Geochronological constraints on uranium mineralization within the Hüttenberg siderite deposit (Eastern Alps,Austria)

A small-scale hydrothermal uranium mineralization hosted within the siderite deposit at Hüttenberg (Eastern Alps, Austria) was re-investigated using modern scanning electron microscope (SEM) and microprobe (EMPA) methods. The uranium mineralization comprises brannerite, coffinite and uraninite, and is spatially associated with Fe-, Ni- and Co-arsenides (loellingite, rammelsbergite, safflorite), bismuth and bismuthinite, as well as rare accessory silver-bearing minerals and gold locally. The U-bearing fluids also carried P, Y and REEs, which precipitated as xenotime and P–Y coffinite. The uranium mineralization paragenetically postdates the metasomatic formation of the host siderite ore.Uraninite allows for precise single spot EMPA ages to be calculated (±2 Ma) due to its high radiogenic lead content. There is an excellent internal consistency in the uraninite data with calculated dates ranging between 77 and 84 Ma. We interpret that these record the crystallization age of the uraninite, and that any influences of lead loss or common Pb are minimal. Brannerite was also analyzed but U-total Pb microprobe data scatter (c.30–80 Ma) with evidence of lead loss, particularly in altered domains. It does, however, provide a minimum constraint on the timing of mineralization that is consistent with the crystallization age of the uraninite. Coffinite proved completely unsuitable for U-total Pb geochronology due to extreme lead loss. However, hydrothermal xenotime yields a U-total Pb age of 78 ± 5 Ma, consistent with the uraninite age. Therefore, the U-total Pb geochronological data support a late Cretaceous age for the U-mineralization of c. 80 Ma. Considering this timing constraint together with other geological and indirect thermochronological aspects, we conclude that the siderite deposit of Hüttenberg is older and formed at c. 90−80 Ma.     

下庄矿田气热高温铀成矿特征及年龄研究

本文报道了在下庄矿田花岗岩体接触带附近的剪切构造糜棱岩带中,存在受深色蚀变岩制约的气热高温型铀成矿,它是下庄矿田发生于晚侏罗世的一次重要铀成矿作用。文中指出了韧性剪切带及气热交代蚀变岩是铀成矿的共同控制因素,同时划分了４种气热高温矿石组合类型,对各组合电子探针分析的化学成分作了较详细介绍。文章还披露了作者所测的３个矿石晶质铀矿Ｕ－Ｐｂ同位素年龄（为１６５—１４６Ｍａ）,表明属晚侏罗世成矿。此外,对以往所划分的成矿期次提出了修改的商榷意见。     

Age and origin of uranium mineralization in the Camie River deposit (Otish Basin,Québec,Canada)

The Camie River uranium deposit is located in the southeastern part of the Paleoproterozoic Otish Basin (Québec). The uranium mineralization consists of disseminated and vein uraninite and brannerite precipitated close to the unconformity between Paleoproterozoic fluviatile, pervasively altered, sandstones and conglomerates of the Matoush Formation and the underlying sulfide-bearing graphitic schists of the Archean Hippocampe greenstone belt. Diagenetic orange/pink feldspathic alteration of the Matoush Formation consists of authigenic albite cement partly replaced by later orthoclase cement, with the Na₂O content of clastic rocks increasing with depth. Basin-wide green muscovite alteration affected both the Matoush Formation and the top of the basement Tichegami Group. Uraninite with minor brannerite is mainly hosted by subvertical reverse faults in basement graphitic metapelites ± sulfides and overlying sandstones and conglomerates. Uranium mineralization is associated with chlorite veins and alteration with temperatures near 320 °C, that are paragenetically late relative to the diagenetic feldspathic and muscovite alterations. Re-Os geochronology of molybdenite intergrown with uraninite yields an age of 1724.0 ± 4.9 Ma, whereas uraninite yields an identical, although slightly discordant, 1724 ± 29 Ma SIMS U-Pb age. Uraninite has high concentrations in REE with flat REE spectra resembling those of uraninite formed from metamorphic fluids, rather than the bell-shaped patterns typical of unconformity-related uraninite. Paragenesis and geochronology therefore show that the uranium mineralization formed approximately 440 million years after intrusion of the Otish Gabbro dykes and sills at ∼2176 Ma, which constrains the minimum age for the sedimentary host rocks. The post-diagenetic stage of uraninite after feldspathic and muscovite alterations, the paragenetic sequence and the brannerite-uraninite assemblage, the relatively high temperature for the mineralizing event (∼320 °C) following the diagenetic Na- and K-dominated alteration, lack of evidence for brines typical of unconformity-related U deposits, the older age of the Otish Basin compared to worldwide basins hosting unconformity-related uranium deposits, the large age difference between basin fill and mineralization, the older age of the uranium oxide compared to ages for worldwide unconformity-related U deposits, and the flat REE spectra of uraninite do not support the previous interpretation that the Camie River deposit is an unconformity-associated uranium deposit. Rather, the evidence is more consistent with a PaleoProterozoic, higher-temperature hydrothermal event at 1724 Ma, whose origin remains speculative.     

