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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NOTES ON RADIUM-BEARING MINERALS BY Wyatt Malcolm TN 948 OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING UUREAU 1914. Ifo. 116S U^ii • .4 ProfPMtor'a Handbook No.1 ' f R » r- n -n - ■ ■fiiff CANADA DEPARTMENT OF MINES Hon. Louis CoDE«mE, Ministbk; R. W. Brock, Obputy Ministei. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NOTES ON RADIUM-BEARING MINERALS BY Wyatt Malcolm OTTAWA GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 1914. Ifo. 1368 CONTBIfTS MOB Introduction I Urmnium mioaral* i T«ti 2 Some of the moet imporUnt occurrences of umnium mineraU 4 Portugal 4 Gilpifl county, Cokmdo S Cornwall, England 9 Joachimsthal, Bohemia 13 Camotite in Colorado and 1 'tah K Canadian occurrencea 20 Conduaiona 32 fHatiatica 23 T NOTES ON RADIUM-BEARING MINERALS Introdttction Much interest has been aroused in recent years over the discovery of the element radium. It is found associated with uranium, but in practicaPy infinitesimal quantities, only a few grains per ton. It ib eparated from the ore as a chemical compound and placed upon the market as such. The difficulty of r-covering the radium from the ore and the superior technical skill required m the operation make the cost of separation extremely high, and necessitate the fabulous prices paid. It is much in demand by scientific institutes, institutions for investigations in radium-therapy, hospitals, and practising physicians. As an aid to the prospector the following notes on the occurrence of uranium ores, from which the supply of radium is obtained, have been compiled. These are followed by a list of occurrences in Canada and suggetitions as to localities that might be prospected. Unmium Minerals A great variety of uranium minerals have been recog- nized, but the most of them are of rare occurrence. Those that occur chiefly in commercial quantities are pitch- blende or uraninite, carnotite, and autunite. Pitchblende carries a much higher percentage of urani- um than either of the other two, and is a uranate of uranyl. 1«iH usually thorium (or zirconium) and, often, the metab X^y^lm and yttrium groups; it ^->-^^ n^troeen in varying amounts up to 26 per cent. It is SSThi a co^choidal or sheU-Uke fracture, is of a su^ SiSlct greasy, pitch-Uke or duU lustre »o^ue-d !n colour is ereyish, greenish, browmsh, and velvet Diacic. Sstrn:s^s?5;^is.itis near^ashard^fddn^ The specific gravity of crystals, which are r«;e, w 9 to 9-7 hTtiie massive state its specific gravity is 6 4; that «, it is ^tln two and three times as Heavy - a^ o quartz, Umestone, or granite of equ^ size. The greasy^ pitch-like lustre and the high specific gravity are stnkmg features of this mineral. . Camotite is a mineral varying somewhat m wm- podtiorand containmg vanadium and u-^amum w^ S^^orbothlimeand potash. J* is a c^-yd^^^rh oowdery or waxy-looking mineral. "With a hand lens it Srt pl^ be seen to have a somewhat radial but raA« SSeSifte crystal form. Very rarely it takes a sohd fo^. wSTcutsUke paraffin and has an unctuous feel. In Ae ^wde^form ^^our may be somewhat disgmsed by iron oxide or calcium vanadate.' Autunite te a phosphate of uranium and calaum. It i. tr^JilTt, bright yeUow in colour, and<^jm small plates or tabular crystals or in micaceous aggregates ^^nrpeJ^^'r^-inrarib^^^^ rTtl^^ "^ound aTsTi^ folSed and micaceousag- ^atW^ It has a pearly to subadamantine lustre, and is ^:^ent to transkcent. It is emerald green -id g^ ^rsome specimens being apple or siskin green. Hardness 2 to 25; specific gravity, 3 4 to 3 6. — I5i Frank L.: Uranium and Vanadium^ US. Geol. Survey. Mineral Re«urce.. Pt. 1. Metala 1912. pp. 1003-1037. TESTS An electroscope is useful in making tests for radium, but it cannot always be carried about conveniently. The sdntilloscope is a much more convenient instrument. It should, however, be carefully tested with a mineral known to be radioactive before taking it to the field; its usefulness may be lost by careless handling. An electroscope is a metal box, through an opening in the top of which a metal strip is suspended by means of a bit of sulphur or