Crystallographic Study of Uranium-Thorium Bearing Minerals in Tranomaro, South-East Madagascar

Frank Elliot Sahoa, Naivo Rabesiranana, Raoelina Andriambololona, Nicolas Finck, Christian Marquardt, Hörst Geckeis

Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires (Madagascar-INSTN), Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Institute of Nuclear Waste and Disposal (INE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2013.16053                

Abstract

Studies are undertaken to characterize the uranium and thorium minerals of south-east Madagascar. Seven selected uranothorianite bearing pyroxenites samples from old abandoned uranium quarries in Tranomaro, south Amboasary, Madagascar (46°28'00"E, 24°36'00"S) have been collected. To determine the mineral micro-structure, they were investigated for qualitative identification of crystalline compounds by using X-ray powder diffraction analytical method (XRD). Results showed that the uranium and thorium compounds, as minor elements, were present in various crystalline structures. Thorium, as thorianite, is present in a simple ThO₂ cubic crystalline system, whereas the uranium component of the Tranomaro uranothorianite samples is oxide-based and is a mixture of complex oxidation states and crys-talline systems. Generally called uraninite, its oxide compounds are present in more than eight phases.

Keywords

Tranomaro; Madagascar; Uranothorianite; Crystallography; XRD

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	C. Grossman, “Uranium Ores in Madagascar,” Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 179, No. 5, 1915, p. 595.
[2]	W. Bourret, “Uranium-Bearing Pegmatites of the Antsir-abe-Kitsamby District, Madagascar,” In: J. W. Gabelman Ed., Unconventional Uranium Deposits, Ore Geology Reviews, Vol. 3, 1988, pp. 177-191.
[3]	M. Moreau, “Cycles Uranifères et Thorifères à Madagascar, ” Rapport C.E.A, n° 1685, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, 1960.
[4]	Raoelina Andriambololona, G. Rakotoson and G. Paic, “Measurement of the Escape Rate of Radon in Uranium Minerals from Madagascar,” International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes, Vol. 34, No. 7, 1983, pp. 1017-1018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0020-708X(83)90084-4
[5]	G. Paic, Raoelina Andriambololona and G. Rakotoson, “Estimation du Pouvoir d’échappement du Rn-222 des Roches Uranifères de Madagascar à l’aide d’un Détecteur Ge(Li),” Annales de l’Université de Madagascar, Série Sciences de la Nature et Mathématique, No. 16, 1979, pp. 79-91.
[6]	G. Paic, Raoelina Andriambololona and M. Razanajatovo, “Détermination du Spectre énergétique Gamma de la Monazite de Fort-Dauphin à l’aide d’un Détecteur Ge(Li),” Annales de l’Université de Madagascar, Série Sciences de la Nature et Mathématique, No. 16, 1979, pp. 79-91.
[7]	Raoelina Andriambololona, “Etude de la Monazite Brute d’Antete et de Vohibarika Manantenina. Mesure des Teneurs en Uranium et Thorium,” Annales de l’Univesité de Madagascar, Sciences de la Nature et Mathématique, No. 17, 1980, pp. 15-32.
[8]	N. Rabesiranana, M. Rasolonirina, F. Terina, A. F. Solonjara and Raoelina Andriambololona, “Top Soil Radio-activity Assessment in a High Natural Radiation Back- ground Area: The Case of Vinaninkarena, Antsirabe-Madagascar,” Applied Radiations and Isotopes, Vol. 66, No. 11, 2008, pp. 1619-1622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2007.12.012
[9]	C. Rakotondratsima, “Les Pyrexonites à Uranothorianite du Sud-Est de Madagascar,” Ph.D Thesis, University of Claude Bernard-Lyon, 1983.
[10]	B. Moine, C. Rakotondratsima and M. Cuney, “Les Pyroxénites à Urano-Thorianite du Sud-Est de Madagascar: Conditions Physico-Chimiques de la Métasomatose,” Bulletin de Minéralogie, Vol. 108, 1985, pp. 325-340.
[11]	A. F. M. Rakotondrazafy, “La Hibonite du Sud-Est de Madagascar,” Ph.D Thesis, University of Antananarivo, 1995.
