Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

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Ore Geology Reviews

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Phanerozoic uranium mineralization in Variscan Europe – More than T

400 Ma of tectonic, supergene, and climate-controlled uranium
redistribution
Rolf L. Romera, , Michel Cuneyb
⁎

a
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
b
Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CREGU, GeoRessources, F-54000 Nancy, France

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Silurian organic-rich black shales are widespread and serve as basic source for most U mineralization throughout
Silurian black shales the entire Variscan Orogen of Central and Western Europe. In particular the lowermost unit of Silurian black
Hirnantian glaciation shales is regionally strongly enriched in U. The strong U-enrichment of these shales is the result of the Hirnantian
Variscan orogeny glaciation that removed old near-surface rocks that already had lost most leachable U during long-lasting al-
Permian European Extensional Province
teration and brought rocks with leachable U to the surface. Sea level rise due to the melting of the Hirnantian ice
Weathering
U-fertile granites
sheet inundated the glacially modeled continent margin and resulted in regionally restricted oceanic circulation
and anoxic conditions that are related to both low initial oxygen levels and sudden increase of organic pro-
duction. Organic-rich shales on the Gondwana shelf developed particularly high U content as they scavenged U
from the surface runoff that was leached after deglaciation from the newly exposed drainage area.
The present spatial distribution of Silurian U-rich black shales within the Varisan orogenic belt is largely
controlled by large-scale tectonic processes operating during the approach and eventual collision of Gondwana
and Laurussia, leading to the formation of western Pangea. During the Variscan orogeny, these U-anomalous
rocks became stacked and folded at the margins of some low-strain domains of the orogenic belt and exposed to
metamorphism and in part to crustal melting – contributing to the formation of U-fertile post-kinematic granites
– in the high-strain domains of the orogenic belt. There are no U deposits that are directly related to the em-
placement of these granites. Variscan granites, however, are the most important source of leachable U for
younger, major U mineralization. Late-Variscan reorganization of the plate movement between Gondwana and
Laurussia resulted in an extensional tectonic regime throughout Europe with important Permian sedimentary
basins. Heat input and fluid migration along Permian fault zones resulted in the formation of episyenite-bound
and vein-type U mineralization in the Variscan basement, whereby U was leached from granites and Silurian
sedimentary rocks and their metamorphic equivalents and was deposited in local episyenite and vein-type mi-
neralization (e.g., districts of Aue-Niederschlema, Jáchymov, Příbram, Forez, and Salamanca).
Late-Variscan erosion of the orogenic belt resulted in the redistribution of U from Variscan metamorphic rocks
and granites, but also the Silurian black shales, into late Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary basins. Permian
mobilization of fault zones controled the availability of U-rich source rocks for leaching, the transport of U into
the basins, and the distribution of organic-rich sediments that may trap U in organic-rich layers (e.g., Döhlen,
Lodève). The Permian U redistribution represents the major deposit-forming event throughout Variscan Europe,
whereby hydrothermal U mineralization in episyenites and veins in the Variscan basement and low-temperature
U mineralization in sandstones and organic-rich sediments are different expressions of the same tectonic process,
i.e., the development of the Central European Extensional Province. Later tectonic reactivations of these fault
zones during the opening of the Tethys and North Atlantic oceans and during the Alpine Orogeny mainly resulted
in the local redistribution of U mineralization along the same fault zones at c. 180 Ma, 150 Ma, and 120 Ma, and
more recently during the Alpine orogeny, in part with addition of other metals (e.g., Ag, Bi, Co, Ni, As) leached
from the local wall rocks.
Post-Permian intense chemical weathering, mostly in the Triassic and the Cretaceous, resulted in (i) U re-
distribution and additional U concentration within near-surface mineralization (e.g., Ronneburg, Aue-
Niederschlema), (ii) leaching from near-surface U-rich rocks followed by entrapment in sediments to form

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: romer@gfz-potsdam.de (R.L. Romer).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2018.09.013
Received 3 April 2018; Received in revised form 12 September 2018; Accepted 17 September 2018
Available online 18 September 2018
0169-1368/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

lignite-type (e.g., black shales, peats) and roll-type mineralization (e.g., Königstein), and (iii) the dispersion of U
in the supergene environment.
The rocks of the Variscan belt host a history of more than 400 Ma of U redistribution, starting with the
deposition of early Silurian U-rich black shales. The formation of these black shales is climatically controlled.
Their spatial distribution eventually controls the spatial distribution of younger mineralization that is generally
closely related with the tectonic development and reactivation of the basement and the redistribution by
magmatic, hydrothermal, and erosional processes. Basement faults are pathways for fluids and their reactivation
controls the formation and inversion of basins and the uplift of basement blocks, eventually linking the en-
dogenic U cycle (magmatic and hydrothermal rocks) with the exogenic U cycle (making U-rich rocks available
for erosion and leaching and creating traps to precipitate mobilized U). The timing of post-Variscan U miner-
alization is controlled by these tectonic reactivations, whereas supergene enrichment or redistribution is par-
ticularly efficient in periods of intense chemical weathering.

1. Introduction
The area of the Variscan Orogen in Central and Western Europe
hosts a major U province, which in its (historic) importance only is
surpassed by the unconformity related deposits of Canada (Athabasca
and Thelon basins) and Australia (Ranger, Jabiluka, and Nabarlek), the
quartz-pebble conglomate deposits of South Africa and Canada, the
sandstone-hosted deposits of the Central Asian Mesozoic to Tertiary
basins of Kazhakstan and China and of the Colorado Plateau, the me-
tasomatic, metamorphic, and magmatic deposits of the Ukraine, Brazil,
and Namibia, and some IOCG and breccia deposits, in particular
Olympic Dam (Dahlkamp, 2016; Cuney and Kyser, 2015; Bruneton and
Cuney, 2016). Whereas U mineralization of most major U provinces
occurs in Archean and Paleoproterozoic domains, mineralization in
Central and Western Europe occurs in Phanerozoic rocks and formed
predominatly after the Variscan orogeny (e.g., Marignac and Cuney,
1999; Hiller and Schuppan, 2008; Cuney and Kyser, 2009, 2015). Ur-
anium mineralization in Central and Western Europe encompasses a
wide range of different mineralization types, e.g., hydrothermal-type
related to granites (veins and episyenites), sandstone-type, hydro-
thermally remobilized black shales, and coal/lignite-type, that formed
at different times and show evidence for repeated redistribution of both
U and other metals (e.g., Bi, Co, Ni, Ag, As; Oelsner, 1958; Förster and
Haack, 1995; Herrmann et al., 1995; Kuschka, 2002; Hiller and
Schuppan, 2008). Spatially, U mineralization is mostly controlled by
the distribution of Variscan basement massifs. Uranium mineralization
and redistribution occurred over a period of more than 400 Ma. The
oldest U mineralization in Variscan Europe is hosted in early Silurian
shales (Unterer Graptolitnenschiefer, e.g., Ronneburg, Lange and
Freyhoff, 1991), whereas the youngest U mineralization presently forms
in soils, marshes and/or calcretes in the drainage system of leached U-
bearing granites (cf., Wilson, 1984; Regenspurg et al., 2010).
In this paper we present the temporal and spatial distribution of U
mineralization in Central and Western Europe. We demonstrate that
early Silurian black shales, similar to those of Ronneburg (e.g., Lange
and Freyhoff, 1991; Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012), represent one of the
main source rocks of most U mineralization in Variscan Europe. In the
low-strain domains of the Variscan Belt, U mineralization formed when
the U content in the Silurian shales was locally concentrated to form
mineralization during later tectonic and weathering events. In the high-
strain domains of the Variscan Belt, the U-anomalous Silurian rocks
were metamorphosed or melted during the Variscan orogeny, giving
rise to graphite-bearing schists and U-fertile1 granites, respectively.
1
We use the term U-fertile rather than U-specific, U-rich, or U-anomalous to
highlight that U content is not the only factor that controls whether a granite
may serve as U source or not. If U is hosted in silicates, niobates, and other
chemically stable minerals, it is generally not accessible to mobilization by
oxidized fluids. In the way used here, U-rich refers to granites that have high U-
contents, whereas U-fertile refers to granites that host a significant protion of
their U budget in uraninite or minerals that readily become metamict, i.e.,
During later tectonic reactivation, both the U-rich metamorphosed Si-
lurian sedimentary rocks and the U-fertile Variscan granites served as
source rocks for low-temperature hydrothermal-type, sandstone-type,
and coal/lignite-type mineralization (e.g., Tonndorf, 2000; Cuney and
Kyser, 2015; Ballouard et al., 2018). We demonstrate that the dis-
tribution of U-rich Silurian shales of former peri-Gondwana essentially
controls the spatial distribution of all U mineralization in Variscan
Europe, whereas type and timing of mineralization are related to large-
scale tectonic processes and climate. We present a generic model
linking the distribution and type of U mineralization to the tectonic
evolution in the large-scale context of the assembly of supercontinent
Pangea and its subsequent fragmentation during the opening of the
Tethys and Atlantic oceans.
2. Different types of U mineralization
Uranium is a redox-sensitive element that is highly mobile under
oxidized conditions and forms mineralization through the entire geo-
logical cycle in magmatic, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks (e.g.,
Dahlkamp, 1993, 2016; Cuney and Kyser, 2015). Most U mineralization
is the result of multiple processes and may involve enriched source
rocks and multiple stages of U redistribution with U enrichment and
dispersion within a given deposit (e.g., Robertson et al., 1978; Nash,
1981, 2010; Nash et al., 1981; Dahlkamp, 1993; Cuney, 2009, 2010,
2014). The redox-sensitive character of U, however, does not only ac-
count for the wide range of different types of U deposits in both en-
dogenic and exogenic environments, but also for changes in type of U
mineralization through time that are not related to preservation po-
tential alone (Table 1). The most important parameter affecting the
distribution of certain U mineralization is the availability of oxygen,
most importantly the level of oxygen in the atmosphere, and the
abundance of organic matter in sedimentary environments and rocks.
For instance, detrital uraninite, typically along with sulfide minerals,
only occurs in Archean and early Paleoproterozoic conglomerates that
were deposited before the increase in atmospheric oxygen (e.g., Cuney,
2010). After this increase in atmospheric oxygen, redox-related mobi-
lization and aqueous transport of U become the dominant processes for
the formation of near-surface U mineralization (e.g., Cuney, 2010).
Similarly, the presence of organic matter and authigenic sulfides in
marine sediments and – after the Silurian – of vascular plants in ter-
restrial sediments provides efficient traps for U, giving rise to black
shale related mineralization in marine sediments and sandstone-type
mineralization in terrestrial sediments (e.g., Lovley et al., 1991;
Dahlkamp, 1993, 2016; Spirakis, 1996; Jaireth et al., 2008; Cuney and
(footnote continued)
whose U content therefore becomes accessible for redistribution. It should be
noted that U- and-Th rich silicate minerals such as zircon, allanite, and U-rich
thorite cummulate radiation damage and become with time increasingly me-
tamict. Once the crystal lattice of these minerals is strongly damaged, they also
are sources of leachable U.