amber so that it is insulated from the box. Resting against the metal strip and attached to it by its upper end is a strip of gold leaf. When the metal strip and gold leaf are charged with electricity the latter diverges from the former at an angle. The divergence can be viewed through an opening in the side of the box. The electro- scope discharges slowly under ordinary conditions and the gold leaf returns to its original position. The rate of discharge is hastened by bringing a radium-bearing mineral near the instrument. It is a delicate instrument and requires some skill in manipulation. The sdntilloscope consists of a closed brass cylinder, provided at onte end with a lens and coated interiorly with zinc sulphide. A radium-bearing mineral brought close to this instrument produces scintillations in the zinc sulphide that can be viewed through the lens in a dark room. This instrument can be had for a dollar or two from Gallenkamp & Co., 19-21 Sun Street, Finsbury Square, London, E.C., England. If uranium is present in quantities likely to be com- mercial it can be detected by the radioactivity of its decom- position products by laying the suspected specimen upon a plate holder containing a sensitive photographic plate and leaving it from twelve hours to one week. If uranium is present in any considerable quantity the plate will be light-struck. It is well to note, however, that minerals containing thorium produce the same effect upon a photo- "''^The'^pLnce of carnotite is indicated by a yellow colour brought out in a specimen when it is heated, as by Uying it on the top of a stove. "^ AU the above tests require more or less sWl and experience in their appUcation and it is always advisable for the inexperienced person to submit a suspected specimen to an expert for examination. Some of the Mort Important Occurrences of Uranium Minerals The foUowing descriptions of uranium deposits are given for the purpose of showing the mode of occurrence of radium-bearing ores in commercial quantities. Portugal. Important deposits of uranium ore in PeK^^.^iteare found in northern Portugal.^ They have been described by ^gaud and Humery. The foUowing notes may be of '"'^^The deposits are situated in a granite ma^if and to a less extent in adjacent Cambrian schists. The uranium '^ner:^ are cloLly associat«l with tin and tcmgsten Heoosits- within the same region occur veins of galena, ot mSelTd of galena and chalcopyrite. The uranium TneS c^cur in'pegmatite dykes, which vary much in tokness. disappearing sometimes completely to reappear rf^ya;ds farther on. A tiiickness of 20 to 40 inches is Lmmon. Similar variations occur on the dip as on Ae Srike. The pegmatite consists of very coarsely crystallized quartz and feldspar; in some places feldspar predominates. ^Biorits of uranium in Portugal: Ann. des Mines, aer. U. vol. 3. February. 1913. pp. 111-118. and in others it gives way to quartz. The gouge is argil- laceous and may carry uranium; when argillaceous material is found throughout the dyke it may be strongly uranium- bearing. The chief minerals are autunite, a uranium- calcium phosphate, and chalcolite, a uranium-copper phosphate. The former occurs as small plates and particles of a bright yellow colour. When disseminated through the argillaceous matter it is sometimes completely invisible and can be detected only by means of the electroscope. The chalcolite is of a beautiful emerald green colour. The mineral content of the dykes varies much both horizontally and vertically. Autunite and chalcolite are found above the water level; presumably an unaltered mineral of a different nature will be found at greater depth. These deposits are being mined and the ores chemically treated. Gilpin County, Colorado. The following description of the pitchblende deposits of Quartz hill, Gilpin county, Colorado, is taken from a paper by Forbes Rickard appearing in the Mining and Scientific Press of June 7, 1913: — "Near the west end of Quartz hill are several mines which have been known to produce pitchblende, usually in small quantity but of high quality in respect to uranium content. Measured by present day standards, these ores are known to be