FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[bradyw]

I live in the South and I'm wondering if there is any chance of going uranium ore hunting and finding anything, or should I just buy some online? I've also heard of maps that indicate uranium deposits but I've not been able to find any.

[Kevin Schofield]

USGS (the United States Geological Survey) and State Geological Surveys are the keepers of resource maps for the continental US.

I would suggest that you start with their websites.

On the other hand, you may want to be a little more specific about which minerals you have an intertest in. Searching for "uranium ore" may attract some unwanted attention from the authorities whose job it is to keep an eye out for individuals with nefarious interests.

Online purchase may also present challenges, in as much as USPS and the major private package carriers have an aversion to transporting anything that might be a source of radioactivity...

[bradyw]

Thank you, I'll look at their maps. The main ore's I am interested in are Torbernite (I doubt I'll find any) and Autunite due to their interesting looks but I would be fine having something less radioactive (and more boring) to start off with.

[Jeff]

Some occurrences of uranium mineralization are found in the SE US, but vast majority are very low grade and contained within shales or phosphate rock. Occasionally, visible uranium mineralization is found in granitic rocks in the SE region (for example, grains of uraninite with decay haloes such as at Stone Mountain, Georgia) but rarely are there "collectable" specimens. As already mentioned, there are many studies of uranium occurrences in the US and the reference to the USGS is a good one. Other possible sources of information you might want to pursue are the US Energy Research and Development Administrations (ERDA's) uranium resource assessment publications of the 1970s and, if you can find them in a library, past issues of Nucleonics Week -- particularly during that time period.

[Bob Carnein]

North Carolina may not count as "southeastern US", but check out Spruce Pine.

[John Betts]