Classification of uranium deposits

A listing of the recognized types of uranium mineralization shows nineteen determinable types out of which only six can be classified as of economic significance at present: Oligomictic quartz pebble conglomerates, sandstone types, calcretes, intra-intrusive types, hydrothermal veins, veinlike types. The different types can be genetically related to prevalent geological environments, i. e. 1. the primary uranium occurrences formed by endogenic processes, 2. the secondary derived from the primary by subsequent exogenic processes, 3. the tertiary occurrences are assumed to be formed by endogenic metamorphic processes, however, little is known about the behaviour of the uranium during the metamorphosis and thereby the metallogenesis of this tertiary uranium generation is still vague. A metallotectonic-geochronologic correlation of the uranium deposits shows that a distinct affinity of the uranium exists to certain geologic epochs: to the Upper Archean — Lower Proterozoic, to the Hercynian and in a less established stage: to the Upper Proterozoic.