more radio-active than any others that have been found, notwithstanding that the search has been world-wide "The Kirk, German and Wood mines, all on Quartz hill, are among the more important and best known "This district is one in which gneiss and crystalline schist predominate, with numerous intrusive andesitic dykes of varying composition and texture; acid granitic dykes are less numerous, but their occurrence is important i„ .his connection, for. in -'--^^,:^\^J^Z^ apUtu: ^-J^^Z^^^ ,onn, occadonally put. ng "ResDecting the correlation of the rocks of this forma- and daates. * Jijrro-crvstaUine groundmass, with have gone, do dykes of these two systems mtersect ..-The veins themselves, without «^tion. ta« - some and not others of these vems. plentiful in the gangue. It is also often found lining vugs or cavities in the vein. "It is axiomatic in these mines that as pitchblende comes in the gold goes out "The underground workings of the German and Bel- cher mines are connected at the first and second levels. As they are under the same ownership they are worked as one mine. The pitchblende vein, as previously noted, is accompanied by a granite dyke more or less shattered, and at times occupies a position which is central in res- pect to the dyke itself. The dyke varies in width from 5 to 9 feet. The vein varies from 4 or 5 in. to 18 or 20 in.; it is generally marked by a narrow gouge or selvage on its hanging wall side. Veinlets extend from the vein proper into the fracture seams in the granite. "The more solid pitchblende, either in lens form or in well-defined streak, seldom exceeds three to four inches in width. Where the vein reaches its maximum width the proportion of uraninitc is inversely small, though for the whole width (apart from the '^^Igh-grade bunches) the vein carries sufficient pitchblende to constitute a grade of ore for concentration from 2i to 4% U^Og "Outside of the general policy of development adopted by the management a small amount of pitchblende ore is being mined. By crude hand-sorting within the shaft house, there is now being produced in small but increasing quantity, a selected grade of pitchblende carrying 15 to 60% uranium oxide (UsOg). An average of approximately 30% UjOg is established and can probably be maintained in quantity of several tons per annum. The bulk of ore suitable for mill treatment accumulates in the proportion of something like 40 tons to 1 ton of 'selected pitchblende.' "These mines of Quartz hill, though they may be small mines, have advantages over larger mines in other districts, U. that. (1) thete i. no ^^^^^^^^J^X th. v«ns, (2) no great '"^^tment «n«a ^^^ ^^^^^ raUroad transportation; "?* "^" ^^e partly massive „pe„se. WhUe '" *f .^"^^Tthe Bekher mine the pitchblende U «r«krf by K^«eJ ^^^ .^in for reverse is '.rue. These stream ru ^^ ^^ |^__^ practically the whole '»«!" °' "^^T;! high-grade ore. la at i»«'vals enlarge mto^ts"^ ^8^ f;,,,„^ The point of such »"*X"i„^1^rgangue of the pitch- in the vein Itself. •" "" . r.„„,,:ticl character; it blende vein - ^i ^^^^^.^^^^^^ is plentiful is locally termed spar. ^^^^^^ .^ association with in the gold-silver vein, is not seen in pitchblende ores. thinners to a post-mineral frac- •The gold-silver vembe^ to a pos^^ ^^.^^^^^ taring; that is to say. f^"f/^^"^'^^^ ^ith the granite of the pitchblende vejn m a^-^^ ^e plane of (apUtic). there was a fault ^^°^7,T^^ ^^rtheast-sou^^^^ ihe vein along lines appro«matmg the norUi ^^^^ course of th. already --trng ve.- Lm^ o^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ance would naturally govern m the c^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ nels for the later ^^''-J^'^^^.^^J^^ooUaX side of the in the main f o^^-^ J^ Ve^^d^sUv" vei^ in the main, granite intrusive. While tne go \,eVfreen Lcupies the foot-wa^l side °« ^^^ f "/j^ the pitchblende the German and ^f^^]:'^^ ^l^s^^r^.^^^e gold- vein and diverges from it as ^'^^^^^^,^^ beyond the silver vein continues ^^^f ^ :^^ ^ j^g the pitchblende intersecdon. '^^^'^'^^''^'^T^lo the mica-schist has a way of feathering o"^^^^^^^^^^ ^, faulting of the ,oe.; and wB^n^lung 1^^^^^^^^^ ,^3t and wiU J^rblytfrndtn^i..