[12]	J. K. Osmond and M. Ivanovich, “Uranium-Series Mobilization and Surface Hydrology,” In: M. Ivanovich and R. S. Harmon, Eds., Uranium Series Disequilibrium: Applications to Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, 2nd Edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992, pp. 259-289.
[13]	J. N. Rosholt, “Mobilization and Weathering,” In: M. Ivanovich and R. S. Harmon, Eds., Uranium Series Dis-equilibrium: Applications to Environmental Problems, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1982, pp. 167-180.
[14]	M. Gascoyne, “Geochemistry of the Actinides and Their Daughters,” In: M. Ivanovich and R. S. Harmon, Eds., Uranium Series Disequilibrium: Applications to Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, 2nd Edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992, pp. 34-61.
[15]	D. Langmuir, “Uranium Solution-Minerals Equilibria at Low Temperatures with Application to Sedimentary Ore Deposits,” Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 42, No. 6, 1978, pp. 547-569. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(78)90001-7
[16]	R. Finch and R. Ewing, “Uraninite Alteration in an Oxydizing Environment and Its Relevance to the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel,” Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, 1990.
[17]	H. M. Rietveld, “A Profile Refinement Method for Nuclear and Magnetic Structures,” Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 2, 1969, pp. 65-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S0021889869006558
[18]	R.L. Snyder and D. L. Bish, “Quantitative Analysis,” In: D. L. Bish and J. E. Post, Eds., Modern Powder Diffraction. Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol. 20, Mineralogical Society of America, Washington DC, 1989, pp. 101-144.
[19]	L. B. Mc. Cusker, R. B. Von Dreele, D. E. Cox and P. Louër Scardi, “Rietveld Refinement Guidelines,” Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 32, 1999, pp. 36-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S0021889898009856
[20]	M. A. F. Rakotondrazafy, B. Moine and M. Cuney, “Mode of Formation of Hibonite (CaAl12O19) within the U-Th Skarns from the Granulites of S-E Madagascar,” Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, Vol. 123, No. 2, 1996, pp. 190-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004100050150
[21]	C. Frondel, “Systematic Mineralogy of Uranium and Thorium,” US Geological Survey Bulletin, Vol. 1064, 1958, 400 p.
[22]	M. Moreau, “Le Gisement des Minéralisations de Thorianite à Madagascar,” Annales de Géologie de Madaga- scar, Fasc. 33, 1963, pp. 175-178.
[23]	A. F. Rogers, “Uraninite and Pitchblende,” Proceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of the Mineralogical Society of America, Stanford University, Chicago, 26-28 December 1946, pp. 90-91.
[24]	B. Wasserstein, “Age of Uraninite by a New Method,” Nature, Vol. 174, No. 4439, 1954, pp. 1004-1005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/1741004b0
[25]	B. Wasserstein, “Cube-Edges of Uraninite as a Criterion of Age,” Nature, Vol. 168, No. 4270 1951, p. 380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/168380a0
[26]	J. J. Ebelman, “Note on Chemical Composition of Pitchblende,” Journal für Praktische Chemie, Vol. 30, 1943, p. 414.
[27]	K. B. Alberman and J. S. Anderson, “The Oxides of Uranium,” Journal of the Chemical Society, 1949, pp. S303-S311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/jr949000s303
[28]	W. Biltz and H. Muller, “Systematic-Affinity Principle; XLI, Uranium Oxides,” Zeitschrift fuer Anorganisch und Allgemeine Chemie, Vol. 163, No. 1, 1927, pp. 257-296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/zaac.19271630126
[29]	V. M. Goldschmidt and L. Thomassen, “Die Kristallstruktur Natürlicher und Synthetischer Oxyde von Uran,” Thorium und Cerium: Norske Vidensk, Kristiana Skr Math-Naturvidensk. Kl, No. 2, 1923, pp. 1-48.