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Precipitation of Uraninite in Chlorite-Bearing Veins of the Hydrothermal Alteration Zone (Argile De Pile) of the Natural Nuclear Reactor at Bangombé, Republic of Gabon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

P. Eberly ,
J. Janeczek  and
R. Ewing
P. Eberly
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, U.S.A. (e-mail: peberly@bootes.unm.edu)
J. Janeczek
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Silesian University, Bedzinska 60,41–200 Sosnowiec, Poland
R. Ewing
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, U.S.A. (e-mail: peberly@bootes.unm.edu)
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Abstract

This paper describes the mineralogy of a phyllosilicate/uraninite/galena-bearing vein located within the hydrothermal alteration halo associated with the Bangombé reactor. Phyllosilicates within the vein include a trioctahedral Al-Mg-Fe chlorite (ripidolite), Al-rich clay (kaolinite and/or donbassite) and illite. Textural relations obtained by backscattered-electron imaging suggest that ripidolite crystallized first among the sheet silicates. Uraninite is spatially associated with ripidolite and probably precipitated at a later time. While energy-dispersive x-ray analyses suggest that the uranium phase is predominantly uraninite, coffinite or other phases may also be present.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 353: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVIII , 1994 , 1195
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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