^^^ has ;;i:nVuT/"S: :^irthough^n Nevada gulch. immediately to the north, much placer work was done in the early days of mining, and much surface work in pits and trenches has been done in connection with assessment work of later times." CornwaU, England. Speaking of the tin deposits of Cornwall' Beck says: "In this region the slates, which are mostly of Devonian age, < re traversed by five large and several small stocks of tourmaline-bearing granite. Both the slates, locally called kittas, and the granite are cut by numerous dykes, some as much as 120 m. (393 ft.) thick, of quartz porphyry, also tourmaline-bearing, called elvans. These dykes also tra- verse Carboniferous rocks (Culm). The granite intrusions, whose contact generally dips gently below the slates, have caused considerable contact metamorphism, trans- forming the slates into green, purple and violet homfels and similar rocks. All these rocks are traversed by lodes of copper and tin ores, which have a great tendenv^y to break up into stringers and often pass into an exceedingly fine network of veins. These are especially numerous near the granite masses. Their strike is mostly between east and east-northeast; their dip is ordinarily 20 to 50° north. The thickness may rise to I'S meters, but it is mostly much less. The principal gangue is quartz, with associated ortho- dase, tourmaline, chlorite, lithia-mica and some fluorspar. The tin veins contain cassiterite, stannite, coppei pyrite, tungsten, blende, arsenopyrite, native bismuth and other rarer minerals; i^e copper lodes proper also contain gray copper, tennantite, cuprite, native copper, malachite, azurite, pyrite, arsenopyrite and blende. A remarkable feature is the change in the nature of the ore in many lodes 'The Nature of Ore Deposits, translated by W. H. Weed, p. 211. 10 when they pass from the slate into the granite, the pure !?re Int^^r^^but the vein filling is ^^^..^y^^^^ °„ some cases showing a symmetric baiided structure. The Telns are accompanied by zones o^ '"^P''*^!^^^"' Lme of them very wide, which are also worked for Un and ^ave furnished the main bulk of the ores turned mto the ^"""^mile the vein fissure itself is often only a few centi- meterrtWck. the 'lode' as worked is several meters m Sness. ank is formed of granite ^^^l^J^^^^^^re^ so-called Carbonas of St. Ives is worked ^°' ^'^'^'^^ whkh its high content of tourmaline imparts a dark colour. TWs^eil rock forms very irregular deposits connect^ by a Sansverse fissure with one of the ma.n io^es of ^* WftUtv These deposits consist mainly of feldspar, '^^' tourmaline Td cassiterite. as«>ciat«i^metim^ with fluorspar, lithia-mica. copper pynte and iron pynte. Tn the slate also the altered rock of the zones of impreg- nation is rich in cassiterite and is mined, being c^^Pj^ This dark-coloured rock consists mainly of quarte ana louLa"- with short quartz stringers -terpolat^ J^^ is traversed by small stringers of tinstone and chlorite. These capels accompany the cassiterite veins ( leaders ). Uranium-bearing minerals are found «n a number o^ the Cornwall mines. Ussher. Barrow and MacAllister in Seir description of the geology of the country around sSmin and St. Austell, give the following description of the uranium-bearing veins:—* "Throughout the region, with the exception of the district in the eastern part of the map, there occur here and —~^\ogy of the country around Bodmin and St. Austell; Mem. Geol. Sur. of England and Wales. 1909. p. 134. 11 there lodes younger than those of tin or copper. These lodes are probably of different ages, but their association with the mineral district as a whole makes it probable that they are genetically connected with the eruptive after- actions following the intrusion of the granite and elvans. Some of these lodes contain minerals which also characterize tin lodes, such as arsenic and copper, and in small quan- tities uranium, cobalt, and nickel ores. The younger lodes have been formed in fif>sures crossing the tin and copper lodes and in bearing they vary from due north and south to a northwesterly direction, similar to the cross courses." "Of the younger lodes there are two well-marked series, those containing