Premium
The Discovery of Natural Native Uranium and Its Significance
Author(s) -
Ziying LI,
Zhizhang HUANG,
Xiuzhen LI,
Jian GUO,
Chou FAN
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/1755-6724.12564
Subject(s) - uranium , hydrothermal circulation , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , valence (chemistry) , uranium ore , geochemistry , mineralization (soil science) , chemistry , geology , materials science , chemical engineering , metallurgy , soil science , paleontology , organic chemistry , engineering , soil water
This study analyzed the composition and uranium valence of pitchblendes sampled from the hydrothermal Guidong and Zhuguang uranium deposits of the middle Nanling metallogenic belt, Southern China using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A revolutionary discovery is that the uranium not only exists in the forms of tetravalent and hexavalent uranium oxides, but also occurs in the form of native uranium. This is the first discovery of the existence of native uranium in nature. It greatly helps to reveal the origin of hydrothermal mineralization of uranium, and also has great significance for studying the thermal energy, formation and evolution of the earth.