Uranium-Bearing Layers of Sandstone Type Uranium Deposits Identification and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction in the Northern Ordos Basin, North-Central China

Abstract

Sandstone type uranium is the most valuable and has the most potential for mining among the known uranium deposits. In the process of forming, the hydrolytic migration and enrichment of uranium require special basin sedimentary environment and tectonic background. Therefore, the mineralization process of sandstone type uranium deposits has certain layering characteristics and distribution rules in the underground vertical depth space. It is important to mine the spatial distribution characteristics of vertical uranium-bearing layers, and thus, reconstruct the three-dimensions of uranium orebodies. In this paper, according to the metallogenic law and distribution characteristics of sandstone type uranium in the underground vertical space, a nonlinear uranium-bearing layers identification (NULI) method of sandstone type uranium is proposed by using different types, resolutions and scales of borehole data. Then, the depth of uranium mineralization for the Daying uranium deposit within northern Ordos Basin is identified accurately and the spatial distribution characteristics of the uranium-bearing layer on the exploration line are obtained. Finally, the occurrence mode of the underground uranium orebodies are presented by using three-dimensional reconstruction analysis. It provides a basis for the prediction, exploration and mining of sandstone type uranium deposits within the Ordos Basin.