475
 Table 1
Types of U mineralization.
Typea Uranium source and Uranium trap Basic requirements Age rangeb Examples Referencesc
mobilization
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney

Endogenic U mineralization
Magmatic deposits
Migmatite-related deposits
High-grade metamorphism
and Na-metasomatism
Vein-type and episyenite
low-temperature
hydrothermal
mineralization
Enrichment of U by magmatic
differentiation of peralkaline
magmas
Leucocratic melt derived from
anatexis of U-rich
metasedimentary rocks
Leaching of granitic and
metamorphic rocks by high-
temperature alkaline fluids
Magmatic and metamorphic
rocks with leachable U as well
as black shales (and other U-
bearing sedimentary rocks)
No trap; U-enrichment during
fractionation of peralkaline magmas;
in particular in highly evolved late-
stage magmas; U mostly stored in
silicates and REE and/or Nb, Ta
minerals
Reducing conditions during
crystallization of melts prevent
significant loss of U to fluid phases that
leave the system
Na- (less commonly K-) metasomatism
resulting in regional scale quartz
dissolution and albitization, generally
followed by Ca-metasomatism is
induced by high-temperature fluids
that also introduce U into the altered
rocks
Mineralization is not related to granite
emplacement, even if there is a close
spatial relation. Instead, the granites
act as U source and control the
position of medium to low-
temperature hydrothermal alteration
Late-stage magmatic fluids
that redistribute U in
episyenites, albitites, and
pegmatites
U anomalous protoliths that
partition U preferentially into
partial melts
High-temperature
hydrothermal alteration by
highly alkaline fluid
Precipitation by fluid-mixing
or fluid-rock interaction
leading to reduction, ligand
loss, or change in fluid
composition
– Kvanefjeld, Poços de Caldas, 1, 2, 3, 4
Lovozero, Bokan Mountain
– Rössing, Wollaston and Mudjatik 5, 6, 7
domains, Bancroft, Mont Laurier
Paleo- and Meso- Central Ukraine U Province, 8, 9, 10, 11
Proterozoic Lagoa Real, Michelin, Valhalla,
Lianshanguan
– Marnac, Fanay, Les Brugeauds, 12, 13, 14, 15,
Bois Noirs-Limouzat, Pontivy- 16, 17, 18, 19,
Rostrenen complex, Schlema- 20, 21, 22, 23
Alberoda, Schneeberg,
Tellerhäuser, and Jáchymov
districts, Příbram, Mina Fé

476
and faults. Episyenites (rock affected
by medium-temperature quartz
dissolution) develop locally high
porosity that focuses later fluid flow.
Uranium precipitation in episyenites
and veins from medium to low
temperature fluids
Unconformity related Basinal brines leaching and Spatially related to reduction fronts U precipitation within the Proterozoic Cigar Lake, McArthur River, 45, 46
deposits transporting U near the contact between basement or the sandstones by Millenium (all Athabasca Basin),
Paleoproterozoic basement and interaction of the fluid with Kiggavik, End, Andrew (all
overlying sandstone reducing sections of the host- Thelon Basin), Jabiluka, Ranger,
rocks or by fluid mixing Koongara (all Kombolgie Basin)

Shallow and exogenic U mineralization

Quartz-pebble Primary U mineralization with
conglomerate uraninite at erosion level
Sandstone-hosted Leaching of U from near-
surface rocks by circulating
groundwater
Calcrete-hosted Leaching of U at or near the
surface by surface runoff and
circulating groundwater
Lignite/peat/bog deposits Leaching of U at or near the
surface by surface runoff and
circulating groundwater
Reduction of gradient in fluvial Reducing conditions in Older than c. 2.4 Ga Elliot Lake, Witwatersrand 24, 25, 26, 27
transport system with deposition of atmosphere (before the increase
coarse sediments and heavy minerals, of oxygen content
including uraninite, pyrite, and gold in the atmosphere)
Organic material (remains of land U migration before or during Commonly Silurian Powder River Basin, Colorado 25, 28, 29, 30,
plants) in predominantly fluvial and diagenesis and younger Plateau, Karoo Basin, Mesozoic 31, 32, 33
lacustrine sandstones between basins in Kazakhstan, Mongolia,
relatively impermeable layers of shale China, and Transbaikal
Sorption on silicates, clay minerals, Semi-arid to arid climate; Tertiary to recent Dry areas in Western Australia 34, 35, 36
oxyhydroxides, incorporation in flood plain, delta, or playa (Yeelirrie, Lake Way), Namibia,
carbonates, supersaturation of deposits South Africa, Somalia
transport agent by evaporation or
ligand loss (e.g., CO2 loss)
Organic material in surface sediments Oxidizing fluids meet reducing Tertiary to recent Flodelle Creek 37, 38, 39
and peat surface sediments
Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

(continued on next page)

R.L. Romer, M. Cuney Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

1 = Sørensen et al., 2011; 2 = Cuney, 2014; 3 = Dostal et al., 2014; 4 = Waber et al., 1992; 5 = Corvino and Pretorius, 2013; 6 = Basson and Greenway, 2004; 7 = McKeough et al., 2013; 8 = Cuney et al., 2012;
9 = Polito et al., 2009; 10 = Alexandre, 2010; 11 = Veríssimo et al., 2016; 12 = Hiller and Schuppan, 2008; 13 = Hiller and Schuppan, 2016; 14 = Ondruš et al., 2003a; 15 = Ballouard et al., in press; 16 = Leroy and

2005; 33 = Hall et al., 2017; 34 = Jaireth et al., 2016; 35 = Hou et al., 2017; 36 = Bowell and Davies, 2017; 37 = Zielinski and Burruss, 1991; 38 = IAEA, 1984; 39 = Regenspurg et al., 2010; 40 = Lecomte et al., 2014;
Mineralization styles largely based on grouping and compilation of Cuney and Kyser (2009) and Cuney (2009). Note, there are transitions between different styles and many deposits are the result of the superposition of

Typical formation ages or only indicated for deposit types that are restricted to particular periods. For U mineralization in the exogenic environment, the most critical parameters controlling the occurrence of
several processes. Above grouping does not represent a classification. Instead, it allows for combining a wide range of deposits that are classified differently, but that are different expressions of the same large-scale

Holliger, 1984; 17 = Naumov et al., 2017; 18 = Cuney, 1978; 19 = Cathelineau et al., 1990; 20 = Kříbek et al., 1999; 21 = Kříbek et al., 2009; 22 = Škácha et al., 2009; 23 = Martin-Izard et al., 2002; 24 = Anderson
et al., 1987; 25 = Dahlkamp, 1993; 26 = Roscoe and Minter, 1993; 27 = Pretorius, 2012; 28 = Turner-Peterson and Fishman, 1986; 29 = Boberg, 2010; 30 = Cai et al., 2007; 31 = Bonnetti et al., 2015; 32 = Min et al.,
Kyser, 2015; Cuney, 2010). A short summary of the most important
types of U mineralization is given in Table 1.2 Several of these deposit
40, 41, 42, 43,
types are restricted to Archean and early Proterozoic rocks. These types
Referencesc

will not be discussed in detail, as U mineralization in the Variscides and

their later reworking are Phanerozoic exclusively.
44

During the evolution of the Earth, U is concentrated in the felsic

crust through progressive extraction from the mantle. Although there is
some reinjection into the mantle by subduction of altered oceanic crust
Talvivaara, Ranstad, Ronneburg,

and sedimentary material (e.g., Fyfe and Brown, 1979; Albarède and
Michard, 1986), eventually accounting for the high-238U/204Pb (HIMU)
mantle component (Zindler and Hart, 1986), most U is recycled within
the continental crust or is returned by subduction zone magmatism
from the lithospheric mantle to the continental crust (e.g., Cuney,
Chattanooga