uranium and nickel ores, and those which have yielded considerable quantities of iron ore and some manganese. In addition to these, argentiferous galena also occurs sometimes with zinc and iron pyrites in lodes, the bearing of which is varied, but is frequently either north and south or in directions similar to those of the tin and copper ludes." The most important producer of uranium ore in Cornwall is the South Terras mine, now known as the Uranium mine. It is situated in the valley of the Fal. "The country rock is killas* with intrusive greenstone which has been quarried for road metal. The sett' is traversed by three elvans*. The mine attracted some attention lately on account of the general scarcity of uranium for scientific purposes. The uranium lode has a bearing north and south and an underlie to the west of about 10 degrees. It is said to vary in width from 3 to 5 feet, but the uranium ore is confined to a leader a few inches in width, consisting partly of pitchblende and calc- and copper-uranites, with copper pyrites, mispickel and galena, and small quantities of 'Slate. 'Quartz porphyry. 'Mining property (?) '> 12 nickel, cobalt, and chromium ore in a veinstone of quartz and green garnet rock. Aswys by Meun. Johnwn. Matthey & Co., show that the so-called 'green ore con- tained 6-2% of uranium oxide, while the 'dark ore con- teined 36% of the same." According to J. H. Collins' "the ore occurs in beautiful light-green, yellow, ^ ad brown flakes, scales, and crystato the ore lo altogether light and fnable, and much of it is lost in the process of hand picking. Some specks of the hard and heavy pitchblende have, however, been seen, and as the works are carried down below the water level it may fairly be expected that a large proportion of pitchblende will be found. A level has been driven m thi. lode for a distance of 150 fathoms, and in all, countmg several small stopes above the adit, about 400 fathoms of lode have been taken away, working with only four men. This, according to statements made to me by the repre- sentatives of the owners, has yielded about .50 tons of hand-picked ore, of which 10 tons have been consi«?ned to the selUng agents since June 1, and a further quantity of 5 or 6 tons is still on the ground ■-- • • •,• The ore sold has realizec' m average value of £40 per ton, the first quality running as high as £280 and the lowest £22. Perhaps an equal quantity has for a time been lost in the refuse, most of which could be recovered by a proper system of local chemical treatment at n good profit. "I need not enter into the vicissitudes of this mine, worked as it was by different companies and under different names during the next 18 years. In September, 1907. having been again called upon to inspect. I reported upon the •Observations on the west of England mining regions. Plymouth, •Extracts from a report r by J. H. Collins and dated Aug. 2, 1889. 1912. It uranium lode aa follows: 'The uranium lode is 2 to 4 feet wide, and there is a more or less continuous leader of valu< able ore, varying from a mere knife-edge up to a foot or more in thickness. The workings have now reached a depth of 30 fathoms below the adit level, and only pitch- blende is now found in the lode, so that it is easy by hand selection to separate the high-grade ore, while the remainder can readily be dressed in the ordinary way (b rushing and wet concentration). The 30-fathom level has now been driven for a total length of nearly 80 fathoms, and the ground thus opened up between this and the 20-fathom level is certainly not likely to yield less ore for equal length than that already yielded oetween the 20 and the 10, or between the 10 and the adit.' "As illustrating the value of the ore ground, it would appear that up tc the present about lOOC fathoms cf ore ground have been stoped away above the 20-fathom level and 500 tons of ore sole' for approximately £20,000, while there is probably at least £5,000 more recoverable from the dumps." Joachimsthal, Bohemia. " 'The Joachimsthal district lies on the higher southern slope of Erzgebirge, southwest of its highest elevation, the Keilberg, 1238 m. high, near the Saxon boundary. The