Search for uranium in western United States

Trace Elements Investigations 199
This report concerns work done on behalf of the Division of Raw Materials of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
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Abstract

The search for uranium in the United States is one of the most intensive ever made for any metal during our history. The number of prospectors and miners involved is difficult to estimate but some measure of the size of the effort is indicated by the fact that about 500 geologists are employed by government and industry in the work--more than the total number of geologists engaged in the study of all other minerals together except oil.


The largest part of the effort has been concentrated in the western states. No single deposit of major importance by world standards has been discovered but the search has led to the discovery of important minable deposits of carnotite and related minerals on the Colorado Plateau; of large, low grade deposits of uranium in phosphates in the northwestern states and in lignites in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico; and of many new and some promising occurrences of uranium in carnotite-like deposits and in vein deposits. Despite the fact that a large number of the districts considered favorable for the occurrence of uranium have already been examined, the outlook for future discoveries is bright, particularly for uranium in vein and in carnotite-like deposits in the Rocky Mountain States.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Search for uranium in western United States
Series title Trace Elements Investigations
Series number 199
DOI 10.3133/tei199
Year Published 1953
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Description 24 p.
Country United States
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