Hydrogeologic Characteristics and Metallogenesis of the Shihongtan Sandstone-type Uranium Deposit in Turpan-Hami Basin

The Shihongtan uranium deposit in Turpan-Hami basin, Xinjiang, is an interlayer oxidized zone type sandstone uranium deposit. It is located in the Aiding Lake slope zone, southwest of the Turpan artesian basin. The ore-bearing aquifer occurs in the coal-bearing detrital rocks of the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao Formation. The main rocks include conglomerate and gravel-bearing arkosic quartz sandstone, containing confined pore water, and the permeability coefficient ranges 0.14 to 0.53 m/d. The groundwater generally flows from south to north at present, and is of the highly mineralized Cl·SO 4-Na type. The maximum uranium content may reach 2.245 mg/L, and the uranium mostly migrates in the form of UO 2(CO 3) 2. The authors consider that the favorable groundwater recharge-runoff-drainage system in the region is the premise condition for formation of the uranium deposit. The local structure as a local recharge source has effects on the groundwater flowing direction, and further controls the formation and contribution of the interlayer oxidation and uranium mineralization zones. Uranium mineralization mainly occurs in loose and permeable sandstone. The formation of the uranium deposit has experienced two phases: pre-concentration of uranium in the diagenetic process and metallogenesis in the interlayer oxidation zone in the later phase. The uranium mineralization is still in the processes of development and evolution.