ABSTRACT

Sandstones and mudstones of the House-Seale deposit, Live Oak County, Texas, contain up to 8000 ppm uranium as U₃O₈; however, no uranium minerals have been detected in the ore. Autoradiography of slabbed rocks and thin sections shows that uranium is inhomogeneously distributed throughout the ore on both a macroscopic and microscopic scale. Thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy, and electron microprobe examinations of these enriched regions prove that uranium is associated with platy, layered, grain-coating material and clayey matrix between grains. Selective dissolution analysis indicates that 61 to 64 percent of the total uranium is held on ion exchange sites, and 36 to 39 percent is associated with amorphous aluminosilicate material. Significant uranium concentrations are not found in amorphous iron or manganese oxides or hydroxides, and uranium is not present in other minerals.