Uranium and Thorium Resources of Estonia

Abstract

We provide a compilation of geology of uranium and thorium potential resources in the Ordovician black shale (graptolite argillite), Cambrian–Ordovician shelly phosphorite and in the secondary resources (tailings) of Estonia. Historical and new geological, XRF and ICP-MS geochemical data and ArcGIS modeling results of elemental distribution and tonnages are presented. The Estonian black shale contains 5.666 million tons of U, 16.533 Mt Zn, 12.762 Mt Mo, 47.754 Mt V and 0.213–0.254 Mt of Th. The Estonian phosphate resources, altogether about 3 billion metric tons of phosphate ore, contain about 147,000 to 175,000 tons of U. Rare earth element concentrations in the phosphorite ore average at 1200–1500 ppm of ΣREE. Thorium can also be a possible co-product. The mining waste dump at the Maardu contains at least 3650 tons of U and 730 tons of Th. The Sillamäe radioactive waste depository contains about 1200 tons of U and 800 tons of Th. Due to the neighboring geological positions, as well as environmental constraints and mining technologies, the black shale and phosphorite can be treated as a complex multi-resource, possibly at the continental scale, which needs to be extracted together.