2014). The crustal U cycle describing the recycling and redistribution of

41 = Leventhal, 1991; 42 = Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012; 43 = Lippmaa et al., 2011; 44 = Huertas et al., 2013; 45 = Cuney & Kyser, 2009; 46 = Cuney and Kyser, 2015.
Examples

U in the continental crust includes two branches (Fig. 1), an endogenic

one, involving metamorphic, magmatic, and hydrothermal processes,
and an exogenic one, involving weathering and scavenging processes at
and near the interfaces of the geosphere to the hydrosphere and at-
mosphere. Endogenic processes redistribute U within the crust, even-
2.4 Ga (increase of
oxygen content in
Younger than c.

tually leading to overall depletion of the lower crust and transport of U

atmosphere)

from the lower crust to the upper crust, where erosion makes U avail-
Age rangeb

able for redistribution in the exogenic cycle. The exogenic cycle as used
here describes –after the increase of atmospheric oxygen – the mobili-
zation of U by oxidation, aqueous transport on the surface and within
sedimentary basins, and the fixation of U by reduction on mainly sul-
fides and organic matter, as well as phosphorites, and adsorbtion on
source, reducing conditions at

clay minerals and Ti-Fe-oxyhydroxides. Orogenic processes connect the

exogenic and endogenic branch of the U cycle, by burying sedimentary
Oxidizing conditions at

and magmatic rocks and eventually making U contained in these rocks

particular deposit types include the oxygen level of the atmosphere, the rise of land plants, and the preservation potential.
Basic requirements

available for redistribution by metamorphic, magmatic, and hydro-

thermal processes (e.g., Cuney, 2009, 2010; Cuney and Barbey, 2014;
Dahlkamp, 2016).
Endogenic redistribution of U within the continental crust results on
sink

the large scale, as demonstrated by the retarded 206Pb and 207Pb growth
in Archean granulites (e.g., Taylor et al., 1980), in the transfer of U
from the lower continental crust into the middle and upper continental
shallow marine sediments receive U

crust via metamorphic fluids and lower crustal melts. Partial melting of
Organic-rich fluvial, lacustrine, and

via surface runoff and groundwater

lower crust, driven by the emplacement of mantle-derived melts or

destabilization of hydrous minerals by the influx of CO2 (e.g., Cuney
and Barbey, 2014), results in the partitioning of U into the melt. De-
pending on protolith mineralogy, water availability, and melt volume,
partial melting in the crust may result in (i) U- and Th-rich leucocratic
melts that do not travel far in their high-grade metamorphic hosts rocks
Uranium trap

(e.g., anatectic pegmatoids as in Central Nambia at Rössing, as well as

Husab and many others in the Litsk district (Kola Peninsula), Wollaston
and Mudjatik domains (Saskatchewan), and the Bancroft (Ontario)

2
Because most U mineralization represents the superposition of a wide range
Alteration of near-surface

groundwater and surface

of different processes at different temperatures and in contrasting settings, most

conditions followed by
rocks under oxidizing
Uranium source and

classifications have limitations. There are two major types of deposit classifi-
transport of U via

cation, i.e., the IAEA (2018) classification is largely descriptive and bases on the
host-rocks of U mineralization independent whether these host-rocks are cri-
mobilization

tical for the location or formation of the deposits. This classification, first
published by the IAEA (OECD-NEA-IAEA, 1992), is largely based on the work of
runoff

Dahlkamp “Uranium Ore Deposits” (1993), including 16 principal types of U

deposits and occurrences distinguished according to host environment and/or
geometry and more than 40 subtypes and classes. In contrast, the classification
of Cuney (2012) is a genetic classification that focuses on the processes relevant
for deposit formation. Both classifications include a large number of subtypes
that broadly reflect that (i) a variety of processes may result in U mineralization
Black shale deposits
Table 1 (continued)

in a particular host-rock and (ii) the same process of U mineralization may

tectonic process.

operate in a wide range of different host rocks. For the purpose of this paper, it
is advantageous to combine different types of mineralization that are controlled
by similar processes and to highlight their relation to endogenic and exogenic
Typea

processes. If particular deposits are discussed, the classification and nomen-

b

clature of Cuney (2012) is used.

