Geology and uranium evaluation of the precambrian quartz-pebble conglomerates of the Needle Mountains, Southwest Colorado. Final report

Technical Report · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5278960

Burns, L K; Ethridge, F G; Tyler, N; Gross, A S; Campo, A M

Precambrian quartz-pebble conglomerates of the Needle Mountains of southwest Colorado are present in the Vallecito Conglomerate and the basal conglomerate of Uncompahgre Formation. Three conglomerates have lithologic, sedimentologic and mineralogic characteristics that are similar to those of the Precambrian uranium-bearing fossil placer deposits of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the Blind River Elliot Lake district in Ontario, Canada. However, the Precambrian quartz-pebble conglomerates of Colorado do not contain the key indicator minerals of primary detrital pyrite, uraninite, and other uranium mineral species. The absence of these minerals and the structural and stratigraphic relations of these two formations suggest that they were deposited between 1780 and 1460 million years ago. These formations are, therefore, not old enough to have been deposited under the reducing atmospheric conditions thought to be necessary for the formation of placer uranium deposits. The average uranium content of the Precambrian quartz-pebble conglomerates sampled is 2.9 ppM based on analyses of 502 rock samples. Maximum values for uranium (total by neutron activation are 11 ppM for the Vallecito Conglomerate and 5.0 ppM for the basal part of the Uncompahgre Formation. The Vallecito Conglomerate contains on the average 1.2 ppM total uranium and the Uncompahgre Formation contains 1.2 ppM total uranium. These low values further indicate the low potential of these quartz-pebble conglomerates as fossil-placer uranium deposit. Uranium contents of up to 330 ppM were found in dark slates of the Uncompahgre Formation; however, these units were not closely associated with the pebble conglomerates. Some potential uranium targets of vein type and in black pelitic units are found in the Uncompahgre Formation, but these are not the fossil-placer quartz-pebble conglomerate type of deposits.

• Research Organization: Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (USA). Dept. of Earth Resources
• DOE Contract Number: AC13-76GJ01664
• OSTI ID: 5278960
• Report Number(s): GJBX-118(80)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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