GEOLOGY OF THE ROSS-ADAMS URANIUM-THORIUM DEPOSIT, ALASKA
The Ross-Adams uranium-thorium mine near Bokan Mountain, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, was found quent to extensive exploration by diamond drilling. The 1957 productions was about 15,000 tons that contained approximately 0.80 percent U/sub 3/O/sub 8/. The Ross-Adams deposit forms a crudely fusiforn body that trends north and has surface exposures over a length of about 180 feet and an average width of 40 feet. Its depth as disclosed by diamond drilling and mining is approximately 60 feet. Near its southernmost exposures, the ore body is downthrown on the osuth by two steep, eastwardtrending faults. Most of the ore body is flat lying; local ximum extent of theore body south of the eastwardtrending faults has not yet been delineated. The core of the lode contains about 0.80 percent U/sub 3/Osub 8/, and is surrounded by an aureole 5 to 10 feet thick that has a U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ content between 0.1 and 0.5 percent. The ore is slightly richer in thorium than in uranium. Uranoan thorianite has been questionably identified, and five secondary surface enviroments. The deposit is red brownlargely an effect of its constituent hematite---and it te alkali granite host rock. A combination of two processes is postulated for the origin of the deposit. These are a small concentration of urano-thorite, a widely scattered site of the deposit, and, and subsequent ehyrothermal activity that formed numerous uraniferous veinlets through out the deposit. Probably the eastward-trenching faults acted as feeder channels for the hydrothermal solutions as they are locally mineralized besides also having post-ore movement. The veinlets contain uranoan thorianite along with calcite and hematite, and minor amounts of fluorite, quartz, pyrite, and galena. Comirregularly. As yet the major controlling factors that caused the concentration of urano-thorite and the localization of the uranium-bearing veinlets are unknown. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-12-014775
- OSTI ID:
- 4327746
- Report Number(s):
- A/CONF.15/P/770
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Prepared for the Second U.N. International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 1958. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-58
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
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URANOTHORIANITE
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