Filters
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Results 1 - 1 of 1.
Search took: 0.014 seconds
AbstractAbstract
[en] A reconnaissance study of middle and upper Tertiary volcaniclastic sedimentary and silicic volcanic rocks in Malheur County, Oregon, indicates that, based upon the data available: (1) it is unlikely that sandstone-type uranium deposits exist in sedimentary rocks of north-central Malheur County; and (2) favorable uranium environments are more likely to exist in and adjacent to uraniferous silicic eruptive centers and plugs. Some rhyolites in the northern part of the county contain marginally anomalous uranium abundances (6 to 8 +- 2 ppM U3O8), compared with similar rocks in southeastern Oregon. Available uranium from these rocks, as determined by nitric-acid leaching, approaches 50 to 75 percent of the total chemical U3O8 present. One Pliocene rhyolite vitrophyre sample from Duck Butte in western Malheur County contains 9 +- 2 ppM U3O8. The uranium contents of these rhyolites approach those found in silicic plugs spatially related to uranium deposits in the Lakeview district, Oregon (Erikson and Curry, 1977). It is possible that undiscovered epithermal and (or) supergene uranium deposits may exist in favorable wall rocks subjacent to uraniferous silicic eruptive centers (Duck Butte), calderas (McDermitt caldera to the south and others identified in western Owyhee County, Idaho), and silicic plugs (as in the Lakeview district). With the exception of one small uranium anomaly found in unconsolidated sands in the Grassy Mountain Formation, the sedimentary rocks observed in the study area did not possess abnormal radioactivity or exhibit evidence of uranium mobility and enrichment. Carbonaceous trash is uncommon in these rocks. Gently dipping sandstone members of the Deer Butte Formation (upper Miocene) and local channel sands in the Grassy Mountain Formation (Pliocene) may have once been the most permeable rocks in the Tertiary section; but, there is no evidence to suggest that they were conduits for uranium-bearing solutions
Primary Subject
Source
Nov 1977; 20 p; Available from NTIS., PC A02/MF A01
Record Type
Report
Report Number
Country of publication
Reference NumberReference Number
INIS VolumeINIS Volume
INIS IssueINIS Issue