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Vanadium Chlorite from a Sandstone-Hosted Vanadium-Uranium Deposit, Henry Basin, Utah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Gene Whitney  and
H. Roy Northrop
Gene Whitney
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225
H. Roy Northrop
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225
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Abstract

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An unusual vanadium chlorite precipitated during the formation of a vanadium-uranium ore deposit in the Henry Basin, southeastern Utah. The ore deposit formed by reduction and precipitation of U and V in the presence of organic matter at the interface between a stagnant brine and overlying, circulating meteoric water. Some samples of the vanadium chlorite (heated before analysis) contain ≥ 10% V2O5. In fresh samples, most of the vanadium is in the trivalent oxidation state. X-ray powder diffraction data suggest that Fe and V are concentrated preferentially in the interlayer hydroxide sheets of the chlorite. A d(060) value of 1.52 Å indicates that the chlorite probably has a dioctahedral structure which is distended by the presence of octahedral Fe and V. The vanadium ore zone is flanked by peripheral zones containing perfectly ordered chlorite/smectite. This chlorite/smectite contains much less V than the pure chlorite. This chlorite may have formed by the progressive precipitation of vanadium-rich interlayer hydroxide sheets in the mixed-layer chlorite/smectite in the most reducing portion of the ore zone. The pure chlorite is a IIb polytype, which, for nonvanadiferous analogs, is ordinarily found in high-temperature environments; however, no evidence exists to show that these rocks have ever been exposed to elevated temperatures. In fact, the presence of unreacted smectite in a potassium-rich setting and the low vitrinite reflectance of coalified plant debris indicate a low-temperature history for these sediments.

Keywords

ChloriteChlorite/smectiteCorrensiteDiagenesisTosuditeUraniumVanadiumX-ray powder diffraction
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , August 1986 , pp. 488 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © 1986, The Clay Minerals Society

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