The discovery of a super-large sandstone-hosted uranium ore field in the eolian sandstones of the Pengyang area (Ordos Basin, North China) represents a major breakthrough, yet the relationship between chlorite alteration and uranium mineralization in this deposit type remains unclear. This study conducted detailed mineralogical and geochemical analyses of chlorite using SEM, TEM, and EPMA. Five distinct types of chlorite were identified from mineralized and non-mineralized sandstones from the Luohe Formation in the Pengyang area from the southwestern Ordos Basin. This study addresses the formation temperatures, material sources, and possible formation mechanisms of those chlorites. The chlorites closely associated with uranium minerals formed at temperatures ranging from 130 to 170 °C, which represent the true formation temperature of the uranium minerals in the Pengyang uranium deposit. Comparing chlorite from uranium deposits related to granitic and volcanic rocks hosted uranium deposits in South China and sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in northern Ordos, North China, it is revealed that the chlorites from the eolian sandstone depositional area of the Pengyang experienced multiple episodes of fluid alteration. In addition, the chlorites closely related to uranium mineralization were formed by relatively low-temperature and oxidizing fluids, which may indicate that the uranium-bearing oxidative fluids in this region were primarily derived from interlayer infiltration.
Yang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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