ABSTRACT
The principal needs for uranium are for use in civilian nuclear power plants and for military requirements. However, uranium is also an important raw material in the production of various radio-isotopes used in medicine, chemistry, and industry. Uranium, although one of the less common elements, is widely distributed and constitutes about two to three parts per million of the earth's crust. The principal higher-grade uranium deposits in the United States lie in three regions: the Colorado Plateau, the Wyoming Basins, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. There are also several low-grade uranium deposits in the United States. Beds of uranium-bearing marine phosphorite, commonly five to ten feet thick, underlie hundreds of square miles of land in Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Florida. Colorado's uranium deposits occur in two geologically-distinct areas: western Colorado and the Front Range. In the Front Range, uranium deposits usually occur as veins, with small bodies of pitchblende commonly associated with sulfide minerals.
