Cuney reported in 2009 that most available classifications of uranium deposits are based on the characteristics of the host rocks or on the morphology of the ore deposits. The aim of this paper is to propose the basis for a genetic classification of these deposits. After a short introduction on the geochemical behavior of uranium in fluids and silicate melts and on the main uranium fractionation mechanisms operating in uranium-rich peraluminous, metaluminous, and peralkaline melts, the most recent metallogenic models of the main types of uranium deposits are shortly reviewed.
The author concluded that as a consequence of the considerable decrease of uranium exploration activities since the end of the 1980s, academic research of uranium metallogenesis has been mainly limited to high-grade unconformity-related deposits. New research developments in this field should allow a more advanced genetic classification of uranium deposits, than the one shortly proposed here, in order to integrate the exceptional diversity of processes involved in the formation of uranium deposits.
Important progress in the understanding of the origin of uranium deposits is expected especially from in-situ analysis of trace elements and stable and radiogenic isotope composition of mineral phases and in fluid inclusions, and from experimental determination of uraninite solubility at high temperature and pressure with a variety of ligands.
Published paper version: https://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/cuneymineraliumdeposita2009.pdf
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