology, convened by the IAEA in Vienna in April 1970, recognized that information on uranium geology and on the factors controlling the formation of uranium deposits should be gathered, exchanged, analysed and published in reports prepared by working groups for each of the main types of uranium deposit. During the Panel meeting, a Working Group on Uranium Geology was established and made preliminary reports. The Working Group was reconvened at the 24th International Geological Congress (IGC) in Montreal (1972), at the IAEA Symposium on the Formation of Uranium Ore Deposits in Athens (1974), at the 25th International Geological Congress in Sydney (1976), and at the 26th IGC in Paris (1980). Project II of the Working Group was assigned the responsibility for Sedimentary Basins and Sandstone-Type Uranium Deposits. Despite the fact that about 40% of the world’s uranium resources are contained in sandstone-type deposits, which has led to extensive research and many publications on the subject, a need has remained for additional information on the various aspects of the geology and the factors controlling the formation of sandstone-type uranium deposits. Project II identified and considered a number of topics and unsettled questions requiring further investigation. These were: age of host rocks; partitioning of uranium between continental and marine sediments; latitude limitation on formation of sand­ stone deposits; effect of rock formation attitude on sandstone ores; and usefulness of stable isotope and fluid inclusion studies. The results of studies on these subjects are presented in the present report, which forms part of a wider programme of the Working Group, whose final results and conclusions will be presented at the 27th International Geological Congress in Moscow in 1984. The International Atomic Energy Agency wishes to express its gratitude to the Chairman, Mr. R.D. Nininger, and the Vice-Chairman, Mr. L. Page, of the Working Group on Uranium Geology, for providing guidance for the activities of the Working Group. Special gratitude is due to Mr. W.I. Finch, who took the responsibility of co-ordinating the activities of Project II since 1979, and also to Messrs H.H. Adler and R.J. Wright, former chairmen of Project II. The compilers are grateful to Ms. M. McNeil and Mr. L. Stout (Bendix Field Engineering Corporation) and Mr. J.K. Otton (US Geological Survey), who translated certain contributions into English. The material provided by Mr. K.A. Dickinson (US Geological Survey) on the south Texas deposits is also acknowledged. Finally, Mr. W. Green and Mr. J.T. Nash of the US Geological Survey are to be thanked for their review of the manuscript and their helpful suggestions. The IAEA wishes to pay tribute to the valuable co-operation offered by all the members of Project II and by their respective organizations who authorized their active participation. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 Procedure .......................................................................................................... 2 Definition of sandstone uranium deposits .................................................... 5 Introductory summary .................................................................................... 6 2. TOPIC 1: AGE OF HOST ROCKS ......................................................... 9 Material sent to the correspondents.................................................................. 9 Introduction ............................................................................................. 9 Thesis .......................................................................................................... 9 Background ................................................................................................. 9 Proposal ..................................................................................................... 10 Information requested............................................................................... 11 Replies .............................................................................................................. 11 Continental host rocks older than Silurian ..................................................... 11 General comments .................................................................................... 11 Precambrian ............................................................................................. 12 Cambrian..................................................................................................... 13 Marine and marginal marine uranium host sandstones of any age ............. 13 Precambrian ............................................................................................. 13 Cambrian..................................................................................................... 15 Cambrian-Ordovician ............................................................................... 15 Devonian ..................................................................................................... 17 Pennsylvanian and Permian ....................................................................... 17 Cretaceous ................................................................................................. 17 Cretaceous-Tertiary .................................................................................... 19 Tertiary .................................................................................................... 19 Comments .......................................................................................................... 21 3. TOPIC 2: PARTITIONING OF URANIUM BETWEEN CONTINENTAL AND MARINE SEDIMENTS ................................... 23 Material sent to the correspondents.................................................................. 23 Introduction ............................................................................................. 23 Thesis .......................................................................................................... 23 Background................................................................................................. 23 Proposal ...................................................................................................... 24 Information requested................................................................................ 24 Replies .............................................................................................................. 24 Views and evidence of uranium partitioning between continental and marine sediments ...................................................................................