rocks are mica schists, with east-west to west-northwest foliation and north dip. In the vein area finely crystalline, slaty mica schists predominate, with intercalated layers of calcar- eous mica schists, crystalline limestones and coarse-fibred mica schists. Toward the northeast and east gneisses occur, while toward the southwest the schist ends abruptly against 'Beck, Richard: The Nature of Ore Deposits, translated by W. H. Weed. 1905, pp. 283. nwohyry. •ometin.ei quite Urge and running •<«'""•» ^ porpnyry, ~ ,„^ t„,h the region nortliewt o( the rJr^mtaXr... Dvk..c(ba«it.ndphon^ SX»'welf a. bo«. of al. vein. o( JoachfnS..l, Specially tho« clo« «, the town o. the „orthwe.t, fall ir o the«: tw" POUI^. "r«i Monenrtnge, .tnking east-northeam \i nuu. / :r«t:Scrno'.h.»uth (IM hour.) anddippingat tune. *'-*^'TrwStn).h. vein-varie. betwe^. IS and 60 «n. •na Jlv «a:ptionaUy reache. 1-2 m. (3M to 6 56 ft.). Tt^ng"™ ST »mmoI. Some of the Mittemacht vejn. S'he .urface not a. true vein., but a. narrow, barren """-i-he fiUinj is not the same in all the veins. Thus in the w^ttrn Mittemachtgange it 1. for the ^^\^ ILll dav with quaru and homstone; in the eastern van. •tt Itr; rl^r and dolomite, while both «« o vei™ occasionally . how a brecdated structure^ The o^^"*^ '"""^'l Silver ores (native silver, argentite, polybasite '■ "tjhanite. tetrahedrite, proustite^ pyrar^n e sternbergite. argentopynte, besides nttiAgc-te. acanthite and cerargynte). IS 2. Nickel ores (niccolite, chloanthite, millerite). 3. Cobalt ores (tmaltite. at well as biimuth-cobalt- pyrit ' and asbolate). 4. Bismuth ores (native bismuth, as well as bismuth glance and bismuth ocher). 5. Arsenic ores (native arsenic, arsenopyrite). 6. Uranium ores (pitchblende). "Galena, zinc-blende, pyrite, marcasite, copper pyrite and bomite only occur subor^ltnately and occasionally. Among these ores, the cobalt and nickel ores appear to be on the whole the older, the silver ores the younger "Near the lode fissures, the country rock frequently has been impregnated with extremely finely divided ore particles. This explains the small percentage of metals shown by F. Sandberger and A. Seifert to exist in various rocks of Joachimsthal, especially copper, cobalt, nickel and arsenic. In like manner the presence of minute granules of uraninm pitchblende in a scapolite-mica-schist of that locality, first discovered by F. Sandberger and conclusively confirmed by F. Babenek and A. Seifert, by means of large- scale ore concentration experiments, is most naturally explained by an infiltration from the lode fissures. Their presence as primary constituents seems to be gainsaid by their very unequal distribution in the rock "The veins traverse dykes of quartz porphyry, and in their turn are cut across by dykes of basalt and the wacke veins. However, since these wackes sometimes contain some interspersed argentite (earthy silver glance) where they cross the ore veins, it is inferred that at th«» time of the eruption of the younger vulcanic rocks the vein formation had not yet been quite completed "At the acute-angled lode crossings there has been an enrichment of the ore. The veins are richer in the porphyry and to the east in the limestone intercalation than in the schist." 16 It was formerly thought- that the Pitd-btol. ja. .Unul^ to the north.»uth vaj^ut more r^ t t^^g operaUons have revealed '» f"* "ff ;^ ', J commonly quantities, in the east-west vans. There is v«y m enrichment at the intersection of vems of the two Q '" xte pitchblende is not evenly distribut^ throughout the veins'but occurs in '«8"enf and ^nse^ n J«ma^^ as^Hiation with f '"»« L"! t"keon a rS to reddish r -tr V^H-'l^'a^irS.i^tor o, the iso.ted bodies of ore. Carnotite in Colorado and Utah. r.( tV^P most important uranium Carnotite 'YJ^^^K'^^.J^^,^, It occurs chiefly minerals produced by the U^'t^d States^ ^^^ as impregnations in sandstone beds and fiUmg other cavities in the ^"f ^^^ ^^^"^^uTah Th^^ therein. It is mined m Co^rad^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ quotations from A ™""^^^^d g^Moore and Karl L. Radium, and Vanadium, by ^^^^ J^^^^^ occurrence KithiP will serve as a description of the moaeoi °^ '^rnal^Creek Colorado. "The next pit. No. 3. just below Coal Creek, i^oiotumu contains a No. 2 and -^hw^ V ^^ ^ halfway petrified tree about 12 mches ^ .