Memorandum recommending physical exploration and geologic studies in the Colorado Plateau uranium region

Abstract

Estimated reserves of carnotite ore in known deposits, and with an average grade of the ore that has been mined for vanadium in the past ten years, range from 219,000 tons to 1,094,641 tons, containing about 500 to 2,100 tons of U3O8. These reserves are adequate to sustain capacity operation of the present mills from one to five years. Physical exploration would be necessary to insure additional reserves. Exploratory drilling, planned to indicate extensions of known ore bodies and locate new deposits, is recommended. Preliminary plans are submitted for a three-year project, using 300,000 feet of drilling, which might find as much as half a million tons of ore. The drilling, assaying of the samples, and the geologic work necessary to guide drilling and appraise the results would cost about $1,735,000. Concurrently with physical exploration, integrated geologic studies and topographic mapping should be undertaken to aid ore-finding and reserve appraisals; a three-year program of this work would cost about $485,000. Additional drilling (development drilling) would be necessary to "block out" ore and make accurate calculations of reserves.