粤北长江花岗岩型铀矿田沥青铀矿原位U-Pb年代学研究及其地质意义

花岗岩型铀矿床是我国重要的工业铀矿床类型,广泛分布于南岭地区。粤北长江铀矿田位于南岭中段诸广山岩体中南部,是我国典型的花岗岩型铀矿田。由于铀矿物在化学组成和成因上的固有属性,前人通过传统的铀矿物U-Pb同位素定年获得的成矿年龄(157～52Ma)变化范围较大且分散,难以有效约束精确的铀成矿时代。本文在精细矿物学研究的基础上,对长江铀矿田棉花坑、书楼坵和长排三个铀矿床的沥青铀矿开展了LA-ICP-MS原位微区U-Pb同位素定年研究。结果表明,棉花坑矿床成矿年龄为60. 8±0. 6Ma和66. 8±1. 6Ma,书楼坵矿床成矿年龄为71. 4±1. 3Ma和74. 4±1. 7Ma,长排矿床成矿年龄为62. 4±2. 5Ma和70. 2±0. 5Ma,总体分为～75Ma、～70Ma和～60Ma三期成矿年龄,代表了华南花岗岩型铀矿的晚期铀矿化。长江铀矿田成矿时代与诸广地区北东向断裂带、断陷盆地的强烈拉张时期(80～60Ma)同步,指示区内铀矿化与南岭地区晚白垩世-古近纪地壳拉张作用有关,区内铀成矿的幔源矿化剂CO_2来自区域性北东向断裂带的拉张作用。综合前人资料,认为诸广地区的铀成矿具同时性和多期性特征,成矿峰期为～140Ma、～125Ma、～105Ma、～90Ma和80～60Ma,成矿统一受制于华南岩石圈伸展的动力学背景,诸广山-南雄盆山体系白垩-古近纪的构造演化可能是促使区域铀矿化形成的主要因素。     

华南混合岩中的铀矿化

以浸染扶晶质铀矿形式产于混合岩中的铀矿化是华南一种新的铀矿化类型。根据晶质铀矿在矿体中的存在形式,可划分为原生型和改造型。原生型矿床中主要铀矿物是晶质铀矿,改造型矿床中的主要铀矿物是沥青铀矿和残余的晶质铀矿。此类型矿床是富铀地层选择性熔融,并在此过程中导致铀的活化、转移和局部富集的结果。     