^ ^^^ ^^^ across the pit. ^'^""^l.rT-c^ oowdery yellow carnotite. is a rusty b-wn ^ fi^ d ji^h powdery y^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ The sandstone for 1 *°°t 'Jeiow i Under the grass roots the ^^^^s^one is sot\a ^^ heavily impregnated with carnotite. Farther below ^^sch. P.: Radiumlagest^tten und Radiummarkt. Zeitschrift fllr praktische Geologic. 1911, p. 86. ^Bureau of Mines. Wash.. Bulletin 70, 1913. 17 white sandstone, a brownish-yellow streak occurs, under- lying which is a somewhat richer yellow material a few inches in thickness. On the right side of the pit, near the bottom, is a brownish-coloured rock containing vanadium." Green River, Utah. "The majority of the deposits are exposed in the guUeys that traverse the 'reefs.' The carnorite is always in a rather coarse sandstone overlain with fine conglomerate. Much petrified wood is exposed, also bones and other fossils. As at Meeker, the camotite stains are conspicuous about the wood, much of which is heavily impregnated. The yellow ore is found mostly in or near the wood or in cracks in the sandstone, although both the sandstone and the darker ores are lightly impreg- nated in many places. Yellow ore such as occurs in Paradox Valley is largely absent here, most of the ores being dark coloured. They may be divided into four general types— the yellow camotite, found mainly in cracks; a dark-brown siliceous ore impregnated with camotite; a black ore, much of which is associated with carbonaceous material and some of which carries stains of camotite; and a grayish-brown laminated sandy shale, rich in vanadium and carrying some uranium. Parts of the deposits show mixed ores, but the majority of them can be classified as above." "Many samples that show little or no camotite, turn yellow on exposure to the air for several weeks. This yellowing takes place quickly if the ore is heated, as by laying it on the top of a stove. Such a test frequently shows uranium in ores not suspected of containing it, and as the test is well adapted to fieldwork, it merits a wider use "During the year 1912, 346 tons of ore was shipped from Green River, Thompsons, and Cisco, the only points in Utah that shipped ore. A part of this carried less than 1 per cent U,0, and the retums did not equal expenses. It is X Iw^nal wa, mined and .«,«d but not sh.pp«i Paraicx VoUey. Cote. "The ores o(J,.J«^^ are more yellow "The most typical ore is a sandstone so impregnated with yeUow^nSe that the colour is decidedly noUceaWe with yeiiow i^ wdnevs of brown sandy clay. The iru^stLgeneraUyacceptedan.ongth«,^a.o« ^t the kidney, are rid. in ^^^^'^^^.^^j:, !rr^i:sr-sLe^S-r^s^!"; districts and constitutes a large f^J^^ ^^rc J im^^^ sr Its. 1- - s*.irS2 :"►; weather, to e-";;;'-?'":;"^^"^^ of different colours intermingled. In many places seve 19 "The deposits are invariably pockets, many of which, however, are of considerable size; SO tons of shipping ore from a single claim is not unusual. Several claims have yielded more than this." "It is difficult to form a definite opinion as to the origin of the camotite and vanadium deposits. Hillebrand and Ransome show that the ores must have been carried to their present position and that the vanadium and uranium compounds could not have been the original cementing material of the quartz grains, but in all probability locally replaced the calcite that forms the matrix of the light- coloured sandstones in which the ores occur. They express the opinion that t' ; carnotite resulted from local concen- tration of material already in the sandstone, and that its depos''*^n as camotite was under conditions determined by pi .mity to the surface and probably was partly depen- dent on a semiarid climate "The so-called 'bug holes' appear to have escaped the notice of Hillebrand and Ransome. Many of these holes are 30 to 40 feet long and 2 to S inches in diameter; the waUs are usuaUy incrusted with quartz or gypsum. Almost invariably these holes run downward at a slight angle into the upper