A global suite of uranium-rich samples consisting of varying UO<sub>2</sub> concentrations; pristine uraninites (&gt; 80 wt. %), altered uraninites (70 – 80 wt. %), and several secondary uranium minerals (&lt; 70 wt. %) have been characterized for their major and trace element abundances by electron microprobe (EMP) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), respectively. The degree and process of alteration, such as oxidation or reduction, were evaluated by identifying the UO<sub>2</sub> phases within each sample utilizing a number of techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Due to the multivariant approach of this study, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to decipher geochemical grouping of samples according to deposit type, degree of alteration, process of alteration, and the chemical composition; major and trace element, and various isotopic signatures, e.g. U, Sr, and Pt. These geochemical groupings have the potential to allow fingerprinting of uranium-rich samples for nuclear forensic purposes.

Geochemical fingerprinting of uranium rich samples utilizing a multivariant approach

255th National Meeting (2018)

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