广东大亚湾西北部新发现铀矿点及找矿远景讨论

2003年在广东大亚湾西北部新发现了一处火山岩型铀矿点,经刻槽取样分析,铀矿石品位高达0.459%。该处铀矿物成份主要是沥青铀矿和次生铀矿物,前者 UO_2最高为94%,Al_2O_3<1%,P_2O_5含量变化大,按照 P_2O_5含量可分两组,其一变化于2.23%～2.57%,另一组变化于17.96%～19.95%;次生铀矿物含 UO_3大约为60%左右,Al_2O_3在1.6%～3.0%之间,P_2O_5变化于10%～15%。对含矿岩石及围岩进行了岩石学和地球化学研究,结果表明,出露的岩石主要为流纹质岩石,与著名的相山矿田的岩石类型相似。岩石具有高的 LREE/HREE 值,Eu 负异常并不普遍。从主、微量元素及稀土元素特征来看,含矿岩石及围岩差别不大,总特征与一般的钙碱性火山岩相似。新发现的铀矿化带范围虽然不大,但含矿岩石铀品位高,所处构造环境与相山铀矿田的某些矿床有一定的相似性,是值得注意和进一步工作的地区。     

UO2氧化的天然类比研究：现状与展望

核废料地质处置库UO2的氧化及氧化过程中放射性核素的迁移直接关系到处置库的安全性，为此，许多研究者在实验室研究了UO2氧化行为。然而，短期的实验结果无法直接外推地质处置库中长期氧化行为，天然类比研究为这种外推提供了可能，因此， UO2氧化的天然类比研究已经引起了广泛的关注。系统地总结了天然类比研究的现状，包括沥青铀矿与UO2的可比性、沥青铀矿风化产物的共生组合和共生次序、沥青铀矿及其风化产物的化学成分特征、沥青铀矿风化过程中类比元素的迁移性等；并初步指出了进一步研究的方向，如铀酰矿物的微结构研究、类比元素在沥青铀矿和铀酰矿物中分布的激光探针研究、地下水成分分析、模拟实验等。     

Dating multiply overprinted Sn-mineralized granites—examples from the Erzgebirge,Germany

Granites and primary tin mineralization in the Erzgebirge were dated using (1) conventional U–Pb dating of uraninite inclusions in mica, (2) Rb–Sr dating of inclusions in quartz that represent highly evolved melts, (3) Re–Os dating of magmatic–hydrothermal molybdenite, and (4) chemical Th–U–Pb dating of uraninite. Conventional isotope dilution and thermal ion mass spectrometry and chemical Th–U–Pb dating of uraninite in granites from the Ehrenfriedersdorf mining district provide ages of 323.9 ± 3.5 Ma (2σ; Greifenstein granite) and 320.6 ± 1.9 and 319.7 ± 3.4 Ma (2σ, both Sauberg mine), in agreement with U–Pb apatite ages of 323.9 ± 2.9 and 317.3 ± 1.6 Ms (2σ, both Sauberg mine). Rb–Sr analysis of melt inclusions from Zinnwald gives highly radiogenic Sr isotopic compositions that, with an assumed initial Sr isotopic composition, permit calculation of precise ages from single inclusions. The scatter of the data indicates that some quartz-hosted melt inclusions have been affected by partial loss of fluid exsolved from the melt inclusion. Re–Os dating of two molybdenite samples from Altenberg provides ages of 323.9 ± 2.5 and 317.9 ± 2.4 Ma (2σ). Together with age data from the literature, our new ages demonstrate that primary tin mineralization and the emplacement of the large Sn-specialized granites in the Erzgebirge fall in a narrow range between 318 and 323 Ma. Primary Sn mineralization occurred within a short interval during post-collisional collapse of the Variscan orogen and was essentially synchronous over the entire Erzgebirge. In contrast to earlier claims, no systematic age difference between granites of the eastern and western Erzgebirge was established. Furthermore, our data do not support a large age range for Late-Variscan granites of the Erzgebirge (330–290 Ma), as has been previously suggested.     

晶质铀矿中稀土元素的岩石学意义

本文通过诸广山岩体、黄龙庙岩体的岩石及其中晶质铀矿稀土元素的研究,得出以下几点认识:晶质铀矿中稀土元素的丰度与其源岩的稀土元素丰度呈正消长关系;晶质铀矿中稀土元素的配分特点与源岩的酸性程度有关;晶质铀矿中稀土元素分馏程度反映了源岩的分异演化程度。