a

477
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
domain) or (ii) U-rich melts that are emplaced in the upper crust (e.g.,
Cuney and Kyser, 2015; Cuney, 2014; Cuney and Barbey, 2014).
Peralkaline granitic melts may have significant concentrations of U
(Peiffert et al., 1994, 1996), but commonly do not form economic U
mineralization as most U is hosted in zircon, U-Th-Zr-silicophosphates,
or niobates rather than in uraninite (Cuney and Kyser, 2009, 2015;
Cuney, 2014). Peraluminous granites and volcanic rocks, in contrast, do
not show extreme U contents (typically up to 20–35 ppm U, slightly
higher in F-rich systems; Peiffert et al., 1996) and, therefore, U does not
develop mineralization at the magmatic stage. Instead, these U anom-
alous granites and volcanic rocks may be excellent sources for other
types of U mineralization, largely depending on the chemistry of the
rocks that controls whether U forms a mineral of its own or is in-
corporated into silicates, niobates, or phosphates (e.g., Cuney, 2014;
Ballouard et al., 2018). The U-bearing minerals control whether U is
readily mobilized during later low-temperature or hydrothermal al-
teration. Hydrothermal leaching of granites and U-bearing sedimentary
rocks, as well as prograde metamorphic devolatization, may mobilize U
that subsequently may concentrate in hydrothermal vein-type miner-
alization or in exogenic mineralization.
Exogenic redistribution and formation of U mineralization involves
oxidation of U during mobilization, transport in solution, and pre-
cipitation by reduction, scavenging, or supersaturation of the solution
(e.g., Cuney and Kyser, 2009, 2015). Before the oxygenization of the
atmosphere, exogenic U mineralization involved the transport of det-
rital uraninite with its concentration in placers (pebble-quartz con-
glomerates; see Table 1). Major sources of U for the formation of exo-
genic U mineralization include (i) granites and felsic volcanic rocks that
have enhanced U contents and host U in readily leacheable form (e.g.,
uraninite, volcanic glass or metamic minerals such as allanite, U-
thorite, and zircon) (Förster et al., 2008; Cuney and Kyser, 2015;
Trumbull et al., 2010; Cuney, 2014; Bonnetti et al., 2017a,b), (ii) older
U mineralization that are exposed to the oxidation zone because of
tectonic uplift or hydrological and climatic changes (Schmitt and Thiry,
1987; Sejkora et al., 2007; Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012; Hiller and
Schuppan, 2008, 2016), and (iii) oxidation of lithologies that earlier
had scavenged dissolved U as for instance black shales (e.g., Fischer
et al., 2009; Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012). Transport of U may be
related to a wide range of different fluid types, including hot highly
saline oxidized diagenetic brines, very acidic for unconformity related
deposits and alkaline for tabular or tectonolithologic types of deposits
and collapse breccia pipes, as well as cold meteoric fluids for roll front
478
Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
Fig. 1. General geologic cycle for the formation of U
mineralization in the endogenic and exogenic en-
vironment (simplified from Cuney, 2014). There is
U mineralization related to mantle-derived mag-
matic rocks (not shown), in particular to peralkaline
rocks and alaskites. In most cases, the role of mag-
matic rocks, however, is to transport U from the
lower crust to the middle and upper crust and, thus,
to make U available for leaching and further redis-
tribution. In such a scenario, U-fertile granites re-
present the primary source lithology for U miner-
alization that occurs on structures defined by the
granites and obtains its metal content from leaching
of granites. Such structurally controlled granite-
bound U mineralization, however, may be distinctly
younger than the emplacement of the granites.
Furthermore, weathering and alteration of U-fertile
granites may mobilize U for exogenic U miner-
alization. Note, our distinction between endogenic
and exogenic U mineralization is not strictly bound
to a particular depth or fluid source, but broadly
reflects the relation of U mineralization to “hard
rocks” and “pre-diagenetic/diagenetic sediments
and sedimentary rocks” (Table 1).
and paleovalley types (Renac et al., 2002; Cuney and Kyser, 2009,
2015; Chi et al., 2017).
Uranium precipitates by a wide range of processes that operate in
different environments. For instance, surficial calcrete-hosted U mi-
neralization may form in arid environments, involving leaching of
source rocks followed by transport into a closed basin. Uranium may
precipitate, commonly along with V, in channel, flood plain, delta, or
playa facies by evaporation of the transporting fluid or by mixing with
another fluid (e.g., Butt et al., 1984; Dahlkamp, 1993). In terrestrial or
marginal marine environments, redox-controlled U precipitation in-
volving plant remains, sulfides, bacterial sulphate reduction, and mi-
grated hydrocarbons, as well as adsorption on Ti-Fe-oxyhydroxides and
clays, may form impregnations and replacements in fluvial, lacustrine,
and deltaic sandstones (e.g., Dahlkamp, 1993, 2016; Cai et al., 2007;
Jaireth et al., 2008; Skirrow et al., 2009: Penney, 2012; Ingham et al.,
2014; Bonnetti et al., 2015). Depending on the shape and the position
within the sedimentary unit, different types of sandstone-hosted U
mineralization are distinguished, e.g., basal, tabular, or roll-front type.
The distribution of mineralization is controlled by permeability and the
distribution of reduced and oxidized sections within the sandstones, but
also faults and breccia zones (e.g., Cuney and Kyser, 2015). Uranium
dissolved in the surface runoff and groundwater may be precipitated in
wetlands (peat or lignite) and lakes or it may reach the oceans, where a
significant portion of dissolved U will be precipitated in the coastal
environment in organic matter bearing sediments and phosphorites
(e.g., Church et al., 1996; Morford et al., 2005). Black shales that
formed coast-near or on the proximal shelf – in analogy with Mo in
black shales (Gilleaudeau and Kah, 2013) – may have higher U contents
than black shales that formed on the outer shelf or in open marine
basins (e.g., Schovsbo, 2002).
The endogenic and exogenic environments of U mobilization,
transport, and precipitation are connected by tectonic processes that
return U from the surface to the endogenic cycle or that make U
available for redistribution in the exogenic environment. (i) Subduction
makes U available for redistribution by metamorphic fluids and partial
melts. (ii) Tectonic uplift exposes surface rocks to erosion, which re-
moves altered surface rocks that are U-depleted as they have lost U
during alteration, and makes fresh rocks that have not lost their mo-
bilizable U available for alteration and leaching. Faults play a parti-
cularly important role as they control and localize uplift and act as
pathways for deep and meteoric fluids to mobilize and transport U.
Precipitation of U in basement faults may be related to the nature of the
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
wall rocks, i.e., organic-rich and/or sulfide-rich rocks (Kříbek et al.,
1999; Runge, 2001; Hiller and Schuppan, 2008; Cuney and Kyser,
2015), reaction of hydrothermal fluids with carbonate-bearing wall
rocks resulting in phase separation (saline aqueous fluid and CO2-rich
fluid) eventually resulting in ligand retraction at the carbonate-silicate
contact (e.g., Romer et al., 2005) or by secondary boiling (e.g.,
Romberger, 1984; Evert et al., 1997). Fluid mixing is a process of U
precipitation that is particularly important for unconformity-related U
mineralization (e.g., Derome et al., 2005; Richard et al., 2012). This
type of U mineralization typically is related to basement faults that cut
through highly permeable sedimentary rocks and may form in the
basement at some distance from the unconformity and in the sedi-
mentary rocks at the unconformity or within particular stratigraphic
levels. The origin of the U in this type of deposit is debated: U was
suggested to be derived from the basement or to have been introduced
by basinal brines (for discussion see Kyser et al., 2000; Kyser, 2007;
Cuney and Kyser, 2009; Alexandre et al., 2009). Element associations
and mineral assemblages of U mineralization are variable. For instance
in the Athabasca basin, there are simple and complex types of U mi-
neralization. Deposits of the simple type tend to be hosted in the
basement beneath the unconformity and the main ore element is U, as
for instance at McArthur River, Rabbit Lake, and Eagle Point. Deposits
of the complex type tend to occur in the basin sediments and include
apart from uraninite also sulfides and/or arsenides of Ni, Co, Cu, Pb, Zn,
and Mo, as for instance at Cigar Lake, Key Lake, Collins Bay, and
Midwest (e.g. Fayek and Kyser, 1997; Alexandre et al., 2005, 2009;
Polito et al., 2005, 2006; Richard et al., 2012). This contrasting geo-
chemical fingerprint may indicate that U and the sulfide/arsenide-
bound elements were transported by different fluids or that the sulfide/
arsenide-bound elements were already present in the sedimentary host-
rocks of the ore or were introduced after U was intrioduced.
3. The Variscan orogen
The closure of the Rheic Ocean, eventually leading to the assembly
of western Pangea, is closely related with the Acadian, Variscan, and
Alleghanian orogenies (Kroner and Romer, 2013; Kroner et al., 2016).
The closure of the Rheic Ocean between Gondwana and Laurussia
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
started at c. 400 Ma with the collision of the leading parts of the Ar-
morican Spur (Armorica and Teplá-Barrandian Unit) with Laurussia and
continued in Europe until c. 340 Ma, involving a series of intra-con-
tinental subduction zones. The collision at c. 400 Ma resulted in major
dextral stike-slip movement within the Acadian orogen and the opening
of the Paleotethys in future East-Pangea (Kroner et al., 2016). The final
closure of the Rheic Ocean involved displacement of Gondwana from
Laurussia along the Ancestral Gibraltar Fault, leading to the Allegha-
nian-Mauritanide orogeny, the development of the Central European
Extensional Province, and the opening of the Neo-Tethys (e.g., Kroner
et al., 2016).
The complex shape of the Rheic Suture within the Variscan orogen
reflects the distribution of blocks of thick continental crust and domains
of stretched continental crust within the Armorican Spur, which was an
integral part of Gondwana, and late escape movements of different
continental blocks, in particular Iberia (e.g., Romer and Kroner, 2018;
Stephan et al., 2018). The Armorican Spur formed during the opening
of the Rheic Ocean in the early Ordovician, when the northwestern part
of Gondwana, i.e., the former Cadomian magmatic arc, became ex-
tended and fragmented (Linnemann et al., 2000; Kroner and Romer,
2013). Areas of thick continental crust, which typically represent those
parts of the Cadomian magmatic arc that have been extensively in-
truded by 540–520 Ma granodiorites (Linnemann et al., 2008), were
uplifted and their sedimentary cover in part was removed as indicated
by the gap in the Cambrian sedimentary record (Linnemann et al.,
2004, 2010a). The erosional debris was deposited in the evolving basins
between these blocks of thick continental crust and may reach several
thousand meters thickness (e.g., Noblet and Lefort, 1990; Linnemann
et al., 2010b; Romer and Hahne, 2010). The various blocks of thick
continental crust later developed into the low-strain domains of the
Variscan orogen, as these blocks did not subduct. In contrast, the
thinned continental crust with its thick sedimentary cover was sub-
ducted during the Variscan orogeny – locally to mantle depth – during
continental collision, was exhumed after 340 Ma, and was emplaced
onto the margins of the thick blocks, where they now form high-strain
domains (Fig. 2; Kroner and Romer, 2010, 2013).
Paleozoic sedimentary rocks recording the opening and the closure
of the Rheic Ocean in Variscan Europe are most completely preserved in
Fig. 2. Simplified map of Central and Western Europe
showing the position of Variscan Massifs and major
sutures (modified from Stussi, 1989; for details see
Kroner et al., 2007, 2010, 2016; Kroner & Romer, 2010,
2013). The spatial extent of Early Paleozoic rocks (in-
cluding Silurian black shales) is shown schematically as
grey shading (Thickpenny and Leggett, 1987). The
grouping of mineralization is for practical porposes
only and does not represent a classification sensu
stricto, whereby hydrothermal-type includes vein and
episyenite U mineralization, sandstone-type as used
here includes roll-front type, basal type, and evapo-
transpiration U mineralization, and lignite-type in-
cludes black shale and peat related U mineralization.
Abbreviations: (bold font) AM = Armorican Massif;
BM = Bohemian Massif; C = Cornwall; FMC = French
Massif Central; IM = Iberian Massif; O-S = Odenwald-
Spessart; P = Pyrenees; RM = Rhenic Massif;
S = Schwarzwald; V = Vosges; (regular font)
CAD = Central Armorican Domain; CIZ = Central
Iberian Zone; NAD = North Armorican Domain;
RHZ = Rheno-Hercynian Zone; STZ = Saxo-Thur-
ingian Zone; SAD = South Armorican Domain;
TBU = Teplá-Barrandian Unit. Numbers refer to U mi-
neralization mentioned in the text, but not shown on
small-scale maps: (1) South Terras Mine; (2) Kruth; (3)
Menzenschwand; (4) Wittichen; (5) Müllenbach; (6)
Stockheim; (7) Coutras.
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

