Abstract
Dolostone of Vempalle Formation near Tummalapalle hosts large uranium deposit (>100,000 tonnes with an average grade of 0.045%U3O8). It is a unique type of uranium deposit because carbonate formations have been considered to be among the least uraniferous of all the rocks of the Earth’s crust due to mobility of uranium in aqueous fluid in the presence of carbonate and bicarbonate ions. Vempalle dolostone hosts syn-sedimentary uranium mineralization in the form of discrete uranium phases (pitchblende and coffinite) associated with collophane, and adsorbed uranium in organic matter. The organic matter has played dual role of concentrating uranium from solution and also chemically reducing it to pitchhblende and coffinite.
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Goswami, S., Bhagat, S., Zakaulla, S. et al. Role of organic matter in uranium mineralisation in Vempalle dolostone; Cuddapah basin, India. J Geol Soc India 89, 145–154 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0578-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0578-y