International Uranium Resources Evaluation Project (IUREP) national favourability studies: India

Physiographically India has a total area of 3,268,010 km2 in three distinct regions. 1. The Peninsular shield in the south with an area of 823,310 km2. 2. The Himalayan mountain system with an area of 1,797,200 km2. 3. The Indo-Gangetic alluvial plain with an area of 647,500 km2. The three presently recognised major uranium provinces in India are: 1. The Singhbhum uranium province; 2. The Rajasthan uranium province, 3. The Madhya Pradesh uranium province. The Atomic Minerals Division of the Department of Atomic Energy has carried out a vigorous exploration programme since 1949 but despite their efforts a great deal of ground has still to be explored. At present, structurally controlled deposits account for most of the uranium resources of India. Uranium occurrences and deposits have been outlined in (1) Vein type deposits (the Singhbhum belt), (2) Conglomerate (Karnataka and Udaipur area, Raiasthan), (3) Sandstones (Madhra Pradesh and Swaliks, Himachal Pradesh, (4) Others such as carbonatites, marine phosphates, etc, (Mussorrie - Sahasradhara In Uttar Pradesh and Chatterpur-Saucur in Madhya Pradesh), (5) By-product Uranium in copper tailings and beach sands. India's total resources are listed as 52,538 tonnes uranium (68,300 short tons U3O8) with additional resources from monazite of 12700 tonnes uranium. In view of the wide geological favourability, the many types of occurrences already known and the vast areas of unexplored ground it is estimated that the Speculative Potential may be between 150,000 and 250,000 tonnes uranium which is Category 5. (author)