Evaluation of the Uranium Potential of the Bushveld Complex. Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa Limited and University of Pretoria Working Group for Uranium in the Bushveld Complex: Progress Report No. 1

摘要

The poor quality of the airborne radiometric surveys and the lack of exploration geochemical data in the public domain prevent a satisfactory assessment of the uranium potential of the Bushveld area. Undue reliance must be placed upon fitting models of uranium ore deposits to the geology of the Bushveld area. Although the Bushveld granites have an unusually high background of uranium (20 to 40 ppm), they probably only host small vein-type deposits. The vein at the Albert Silver mine should be investigated as a type example to determine if it is only economic in the narrow interval of supergene enrichment. The Rooiberg Group has considerable potential for caldera-related deposits and for uranium-bearing sulphide deposits (including Olympic Dam-type deposits) in sedimentary interbeds. The Loskop Formation appears to be correlative with the Glentig and lower Swaershoek Formations of the Waterberg area. The Waterberg Group is the logical host to investigate for giant uncomformity/vein-type uranium deposits like those in Canada and Australia. Because the Waterberg consists of four uncomformity-bounded sequences, it is rarely more than 3 km thick; all of the sequences could be younger than 1770 Ma. (ERA citation 12:032506)