the Schwarzburg area of the Saxo-Thuringian zone (Fig. 2). As all

Variscan areas to the south of the Rheic Ocean formed at the northern
margin of Gondwana, i.e., were part of the same shelf, the sedimentary
record of the Schwarzburg area is representative for these areas, al-
though there are regional variations in thickness of the various sedi-
mentary units and facies changes are not strictly coeval (e.g., Noblet
and Lefort, 1990). After the regionally diachronous initiation of rifting
in peri-Gondwana, these chemically intensely altered sediments
(CIA > 95%; CIA = Chemical Index of Alteration; Nesbitt and Young,
1982) redistributed from the interior of the stable craton to its ex-
tending margins, where they form voluminous sedimentary packages.
The deposition age of these sediments ranges from the late Cambrian in
the Middle East, Arabia, the Sahara, and Nova Scotia to the early Or-
dovician in Saxo-Thuringia (e.g., Noblet and Lefort, 1990). In contrast,
the diamectites of the Hirnantian glaciation and the post-glacial early
Silurian black shales are broady correlative, although they have re-
gionally different thickness. Silurian black shales of the peri-Gondwana
shelf, furthermore, also show regionally contrasting contents of organic
material and generally have high U contents (up to 70 ppm), but also up
to 130 ppm Mo and up to 5000 ppm V (e.g., Dabard and Paris, 1986;
Maletz and Katzung, 2003; Fischer et al., 2009; Romer et al., 2014a).
The drastic increase in sedimentation rate and volume with the onset of
the Variscan orogeny is regionally diachronous on the Armorican Spur.
The chemically intensely altered, mostly Cambrian to Ordovician
sedimentary rocks are the most voluminous Paleozoic sedimentary unit
of the northern Gondwana shelf (e.g., Noblet and Lefort, 1990; Avigad
et al., 2005; Meinhold et al., 2013) and of the Variscan metamorphic
units. Thus, their geochemical signature (in particular high Rb/Sr and
anomalously high 87Sr/86Sr) is also present in the sedimentary debris of
Variscan orogen (e.g., Romer and Hahne, 2010).
The Variscan Plate Boundary Zone is complex because of the seg-
mented lower plate, i.e., the Armorican Spur sensu Kroner and Romer
(2013). The Armorican Spur is part of the Gondwana plate. During the
early stages of the Variscan orogeny, the collision of blocks of thick
continental continental of the Armorican Spur with Laurussia, results in
the initiation of new subduction zones behind the various blocks and
culminated during the final stages of continent-to-continent collision
between Gondwana and Laurussia in the subduction of thinned con-
tinental crust (Fig. 3). The Rheic Ocean closed in the area of the
Amorican Spur with the collision of Armorica with Laurussia at c.
400 Ma and shortly thereafter of the Teplá-Barrandian Unit with
Laurussia. These collisions resulted in establishing new, intra-con-
tinental subduction zones behind these two blocks and the formation of
extensional zones along the former suture, most prominently preserved
in the Carpathian, Sleza, Lizard, and Careón ophiolitic units (see Kroner
and Romer, 2013). The initiation of new subduction zones also changed
the position of the collided blocks that originally were in a lower plate
position and after the collision were in an upper plate position, i.e., that
before the collision were part of Gondwana and after the collision and
initiation of a new subduction zone were part of Laurussia. The con-
tinued convergence of Laurentia and Gondwana resulted in the accre-
tion of magmatic arcs, as recorded by local c. 360 Ma blueschist facies
metamorphism (e.g., South Armorican Domain; Ballèvre et al. 2009)
and major strike slip movements.
The final continental collision between Gondwana and Laurussia
resulted in intra-continental subduction. Thinned continental crust and
its cover of sedimentary rocks were subducted, reaching high pressure
(HP) to ultra-high pressure (UHP) or high temperature (HT) to ultra-
high temperature (UHT) metamorphic conditions around 340 Ma (e.g.,
Schaltegger et al., 1996; O'Brien and Rötzler, 2003; Puelles et al., 2005;
Gébelin et al., 2009), and thereaftere were rapidly exhumed to the
middle crust. Remains of these rocks form the high-strain domains of (caption on next page)
the Variscan belt. The continental collision eventually resulted in a
reorganization of plate movements and a relocation of the Euler pole
that describes the relative movement of Gondwana and Laurussia
(Kroner et al., 2016). The final closure of the Rheic Ocean during the

