Uranium Test Mine

Occurrence in DeKalb county in Tennessee, United States with commodities Uranium, Oil Shale
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Controls for ore emplacement
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Ownership information
  13. Workings at the site
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10088519
MRDS ID K002695
Record type Site
Current site name Uranium Test Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -85.70718, 35.96288 (WGS84)
Relative position 0.35 MILE SOUTHEAST OF EAST END OF SLIGO BRIDGE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

DeKalb(county)

Tennessee(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Sligo Bridge(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

McMinnville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chattanooga(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Caney(hydrologic unit)

Upper Cumberland(hydrologic accounting unit)

Cumberland(hydrologic subregion)

Ohio(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Tennessee DeKalb

Comments on the location information

  • NORTH SIDE OF BRITCH CREEK

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Uranium Tertiary
Oil Shale Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE THREE LITHOLOGIC UNITS OF THE GASSAWAY MEMBER OF THE CHATTANOOGA SHALE CONTAIN THE MOST URANIUM IN THE FORMATION, AND THE UPPER OF THETHREE IS THE RICHEST.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrite Gangue

Analytical data

Result SOME BEDS REPORTEDLY CONTAIN AS MUCH AS 0.008% URANIUM.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Mudstone > Bentonite
    Rock unit name Bentonite-Light Gray, Biotitic
    Rock description Bentonite-Light Gray, Biotitic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale > Black Shale
    Rock unit name Chattanooga Shale, Carbonaceous, Grayish-Black, Thinly-Laminated, Fissile
    Rock description Chattanooga Shale, Carbonaceous, Grayish-Black, Thinly-Laminated, Fissile

Nearby scientific data

(1) -85.70718, 35.96288

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Dip HORIZONTAL
    Thickness 10.67M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1949

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Tennessee Valley Authority
  • Type Owner
    Owner Tennessee Valley Authority
    Home office Box 73 Columbia, Tn. 38401 Attn. E.W. Wallace

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 30.48M

Comments on the workings information

  • THE ADIT WAS 8 TO 10 FEET WIDE, 8 FEET IN HEIGHT, AND DRIVEN AT AN ELEVATION OF APPROXIMATELY 780 FEET.

Comments on development

  • THE ADIT WAS DRIVEN TO OBTAIN BULK SAMPLES FOR LABORATORY EXPERIMENTATION FOR THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN 1949 AND THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN 1953, AND TO DETERMINE THE MINING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHALE. ; ECON.COM: THE URANIUM CONTENT IS RELATIVELY LOW

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE BENTONITE, TERMED THE CENTER HILL BENTONITE BY CONANT AND SWANSON (1961), IS THE MOST DISTINCTIVE BED IN THE CHATTANOOGA SHALE. IT RANGES FROM 0.05 TO 0.14 FOOT THICK AND IS WITHIN 2 FEET OF THE TOP OF THE DOWELLTOWN MEMBER OF THE CHATTANOOGA SHALE. THE CHATTANOOGA SHALE CONSISTS OF THE LOWER DOWELLTOWN MEMBER AND THE OVERLYING GASSAWAY MEMBER; THE THIN HARDIN SANDSTONE MEMBER OCCURS LOCALLY AT THE BASE OF THE CHATTANOOGA SHALE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1974 Hale, Robin C. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.