EXPLORATION AND MINING ACTIVITIES IN THE URANIUM PROVINCE OF LAGOA REAL

摘要

The Uranium Province of Lagoa Real is located in the mid-south region of Bahia State, Brazil. Uranium, occurring mainly in the form of uraninite, is the only economic mineral commodity. The region has been explored for uranium since 1971 and 35 anomalies were detected, distributed over 1200 km2. Seven are classified as deposits, accounting for reasonably assured resources of 100,000 tonnes of U3O8. This paper describes the geological aspects of the area, the exploration and mining activities done so far by the state company INB and the perspectives for the near future, when an increase in the country’s uranium demand is expected.