Uranium deposits of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Principal economic-genetic types and their distribution

For the first time, an uncensored overview of the main economic-genetic types of uranium deposits in the countries of the former Soviet Union can be presented. The uranium regions are briefly characterized and the characteristic features and conditions of formation of the most important deposits are discussed. Eight types of deposits are described, of which those of the endogenic series (deep metasomatic and hydrothermal) contain about 60% of the total reserves of 1.2 million tons and those of the exogenic series (mostly sandstone deposits related to stratal oxidation) contain about 40%. These appear to have been five main examples of uranium mineralization, with primarily endogenic deposits formed in the early Proterozoic through Mesozoic epochs and primarily exogenic deposits in the Cenozoic epoch. 27 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs