Geologic Relations Among Uranium Deposits, South Texas, Coastal Plain Region, U.S.A.

Abstract

Uranium has become an important energy resource in the South Texas Coastal Plain, where it occurs in tuffaceous sandy sedimentary rocks of late Eocene to Pliocene age. The uranium ore contains small amounts of molybdenum and selenium. Deposits range from small, irregular bodies of highly oxidized “yellow ores” near the outcrop to un- oxidized “black ores” at depths of from 60 feet (18. 3 meters) to at least several hundred feet. The oxidized ore is highly susceptible to leaching accompanied by migration down the dip of permeable sands. The deep unoxidized deposits exhibit well-developed roll-type ore bodies along oxidation-reduction boundaries.