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Uranium - Coggle Diagram
Uranium
placer deposits
13% resources
all archaean - paleoplacer
low O2 precambrian so uraninite minerals fill channel basins
alongside pyrite
locations
elliot lake canada no longer economic
witwatersrand
WA no economic deposits
can be mined as a by-product of gold
oxidation states
+4 (uranous)
uranite - U3O8
dominant in most mineral deposits
crystalline
pitchblende
amorphous
+6 (uranyl)
stable aqueous complexes when cations available
soluble
carnotite
concentrated by redox
switching from +6 to +4 creates precipitation
reduced form is less soluble
deposits
primary
uraninite, pitchblende
secondary
coloured, fluorescent
weathering and remineralisation
supergene enrichment
hydrated uranium silicates and phosphates
gummites
mixture of secondary hydrated uranium oxides
uses
nuclear fission
radioactive decay splits new components and generates energy through heat production
unconformity deposit