480
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
Fig. 3. Schematic reconstruction of the convergence between Laurussia and
Gondwana eventually leading to the assembly of Pangea (Kroner and Romer,
2013; Romer and Kroner, 2018). After the initial collision at 400 Ma, in-
tracontinental subduction of thinned continental crust in the Armorican spur
led to continued closure of the Rheic Ocean in the west and opening of the
Paleotethys in the east, with separation of continental blocks from the southern
continent. After initial collision, plate movement between mainland Gondwana
and Laurussia is described by the Paleotethys Pole (PT in panels A and B). After
the end of intracontinental subduction within the Armorican Spur, continued
plate-convergence resulted in reorganization of plate movement (described by
Euler Pole NT in panel C; Kroner et al., 2016) that led to in widespread ex-
tension within the Variscan area of Central and Western Europe (Central Eur-
opean Extensional Province, CEEP) and final closure of the Rheic Ocean along
the Mauritanite-Appalachian belt. Mainland Gondwana is separated from the
Armorican Spur by the Ancient Gibraltar Fault (AGF) and the South Atlas Fault.
NVDF and SVDF correspond to the northern and southern Variscan deformation
fronts, respectively. (A) Distribution of Silurian hot black shales on Gondwana
according to Le Heron et al. (2009). Silurian hot shales on the Armorian Spur
are shown schematically. Note, although there are Silurian black shales on
Avalonia, Laurentia, and the East European Craton, which became assembled to
Laurussia before the onset of the Variscan orogeny, these shales are not hot.
Their distribution is shown schematically, largely based on Thickpenny and
Leggett (1987). (B) Spatial distribution of post-kinematic Variscan granites
based on compilations of Stussi (1989) and Kroner and Romer (2013). Note, the
Cornish granites are not shown as they are related to the development of the
Central European Extensional Province. (C) Spatial distribution of post-Variscan
U mineralization.
Alleghanian orogeny, forming the Appalachians and the Mauritanides
and later the Ouachita, Marathon, and Sonora belts, was coeval with
extension in Central and Western Europe and the opening of the Neo-
Tethys farther to the east (see Kroner and Romer, 2013; Kroner et al.,
2016).
Closure of the Rheic Ocean during the Variscan orogeny is not
strictly coeval as the different low-strain blocks did not collide at the
same time. Post-collision Variscan magmatism falls into three groups,
i.e., (i) magmatism related to the emplacement of the high-strain do-
mains into the middle crust, (ii) magmatism related to crustal melting
in orogenically thickened high-strain domains, and (iii) magmatism
related to the development of the Central European Extensional
Romer (2013) and Kroner et al. (2016). Location of deposits mentioned in the text (but not shown on smaller-scale maps): TB = Timahdit Basin; OAB = Oulad
Abdoun Basin; JW = Jebbel Wafagga; MB = Millet Brook.
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
Province. These three groups fall into similar respective age ranges
along the entire orogen, as they are controlled by the same processes,
but have in different tectonic zones contrasting importance (Fig. 3). (i)
The tectonic emplacement of high-strain and high-grade metamorphic
units occurred along deep-reaching structures that also acted as path-
ways for mantle-derived melts, which sampled the metasomatized
mantle. Examples for such rocks include c. 340 Ma durbachites (e.g.,
Janoušek and Holub, 2007) and the 340–330 Ma high-K Meissen Pluton
(e.g., Wenzel et al., 1997) in the Bohemian Massif, numerous c. 350 Ma
high-K calc-alkaline granites in the Western Massif Central, and c.
340–335 Ma high-K calc-alkaline granites and vaugnerites in the
Eastern Massif Central and Vosges (Cuney et al., 2001; Laurent et al.,
2017). In addition, there are c. 350 Ma peraluminous cordierite-biotite
granites (Guéret type) in the Eastern Massif Central (Laurent et al.,
2017). Exhumation of dry UHT units, such as the Saxon Granulites, may
have induced dehydration melting of mica-bearing wall rocks (e.g.,
Förster and Romer, 2010), facilitating the emplacement of the UHT
rocks in the middle crust. (ii) Heating of the crust after emplacement of
the high-stain units largely was accomplished by advective heat trans-
port into the orogenically thickened crust rather than by internal
heating. Advective heat transport include the emplacement of UHT
units in the middle crust and the extension of the thickened crust,
eventually resulting in the upwelling and partial melting of the litho-
spheric mantle, as for instance for the late-orogenic granites of the
Bohemian Massif and the high-K–high-Mg granites of the French Massif
Central (e.g., Ledru et al., 2001; Romer and Kroner, 2015; Moyen et al.,
2017). Similar granites are also widespread in the Iberian Massif Cen-
tral (e.g., Montero et al., 2004; Castiñeiras et al., 2008; Teixeira et al.,
2012). By volume, the most important Variscan granitic magmatism
falls in the age range 327–315 Ma and includes a wide range of per-
aluminous granites (e.g., Cuney et al., 1990; Förster et al., 1999; Castro
et al., 1999; Couzinié et al., 2014; Moyen et al., 2017). Among these
granites, leucocratic two-mica granites represent the most important
source for later U mineralization, largely due to the fact that magmatic
uraninite is the major U host in these rocks (e.g., Förster, 1999; Cuney,
2014; Ballouard et al., 2017). (iii) The final closure of the Rheic Ocean
resulted in large-scale extension within the Variscan belt of Europe with
major rift basins and related mantle-derived magmatism (Oslo Rift,
North German Basin, northern part of the Armorican Massif, Western
Fig. 4. Reconstruction of Gondwana at 250 Ma
(inset) highlighting the spatial distribution of U
mineralization and early Silurian hot shales (black
shales with elevated U contents) in the Variscan and
Appalachian orogenic belts. To avoid crowding, the
distribution of U mineralization is shown schemati-
cally independent of the actual size of the various
deposits. Although this over-emphasizes areas with
only economically insignificant U mineralization, it
highlights the regional pattern of U mineralization.
Early Silurian black shales in low-strain domains are
typically covered by younger sedimentary rocks and
crop out only at basin margins. The shown gen-
eralized distribution of Early Silurian (hot) black
shales (inset) largely bases on data from oil and gas
exploration. Distribution of U mineralization ac-
cording to Dahlkamp (2016) and references quoted
in the text. Distribution of Early Silurian black shales
in northern Africa and Arabia according to Lüning
et al. (2000a,b), Verniers et al. (2008), Al-Juboury
and Al-Hadidy (2009), Le Heron et al. (2009), and
Saberi et al. (2016). Extent of the Hirnantian ice
sheet according to Le Heron et al. (2009). Distribu-
tion of Hirnantian tillites and dropstones is taken
from the compilation of Stephan et al. (in press).
Tectonic reconstruction according to Kroner and
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
Approaches Trough; e.g., Ziegler, 1987; Neumann et al., 2004;
Timmerman, 2004; Ballouard et al., 2017). Within the orogen and its
foreland, numerous fault-bound basins developed with voluminous
deposits of the rapidly eroding Variscan belt and predominantly felsic
volcanic rocks (e.g., Schneider et al., 2006; Breitkreuz and Kennedy,
1999), but also minor intrusions and hydrothermal fluid circulation
that locally resulted in mineralization and the formation of episyenites
(e.g., Leroy and Turpin, 1988; Romer et al., 2010; Neiva et al., 2011;
López-Moro et al., 2013).
The continued closure of the Rheic Ocean had a major effect on the
Permian climate, enhancing and enforcing the expansion of arid/semi-
arid environments due to the drift of northern Pangea in the arid cli-
matic belt, interrupted by five wetter periods that correspond to periods
with an extended icecap in southern Gondwana (Roscher and
Schneider, 2006; Schneider et al., 2006). The same structures that were
active during the closure of the Rheic Ocean were repeatedly re-
activated during the opening of the Tethys and Atlantic oceans, as in-
dicated by their role in controlling the age and distribution of sedi-
mentary basins. The age of basin formation and inversion and the age of
structurally controlled mineralization correspond to events of changes
in the oceanic spreading pattern (Vogt and Tucholke, 1989) and, thus,
to periods of changing stress fields on the continent and the reactivation
of old zones of structural weakness (e.g., Romer et al., 2010).
4. Distribution of uranium occurrences in Central and Western
Europe
Pre-Variscan U mineralization is uncommon in Central and Western
Europe, whereas U-rich lithologies are widespread. The Ronneburg area
is the exception. It hosts the most important U deposits in Central and
Western Europe. These deposits are closely related to Silurian and
Devonian black shales and the underlying glaciomarine sedimentary
rocks of the Lederschiefer Formation that have been tectonically
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
stacked during the Variscan orogeny. Fig. 4 (inset) shows the dis-
tribution of Silurian black shales on Gondwana. Note, black shales with
particularly high U contents are also called hot shales. The early Si-
lurian black shales on northern Gondwana have higher U contents than
middle Silurian and younger black shales (e.g. Lüning et al., 2000a,b;
Seidel, 2003).
During the Variscan orogeny, sedimentary rocks from the former
Gondwana orogen were intensely reworked, in part preserved in vari-
ably metamorphosed rocks of the high-strain domains, in part recycled
by crustal melting, transferring their U-content to U-rich granites.
Although many of these granites contain U minerals, in particular ur-
aninite, monazite, xenotime, allanite, and brabantite (Cuney and
Friedrich, 1987; Friedrich et al., 1987; Förster, 1998a,b, 1999, 2010;
Förster et al., 2008; Ballouard et al., 2018), they do not show magmatic
or late-magmatic hydrothermal U mineralization, except for minor U
enrichment in late-magmatic shear zones (Friedrich et al., 1987). In-
stead, some of these granites show spatially closely related vein-type U
mineralization that is typically 40–50 Ma younger (e.g., Scaillet et al.,
1996; Förster, 1996; Romer et al., 2010; Ballouard et al., 2018).
Post-Variscan U mineralization formed mainly around 280 Ma in
two different settings, vein and episyenite mineralization in meta-
morphic rocks close to late-Variscan granites (e.g., the Gera-Aue-
Jáchymov Zone, the South Armorican Shear Zone; Hiller and Schuppan,
2008; Ballouard et al., 2018) and sandstone-type mineralization in
Permian sedimentary basins (e.g., Barthel, 1974; Dill, 1987; Mathis
et al., 1990; Pagel, 1990). The timing and location of individual U oc-
currences in Central and Western Europe is controlled by large-scale
crustal extension that is coeval with the final stages of the closure of the
Rheic Ocean along the Alleghanian-Mauritanide belt. Later reactiva-
tions of these extensional zones as well as intense weathering resulted
in younger redistribution of U, which may have resulted in the de-
struction or enrichment of older U mineralization and in rare cases even
in the formation of new U mineralization such as the U deposits hosted
Fig. 5. Simplified tectonic map of the Bohemian
Massif showing the distribution of major tectonic
elements and the distribution of U mineralization
grouped according to type. Arrows indicate direc-
tion of U-transport during the formation of the
Cretaceous sandstone-hosted U deposits as sug-
gested by the original workers (Tonndorf, 2000;
Surán and Veselý, 2001). Sedimentary Basins men-
tioned in the text: C = Cheb Basin; D = Döhlen
Basin; EB = Erzgebirge Basin; S = Sokolov Basin.
Granitic and volcanic complexes mentioned in the
text: M = Meissen; T = Tharandt. Numbers refer to
U mineralization mentioned in the text: (1) Döhlen;
(2) Hamr; (3) Horní-Slavkov; (4) Jáchymov; (5)
Königstein; (6) Markersbach; (7) Olší; (8) Okrouhlá
Radouň; (9) Osečná; (10) Příbram; (11) Rožná; (12)
Stráž; (13) Zadní-Chodov. Note, mineralization of
the northern part of the Bohemian Massif, i.e., the
Erzgebirge and the Ronneburg ore district are shown
in a more detailed map (Fig. 6). Map based on Žák
et al. (2014), spatial distribution of U mineralization
according to Surán and Veselý (2001) and Dahlkamp
(2016).
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
in the Tertiary sandstones of Coutras, France (Meunier et al., 1992).
Fig. 3 shows the distribution of pre- and post-Variscan U mineralization,
Silurian shales, and Variscan post-kinematic granites to highlight the
spatial relation between different U-rich lithologies and U mineraliza-
tion.
4.1. Uranium mineralization in the Teplá-Barrandian Unit and the
Moldanubian Zone
The Teplá-Barrandian Unit is a low-strain domain of the Variscan
orogen that collided around 380 Ma with Laurussia, forming the
Sudetes. It is on top of the high-strain domains of the Saxo-Thuringian
and the Moldanubian zones (Fig. 5) that have reached their meta-
morphic peak conditions around c. 340 Ma (e.g., O'Brien and Rötzler,
2003). Note, the Teplá-Barrandian Unit was not affected by this 340 Ma
event. At its southeastern margin, the Teplá-Barrandian Unit was in-
truded by 354–346 Ma calc-alkaline rocks of the Central Bohemian
Plutonic Complex (Janoušek et al., 2000, 2004b). The low-grade me-
tamorphic rocks of the Teplá-Barrandian Unit and the Saxo-Thuringian
and Moldanubian zones are covered by Permian volcanosedimentary
and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. There are two major types of U
mineralization, post-Variscan vein-type mineralization and Cretaceous
and Tertiary stratiform lignite-, coal-, and sandstone-hosted miner-
alization (Surán and Veselý, 2001).
4.1.1. U Mineralization in the Teplá-Barrandian Unit
In the Teplá-Barrandian Unit, U mineralization is restricted to Upper
Proterozoic and Lower Cambrian sedimentary rocks, concentrated in
two zones, a belt along the intrusive contact of the Central Bohemian
Plutonic Belt and the Příbram area (Kříbek et al., 1999). Locally, mi-
neralization is at the contact of diabase dikes and their sedimentary
wall rocks (Škácha et al., 2009). There are three sets of steeply dipping
veins, one parallel to the NE-striking host-rock foliation, the other two
northwest- and north-striking sets cutting the foliation (Kříbek et al.,
1999). The structurally controlled mineralization is irregularly dis-
tributed and typically forms clusters of veins. There seems to be a
systematic change in mineral association within individual veins from
an early polymetallic sulfide assemblage (Pb, Zn, Cu) to younger ur-
aninite-calcite and sulfide/selenide -calcite assemblages (Zn, Pb, As, Cu,
Co, and Ag). Polymetallic sulfide mineralization was formed by
medium- to high-salinity fluids, whereas U mineralization was formed
by low-salinity, low-temperature (80–140 °C) fluids of possible me-
teoric origin (Kříbek et al., 1999). Most veins with U mineralization
occur in the upper Proterozoic sedimentary units, whereas U-beaing
veins in the upper Proterozoic volcanosedimentary and the lower
Cambrian sedimentary units are subordinate and corresponding veins
in the granitic intrusions of the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex are
negligible (Kříbek et al., 1999). Even thought the U veins occur pre-
dominantly in the exocontact of the Central Bohemian Plutonic Com-
plex, the U veins – in contrast to the c. 340 Ma quartz-Au veins – are not
related to the emplacement of the igneous rocks (Škácha et al., 2009),
as indicated by the uraninite U-Pb ages of 270–280 Ma (Kříbek et al.,
1999; Škácha et al., 2009). There seems to have been multiple later
events of U mobilization and redistribution as demonstrated by U-Pb
ages in the range of 150–190 Ma (Škácha et al., 2009). Uranium mi-
neralization in the Teplá-Barrandian Unit is particular because of its
high content of bitumen that formed in the upper Proterozoic sedi-
mentary rocks by pyrolysis during the emplacement of the Central
Bohemian Plutonic Complex. The pyrolysis products seem to have mi-
grated away from the intrusive rocks and cumulated in structural traps
(Kříbek et al., 1999). Uranium mineralization is closely associated with
the introduction of bitumen into the mineralization (Kříbek et al.,
1999).
4.1.2. U mineralization in the Moldanubian Zone
The Moldanubian Zone is dominated by Variscan high-grade
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metamorphic rocks and migmatites that have been intruded by
320–345 Ma granitoids (e.g., Janoušek et al., 2004a). The high-grade
rocks of the Moldanubian Zone represent mainly metamorphosed vol-
canosedimentary rocks of the former post-Cadomian Gondwana shelf
and show great similarity with the rocks of the Saxo-Thuringian Zone,
both with respect to protoliths (e.g., the early Ordovician high Rb/Sr
and high K/Na rocks of the Frauenbach Group of the Saxo-Thuringian
Zone and the Gföhl Unit of the Moldanubian Zone; Janoušek et al.,
2004a; Romer and Hahne, 2010), peak metamorphic conditions
(O'Brien and Rötzler, 2003), as well as age of metamorphism and
magmatism (see compilation in Kroner and Romer, 2013). Uranium
mineralization in the Moldanubian Zone is bound to shear zones in the
variably metamorphosed Variscan basement. The shear zones have
been repeatedly reactivated under brittle conditions and show altera-
tion that varies in extent, íntensity, and type. The U mineralization at
Rožná and Olší is hosted in the high-grade metamorphic rocks of the
Gföhl Unit close to the tectonic boundary to the Svratka Crystalline
Unit. This boundary became repeatedly reactivated during the Late
Stephanian to Permian reorganization of the stress field, resulting in
pre-U c. 308–304 Ma quartz-sulfide and carbonate-sulfide mineraliza-
tion, c. 275–265 Ma U mineralization with uraninite, brannerite, cof-
finite, and U-Zr-silicates, and c. 230 Ma post-U quartz-carbonate-sulfide
mineralization (Kříbek et al., 2009). The associated U-stage alteration
includes a variably important hematitization and albitization envelope
(Kříbek et al., 2009). The shear-zone hosted Okrouhlá Radouň U mi-
neralization occurs near the contact between Variscan granites and
high-grade metasedimentary rocks (Dolníček et al., 2014). The miner-
alization has a polystage development with broad, external zones of
pre-ore phyllitic alteration (chloritization, sericitization, and argilliti-
zation) and narrow, internal zones of episyenite formation, an ore
stage, and post-ore quartz and carbonate veins (Dolníček et al., 2014).
Main ore mineral is uraninite that is variably altered to coffinite, Y-REE-
rich coffinite, and secondary U-Ti-Si-Zr minerals (René, 2008; Dolníček
et al., 2014). Uraninite from the ore stage has been dated at
280–270 Ma, whereas post-ore U redistributions in quartz-vein may
have occurred around 180–160 Ma (Anderson in Dolníček et al., 2014).
Early Permian shear zones host U mineralization in the western part of
the Moldanubian Zone (e.g., Zadní-Chodov) contain uraninite with
variable amounts of sulfides and selenides that have been repeatedly
remobilized and redistributed within the mineralization (Dill, 1986;
René, 2008). Common features of the different styles of U mineraliza-
tion in the Moldanubian Zone include (i) a deeply eroded basement
covered by Permian continental sedimentary and volcanosedimentary
rocks, (ii) multiple Permian and younger reactivation of the faults, (iii)
pre-ore migration of oxidized, alkaline basinal low-temperature fluids
that resulted in the chloritization of mafic minerals, albitization of
feldspar, and dissolution of quartz (Kříbek et al., 2009; Dolníček et al.,
2014), and (iv) post-ore redistribution of U within the mineralization.
4.1.3. U mineralization in the post-Permian sedimentary rocks of the
Bohemian Massif
Uranium mineralization in the Cretaceous sandstones, overlying
parts of the Teplá-Barrandian Unit and the Moldanubian Zone, occurs
mainly in Cenomanian units that have been deposited on the crystalline
basement and that are overlain by impermeable Turonian sedimentary
rocks. Mineralization occurs at Hamr and Osečná, as well as at Stráž, in
the NE part of the Cretaceous basin and has been exploited by mining
and in-situ leaching, respectively (Norman, 1993; Ekert and Mužák,
2010). This sandstone-hosted mineralization seems to be comparable to
U mineralization at Königstein, which is bound to basal units of Cen-
omanian sandstones that have been deposited on the crystalline base-
ment. At Königstein, U distribution is controlled by organic-rich sand-
stones and shales with U derived from the leaching of the U-fertile
Markersbach granite in the eastern Erzgebirge (Tonndorf, 2000). For
the sandstone-hosted U mineralization of Hamr, Osečná, and Stráž,
however, U may be derived from leaching of U-fertile granites of the
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

