Geochemical reconnaissance for uranium in middle tertiary ash-flow tuffs of the Morey Peak Quadrangle, northern Nye County, Nevada

Rock and water samples were collected from the Morey Peak 15' quadrangle in the northern Hot Creek Range, Nye County, Nevada. The water was analyzed for trace element content. The rock samples were analyzed for oxide composition, selected trace element composition, and K-U-Th content. Water sampled from springs, hot springs, and creeks had temperatures ranging between 8 and 600C, conductance between 100 and 1800 mhos, pH between 5.4 and 8.7, and Eh between -106 and -301 mv. Factor analysis of the sample set reveals a U-Li-Se association and also identifies oxidized galena in solution. This analysis suggests that water need only be analyzed for copper, lithium, selenium, uranium, and vanadium in an uranium exploration program. Oxide analyses of these samples show gross similarities to other volcanic suites in central Nevada. Correlation coefficients indicate that in this area uranium is independent of any of the tested variables. Factor analyses suggest that there is an association between beryllium and uranium, arsenic and uranium, and selenium and uranium. The K-U-Th analyses yielded a wide variance of measurements. Potassium content ranges between 0 and 7.66%, thorium between 0 and 39.09 ppM, and uranium between 0.04 and 1744 ppM. Disequilibrium plots suggest that the mineralization present in the Corral Canyon area is late