(Photo credit: University of Regina)
University of Regina researchers are studying how uranium deposits were formed more than 1.5 billion years ago to help figure out where to look for more.
That research included using the Canadian Light Source synchrotron on the USask campus to analyze samples of quartz, which was formed around the same time, from areas known to have uranium and nearby barren regions. A news release from the CLS says the scientists sliced the quartz and studied the tiny droplets of primordial fluid trapped inside.
Dr. Guoxiang Chi explains, “By getting information about this paleo-fluid and seeing how it is distributed we can infer where the original uranium came from and what factors control its deposition.” There is good news and bad news about the results, though. The good news is that the ore-bearing areas had high levels of uranium, but the bad news is so did the areas with no deposits. But then the good news is, it means there is more of the uranium-rich fluid than expected. The bad news would then be that it complicates the search for new deposits.