Sudetes. age of primary mineralization has been debated for some time, largely
Numerous small stratiform U accumulations are also known from due to the small grain size of the dated material and related open
Tertiary lignite-coal-sandstone formations in the Eger graben, in par- system behavior, a Triassic age with a Jurassic thermal overprint in
ticular in the Sokolov and Cheb basins (Dahlkamp, 2016). The source of preferred now (Brockamp et al., 1987; Holliger et al., 1989).
U for this mineralization could be fertile granites and older miner-
alization within the present Erzgebirge that became uplifted during the
4.2. Uranium mineralization in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone
development of the Eger rift.
The westward continuation of the Bohemian Massif is hidden be-
The Saxo-Thuringian Zone is the Variscan segment with by far the
neath Permian and younger sedimentary rocks. Exposures of Variscan
most prominent and most variable U mineralization, including the U
basement in the Vosges and the Schwarzwald-Odenwald-Spessart,
districts of Jáchymov, Schlema-Alberoda, and Ronneburg that are
however, contain magmatic and metamorphic units that are thought to
aligned along the Gera-Jáchymov Zone (Fig. 6). Among the pre-Var-
be correlative with the Mid-German-Crystalline Zone, the Saxo-
iscan rocks of the Saxo-Thuringian Zone, sedimentary rocks of the
Thuringian Zone, and the Moldanubian Zone (Altherr et al., 2000;
glaciomarine Lederschiefer and the Unterer Graptolithenschiefer (black
Kober et al., 2004). Uranium mineralization is subordinate and forms
shales) formations have the highest U content (Fig. 7). During the
two different types, post-Variscan vein mineralization and Permian
Variscan orogeny, these rocks became contrastingly overprinted, de-
sandstone-hosted mineralization. At Menzenschwand and Wittichen
pending on whether they were part of the low-strain (Authochtonous
(Schwarzwald) and Kruth (Vosges), 310–280 Ma vein-type U miner-
Domain of Kroner et al. 2010) or the high-strain (Allochthonous Do-
alization in the Variscan basement (Hofmann and Eikenberg, 1991;
main) domains or the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone, along which the rocks
Meshik et al., 2000) is more than 40 Ma younger than Variscan granitic
of the low-strain and the high-strain domains were tectonically juxta-
magmatism (e.g., Hofmann and Eikenberg, 1991). There is textural
posed against each other during the post-340 Ma emplacement of the
evidence for multiple later remobilization (Staude et al., 2007), which
metamorphic rocks of the high-strain domain.
is in line with isotopic ages for these later events of 165–150 Ma,
In the low-strain domain, the original stratigraphic relations es-
80–90 Ma, and 65–50 Ma (Hofmann, 1989; Hofmann and Eikenberg,
tablished on the former Gondwana shelf are largely preserved. The
1991; Wernicke and Lippolt, 1997; Pfaff et al., 2009). Sediment-hosted
Silurian sedimentary rocks are deposited concordantly on glaciomarine
U mineralization has been described from Müllenbach (Schwarzwald)
diamectites (Lederschiefer) of the Hirnantian glaciation (Fig. 7). The
with mainly stratabound mineralization in fine-grained clastic units
Silurian rocks represent a very condensed sedimentary section of
rich in organic matter, but also as roll-type mineralization in coarse-
60–90 m thickness, whereof the lowermost 30–40 m are dominated by
grained carbonaceous arkosic units (Holliger et al., 1989). Although the
the organic-rich sedimentary rocks of the Unterer Graptolithenschiefer

