Results of reconnaissance for uraniferous coal, lignite, and carbonaceous shale in western Montana

Abstract

A reconnaissance search for uraniferous lignite and carbonaceous shale was made in western Montana and adjacent parts of Idaho during the summer of 1951. Particular emphasis in the examination was placed on coal and carbonaceous shale associated with volcanic rocks, as volcanic rocks in many areas appear to have released uranium to circulating ground water from which it was-concentrated in carbonaceous material. Twenty-two areas in Montana and one area in Idaho were examined. The coal in five of these areas is of Cretaceous age. The coal and carbonaceous shale in the remaining 18 areas occur in Tertiary "lake-bed" deposits of Oligocene and younger age. Both the Cretaceous and Tertiary coal and carbonaceous shale are associated with contemporaneous or younger volcanic rocks and pyroclastic sequences. A sample of carbonaceous shale from the Prickly Pear Valley northeast of Helena, Mont., contained 0. 013 percent uranium. A sample of carbonaceous shale from the Flint Creek Valley southwest of Drummond, Mont., contained 0. 006 percent uranium. All other samples of both Cretaceous and Tertiary coal and carbonaceous shale were essentially nonradioactive.

Uranium in carbonaceous rocks in the Townsend and Helena valleys, Montana

“…Tertiary rocks similar to the rocks described in this report are widespread in many of the major valleys in western MontanaQ W. J., Hail, Jro, and Je R .. Gill ( 1953) examined many of the ~nown occurrences of coal, lignite, and carbonaceous shale in these valleys, but large areas of Tertiary roc. ks are still unexplored.…”

“…Brief descriptions of the geology of the Helena Valley are included in reports by Knopf, (1913); Pardee and Schrader, ( 1933); and Lorenz and Swenson, ( 1951). Hail and Gill, ( 1953) briefly describe slight radioactivity associated with carbonaceous shales in the Helena Valley.…”

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Uranium in carbonaceous rocks in the Townsend and Helena Valleys, Montana

“…Hail and Gill (1953) briefly describe slight radioactivity associated with carbonaceous shales in the valley.…”