Abstract

Uranium-vanadium deposits in the Henry Mountains are present in the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation (Jurassic). The majority of the deposits are located in an elongated cluster in eastern Garfield County, Utah, known as the Henry Mountains mineral belt.

The deposits, discovered in 1913, were intermittently mined first for radium, and then for vanadium. Up to 1944, nearly 500 tons of high-grade ore were mined.

During the period 1948 through 1978, some 130 properties in the Henry Mountains had produced 79,500 tons of ore with an average grade of 0.30 percent U₃O₈ and containing 474,500 pounds of uranium oxide (U₃O₈). In addition, vanadium has been recovered from 63,000 tons with an average grade of 1.35 percent V₂O₅ and containing 1,694,100 pounds of vanadium oxide (V₂O₅).

The deposits that have been mined to date are small and oxidized. They consist of uranium and vanadium minerals which impregnate beds of argillaceous and carbonaceous sandstone. Other deposits consist of uranium and vanadium minerals occurring within and (or) forming haloes around fossil logs.

Recent discoveries, in excess of five million pounds uranium oxide, have stimulated exploration in the Henrys and adjacent areas. The known reserves and the favorable geology for undiscovered potential resources are expected to make the Henry Mountains a significant source of uranium in the immediate future.