Campbell reported to a confidential client in 1971 that uranium was discovered about 12 miles south of the small town of Green River, Utah in 1880. Oxidized radium ore, averaging 3% U3O8, was hand sorted from various surface exposures and sent to Europe for processing. Expanded production of uranium ore began in 1948 from the Wedding Bell Mine, the U.P. Shaft and other mines, Production continued sporadically as of 1971 (See Figure 1).
The prospect lies within the Green River Uranium District which includes the Green River Desert-Orange Cliffs area as far south as the Fremont River, and also the area between the Green and Colorado Rivers south of the highly uraniferous Salt Valley anticline and Book Cliffs. (See Figure 2). Formations range in age from Pennsylvanian to Cretaceous and outcrop in step-like fashion above the deeply entrenched major rivers. The exposed sedimentary section is about 4,000 feet thick.
The District lies in a shallow syncline which plunges gently north and into the Uinta Basin. The District borders the also highly uraniferous San Rafael District where shallow dips of about 2 degrees steepen to about 15 degrees. (See Figure 3).
GEOLOGY OF PROSPECT AREA
Uranium deposits of the District are in the Chinle formation and the Morrison formation, Upper Triassic and Upper Jurassic respectively. The most important deposits are relatively small and are clustered in the famous Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation on the flanks of the San Rafael swell about 12 miles west of Green River, Utah, (See Figure 4) and are mainly in a narrow belt along the western margin of the broad, north plunging syncline previously mentioned.
Tabular ore bodies ranging up to 5,000 tons are generally concordant with bedding and occur in the upper third of the Salt Wash member. The ore is in a conglomeratic sandstone unit, 40 to 70 feet thick. There is a distinct northeastward trend to the sand lenses and ore bodies of the Wedding Bell and U.P. Shaft Mines.
Drilling along this trend starting from surface ore bodies (oxidized) has been successful in making new discoveries. For example, Four Corners Uranium Corporation has drilled several hundred thousand feet in their areas under lease prior to 1968. The extent of their leases are unknown at this date. A few "small'' deposits have been reported in the Salt Wash exposures south and southeast of the mines mentioned above, which places uranium mineralization very near the prospect area.
Read on ....
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