parts of an ore body, although a few enter the lower part of a deposit, and end abruptly in the ore. They are filled with high-grade ore, usually carnotite, although m some the blue and black ores of vanadium predominate. The other end of these 'bug holes' opens into a funnel-shaped mass of soft sandstone, heavily impregnated with ore, that grades into the country rock. The appearance of one of these 'veins' is that of a funnel with a long stem. Undoubt- edly th^'se holes represent channels through which ore- bearing solutions were transported. How far the ore- bearing solution travelled and whence it came are questions more difficult to answer." li :■■■'-• 20 Canadian Occurrences. Radium-bearing minerals have not been found in economic quantities in Canada. There are a few lo<^i^. however, in which such minerals have been discovered m ^"•^ M^^^rK^'u-onite has been mentioned as occurring n the form of a sulphur-yellow crystaUme crust ?ning filres in the magnetite of the Seymour ore-bed. lot n concession V of Madoc. Hastings county. Ontario. ''' Ma^Xe. Ontario. Many years ago u^-te was reoorted as foiming a vein about 2 inches wide at the S^ of the trap and syenite at Mamainse on the e.s shore of Lake Superior. -It was first described in 1847 by Dr J. L. Leconte as a new ore of uranium, under the 'L^coracite. It -amorphous, pitch-black mc^^^^^^^^^^ a grey streak, a resinous lustre and a conchoidal fiacture. Its hardness is 3-0. and it%d^"^%* fj^.^^ "^^d of lead contains oxyd of uranium 59 30, hme 14 ^. o^a S-36 oxyd of iron 2-24, alumina 90, silica 4 ^3. 'JLicYcid 7-47, water 464 with Uaces of -agn-a and manganese == 98-70." Search has been made for this vem in recent years, but without success. ^"IL«.U. Queue. SamarsldU «cu« jom^'-^t abundantly in excavations made in a pegmatite dyke on Mrrute lots 1 and 2. range II of Maisonneuve, Berth.er »u?trQuSc- A sample described by Hoffmann' had a Tm't^lic, shining lustre, was opa--'-^?'^ ''^"^I'it black colour. It was brittle, had a P-=y'*:t>ro™ '"'^; hS.e^6,andspecificgravity4-9. Itcontamed 10 75 per rent of uranium oxide. . . Murray Bay, Quebec. A variety of "-nm te or pitchblende has been found in a mica mine near Lake Reds 'Geology of Canada, 1863, p. 504. «Geol. Sur. Can., 1880-81-82, p. 1 H. 21 des Monts; about 18 miles back of Murray Bay in the county of Charlevoix, Quebec. At the same locality a carbo- naceous mineral, carrying 40*185 per cent volatile matter (including volatile combustible matter and a small quantity of moisture), 52 ' 590 per cent fixed carbon and 7 ' 225 per cent ash , was found , and the ash carried 35 ' 43 per cent uranium. ' Snowdon, Ontario. Uraconite has been reported as occurring with magnetite on lot 20, concession I of Snowdon, Peterborough county, Ontario. Villeneuve, Quebec. Pitchblende was discovered at the Villeneuve mica mine on lot 30, range I, of Villeneuve, Ottawa county, Quebec.' "The vein in which the mica occurs has been described as a coarse pegmatite, cutting a greyish garnetiferous gneiss. It is composed of quartz, musrovite, microcline and albite, with occasionally black tourmaline and garnet. The specimen (pitchblende), to which was attached a little muscovite, weighed about one pound and consisted apparently of the greater portion of what had been a lenticular nodule. Structure, massive. Specific gravity (1S"5*'C.), as determined by Mr. Kenrick, 9 055. It had on one portion of its surface a moderately thick incrustation, the prevailing colour of which was yellowish-red to scarlet-red. A small portion of the same had, however, a pure sulpnur yellow colour. This material, which is most probably gummite, w£is found by Mr. Kenrick to have a specific gravity (1S"5°C.) of 378." A sample of pitchblende from this mine vvas found to carry 37 "70 per cent of uranium oxide. Wakefield, Quebec. Small quantities of uraninite and gummite have been reported from the Leduc mica mine, lot 25, range VII of Wakefield, Ottawa county, Quebec. The mine is in a pegmatite dyke. 'Obalski, J.: On a mineral containing radium in the Province of Quebec. Can. Min. Inst. Jour., vol. 7, p. 247. * HofiFmann, G. C. : Geol. Sur. Can., vol. 2, p. J T. u Conclosi