The Uravan Mineral Belt of southwestern Colorado has a rich history of uranium and vanadium exploration and production. The mines within the Mineral Belt have produced nearly 80 million lbs of U3O8 and more than 400 million lbs of V2O5 since 19451. Colorado ranked 5th of 62 jurisdictions in the Investment Attractiveness Index of the Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies 20222.
PUR’s projects in Colorado are located in highly prospective areas in the heart of the Uravan Mineral Belt, in proximity to significant infrastructure.
The tabular sandstone uranium-vanadium deposits of the Uravan Mineral Belt occur in the uppermost sandstone unit of the Jurassic age Salt Wash Formation of the Morrison Formation. These meandering sandstone channels host zones of reduced oxidation caused by an increase in carbon content associated with lower energy channel systems. Uranium is extremely soluble in an oxidized ground water environment, where is travels extensively within permeable units. When the mineralized solution encounters any reduced environments within the meandering sand channels of the Salt Wash Formation, the uranium-vanadium is precipitated as coatings on sand grains and is no longer mobile in the regional ground water.
1 Source: Chenoweth, William L., 1981, “The Uranium-Vanadium Deposits of the Uravan Mineral Belt and Adjacent Areas, Colorado and Utah. In New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook 32, Western Slope, Colorado” and Goodnight, Craig S., William L. Chenoweth, Richard D. Davyault and Edward T. Cotter, 2005: “Geologic Road Log for Uravan Mineral Belt Field Trip, West-Central, Colorado” Rocky Mountain Section of the Geologic Society of America.
2 Source: www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/annual-survey-of-mining-companies-2022.pdf
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