Uranium deposits of Lagoa Real uranium Province, state of Bahia, Brazil

The Uranium Province of Lagoa Real is situated in the south-central part of the state of Bahia and constitutes, at the present moment, one of the most promising uranium districts of Brazil. The first anomaly was recorded in 1977 and, since then intense exploration and evaluation has been carried out in the area, resulting in the characterization of six ore deposits until now. Simultaneously, NUCLEBRAS has performed tests to establish the beneficiation characteristics of the ore, and developed preliminary mining plans. The host rock for the ore mineralization is related to sodic metasomatism and controlled by lithology and structure. The ore exhibits granoblastic texture, fine to coarse grain size, and the principal uranium minerals are uraninite, and, in minor quantities, pitchblende and uranophane. The solubility is over 90% of the U3O8 contained, with an average acid consumption of 35 Kg per ton of ore treated. This paper presents a brief description of the main ore deposits and touches on their general characterisitcs. As an example, the deposit 'Jazida Cachoeira' is dealt with in greater detail, since this deposit is considered in the present context to be the most important one in the province. (Author)