Samphire Uranium Project – Sources of Uranium

摘要

The Samphire Project (previously Mullaquana) is located south of Whyalla on the Eastern Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The project has a total resources of 19 000 t (42 M lbs) contained U3O8 hosted in fluvial sediments of the Eocene Kanaka Beds. Initial exploration targeting was for sediment hosted uranium mineralisation which was potentially amenable to in situ recovery mining and was based on a ‘source → transport system → depositional site’ systems model in which: source for uranium in the sediment section was conceptualised as a circular aeromagnetic feature interpreted as a stock of uranium fertile Hiltaba suite granite transport system for uranium mineralised fluids were porous fluvial facies in the Eocene Kanaka Beds overlying the interpreted source depositional sites were reactive/reducing fluvial sand/lignite assemblages in the Kanaka Beds.