Streamlines Based Stochastic Methods and Reactive Transport Simulation Applied to Resource Estimation of Roll-Front Uranium Deposits Exploited by In-Situ Leaching

Abstract

Roll-front uranium deposits are ore mineralizations that occur in sandstones or arkoses downstream from redox fronts or reduced/oxidized geochemical barriers. They are often bounded above and below by impermeable shaly/muddy layers making them ideal for in-situ leaching exploitation. Several stochastic simulations were previously investigated either to characterize the ore grade distribution within roll-front type deposits, or for describing geological processes involved in their formation. This work suggests some modifications/improvements of conventional geostatistical algorithms for honoring hydrodynamic constraints that govern fluid flows in ore bearing layers. In particular, instead of using the classical Euclidian or curvilinear (for Sgrid) distance for computing the variogram, it is proposed to calculate the variogram accounting for the time of flight (TOF) of water particles down the streamlines together with available well data. Non-deterministic streamline-based methods seem to provide more accurate interpolation results and resource estimation compared to a traditional geostatistical approach when applied to roll-front deposits.