Chapter 3 - Exploration of uranium with case studies

Abstract

This chapter includes main phases for uranium exploration including the geological bases and fundamentals for uranium exploration. It provides a comprehensive review of methods of surveying and exploration with case studies from the Middle East and North Africa region. The exploration for uranium includes several stages starting from information collection to select a potential target area till reaching the stage of delineation and reserve estimation of an economic and visible uranium ore. The chapter highlights that during the initial stage in information collection, the uranium geologists customize a framework to organize and retrieve data so it can be used to determine the precise information of a certain region. These include topographic, geological, tectonic, magnetic or radiation geophysical, and metallogenic maps of a certain region to delineate the target area. The uranium exploration methods include also airborne, radiometric, and geochemical surveys. When promising areas are delineated during the regional exploration stage semi-detailed and detailed surveys are performed. Exploration drilling in various depths and densities is used to delineate the mode of distribution and shape of uranium ore bodies and reserve estimation.