Fig. 6. Simplified map of the Saxo-Thuringian Zone (inset) showing the spatial distribution of the three major, structurally defined tectonic, i.e., the Authochronous
Domain, the Allochthonous Domain, and the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone along which the Authochronous and Allochthonous domains are juxtaposed (Kroner et al.,
2010). Uranium mineralization is hosted in the Allochthonous Domain and the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone. The primary sources of U are the Silurian shales that host
the Ronneburg district (Wrench-and-Thrust Zone) and the post-kinematic Variscan granites of the Erzgebirge-Vogtland (that may have recycled Silurian rocks
included in the stacked metamorphic units of the Allochronous Domain). Most U mineralization within the Allochronous Domain formed at c. 280 Ma during the
development of the Central European Extensional Province, is structurally controlled, and obtained its U from leaching of U-fertile granites and possibly Silurian
black shales/slates. Most U mineralization shows evidence for multiple metal redistribution during later tectonic processes, which may have added Co, Ni, Bi, As, and
Ag, and during tectonically and climatically controlled controlled oxidation of near-surface parts of individual deposits. Major tectonic elements: BA = Berga
Antiform; EB = Erzgebirge Basin; FL = Franconian Line; Müma = Münchberg Massif; MS = Mehltheuer Synform; SGM = Saxon Granulite Massif; ZTS = Ziegen-
rück-Teuschnitz Syncline. Granites between the Gera-Jáchymov (GJZ) and Zeulenroda-Zobes/Bergen-Mariánské Láznĕ (ZZBMLZ) zones: A = Aue granite;
B = Burkersdorf granite; BB = Bernbach/Beierfeld granite; Ber = Bergen granite; Eib = Eibenstock-Nejdek pluton; Kir = Kirchberg granite; S = Schwarzenberg
granite. Numbers refer to U mineralization mentioned in the text: (1) Aue-Niederschlema; (2) Beerwalde; (3) Bergen; (4) Culmitsch; (5) Gauern; (6) Gottesberg-
Grummelstock; (7) Horní-Slavkov (8) Jáchymov; (9) Korbußen; (10) Lichtenberg; (11) Pöhla/Tellerhäuser; (12) Reust; (13) Ronneburg area; (14) Schirmichau; (15)
Schelma-Alberoda; (16) Schneckenstein; (17) Schneeberg; (18) Schwarzenberg/Johanngeorgenstadt; (19) Sorge; (20) Stolzenberg; (21) Zobes. Cities shown for
orientation: C = Chemitz; G = Gera; J = Jáchymov; ML = Mariánské Láznĕ. Map modified from Hiller and Schuppan (2016) complemented with information from
Förster, 1999; Hahn et al. (2010), and Kroner and Romer (2010). Spatial distribution of U mineralization according to Wismut SDAG (e.g., Runge, 2001), Hiller and
Schuppan (2008, 2016) and Dahlkamp (2016).

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R.L. Romer, M. Cuney Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

Fig. 7. The 250 Ma record of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the Schwarzburg section (Thuringia, Fig. 6) reflects changes in the drainage area and the depositional
environment, most prominently, the opening of the Rheic Ocean in the Cambrian to Early Ordovician and the closure of the Rheic Ocean during the Variscan
Orogeny. The most distinctive chemical fingreprints include the temporal variation of Na2O/K2O (black line; averages) and Rb/Sr (symbols), but also the peaks in U,
V, and Sb. Note, high Na2O/K2O and Rb/Sr are chemical fingerprints of intense chemical alteration on the stable continent. The large volume of 500–490 Ma old
sedimentary rocks (up to 3000 m thick) carrying this chemical signature reflects the redistribution of these sediments from the continent to evolving basins during
peri-Gondwana rifting and incipient opening of the Rheic ocean. Note, this signature reappears in the voluminous sediments (after c. 380 and c. 340 Ma) related to
the erosion of Variscan metamorphic rocks exhumed during the various accretion and collision stages (Romer and Hahne, 2010). Note, the Hirnantian glaciation
(dark grey band at c. 445 Ma) largely removes chemically intensely altered material and brings fresh material to the surface. The melting of the Hirnantian ice sheet
leads to anoxic conditions in the ocean and makes these fresh surfaces available for leaching. Anomalous high U, V, and Sb contents in the lowermost unit of Silurian
black shales reflect the entrapment of material leached from the fresh surface rocks. Enhanced contents of U and Sb in younger sedimentary rocks are not correlated
and possibly do not correspond to an original signature of the deposition environment, but reflect redistribution during later events (see text). Light grey bands: (1)
Extension of the peri-Gondwana margin eventually resulting in the opening of the Rheic ocean. (2) First collision of the leading parts of the Armorican Spur
(Armorican Massif and Teplá-Barrandian Unit) with Laurussia. (3) Final collision between Gondwana and Laurussia with subduction of continental crust in the area
of the former Armorican Spur, leading to Variscan UHP and UHT metamorphism. Chemical data from Romer and Hahne (2010) and Romer et al. (2014a). (See above-
mentioned references for further information.)

Formation with thin radiolarite beds and local phosphorite concretions.
These black shales are overlain by the 15–50 m thick Ockerkalk For-
mation, which mainly includes limestones with intercalations of marl
and clay, and the 15–20 m thick Oberer Graptolithenschiefer Formation
that reaches into the Lower Devonian (Schauer, 1971; Seidel, 2003;
Verniers et al., 2008; Linnemann et al., 2010a,b). The two organic-rich
units have enhanced U contents. It is noteworthy that the Unterer
Graptolithenschiefer Formation has markedly higher U contents (up to
70 ppm) than the Oberer Graptolithenschiefer Formation (up to
20 ppm; Romer and Hahne, 2010).
In the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone (Fig. 6), the Palaeozoic sedimentary
rocks are folded and stacked during the late stages of the emplacement
of the Variscan nappes of the high-strain domain (e.g., Maletz and
Katzung, 2003; Heuse et al., 2006; Hahn et al., 2010). Folding and
thrusting of the erosional debris (conglomerates, sandstones, and tur-
bidites) of the evolving Variscan orogen demonstrates that deformation
in the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone was poly-stage, started around 340 Ma
ago and may have lasted at least to 330 Ma (cf. Hahn et al., 2010).
Uranium mineralization in Silurian and Devonian black shales occur
only in the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone (Fig. 6), in particular in areas
where these sedimentary rocks have been stacked during the late stages
of the Variscan Orogeny (Schauer, 1971; Hahn et al., 2010) and/or
have been cut by late- and post-Variscan faults. The most important U
mineralization occurs in the Ronneburg area (Fig. 6) and has been
mined in open pits (Lichtenberg, Stolzenberg, Ronneburg) and in un-
derground operations (Schirmichau, Lichtenberg, Reust, Beerwalde,
Korbußen). The largest and economically most important deposit
(Lichtenberg) had been mined in a 2000 m by 850 m large, 230 m deep
open pit (Runge, 2001). Mineralization is restricted to the Unterer
Graptolithenschiefer Formation and bordering lithologies (in particular
the underlying glaciomarine Lederschiefer Formation) below the base
of oxidation zones (Runge, 2001). The distribution of U is irregular due
to redistributions during the Variscan orogeny and multiple tectonic
reactivation of the Gera-Jáchymov Zone, as well as post-Variscan oxi-
dation of the upper parts of the mineralization (Bolonin and Gradovsky,
2012).
The high-strain rocks of the Allochthonous Domain have been me-
tamorphosed during the Variscan orogeny. With the exception of the
gneiss domes, the various metamorphic nappes (Phyllite, Garnet-
Phyllite, and Mica schist – Eclogite units) are dominated by Ordovician
sedimentary rocks of the former Gondwana shelf. The lower-grade
metamorphic units, which are mainly exposed in the western part of the
Erzgebirge and Vogtland, also include Silurian lithologies (cf. Mingram,
1998; Rötzler and Plessen, 2010). Erosion of the metamorphic rocks of
the high-strain domain and deposition of the erosional debris without
erosional gap in the Autochthonous Domain and the future Wrench-

485
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
and-Thrust Zone results in a repetition of the geochemical signatures of
the sedimentary rocks of the Frauenbach Group (i.e., high Rb/Sr, high
87
Sr/86Sr; Romer and Hahne, 2010). Once the Variscan granites of the
Erzgebirge became exposed, U also became available for redistribution
(Fig. 7). Most U deposits in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone occur in the high-
strain rocks of the Allochthonous Domain. All U mineralization in the
Allochthonous Domain post-dates Variscan metamorphism and nappe
emplacement.
The 327–318 Ma granites of the Erzgebirge-Fichtelgebirge formed
after the metamorphic nappes were emplaced and are derived from
melting of the orogenically thickened crust (e.g., Förster et al., 1999;
Förster and Romer, 2010). Depending on the nature of the protoliths,
the granites form several chemically and mineralogically contrasting
suites (low-F biotite granite; low-F two-mica granite; medium-F, low-
P2O5, A-I-type biotite granite; high-F, low-P2O5, A-type Li-mica granite;
high-F, high-P2O5, S-type Li-mica granite). Most prominent among
them are the Sn-specialized granites of the Eastern and Western Erz-
gebirge (e.g., Förster et al., 1999; Förster and Romer, 2010). Some of
these 327–318 Ma granites have high U contents (up to 50 ppm U) that
is mostly hosted in uraninite, thorite, and to a lesser extent in monazite,
xenotime, apatite, and zircon (e.g., Förster, 2010). Therefore, in some
of these granites U is readily available for mobilization and con-
centration to form U deposits (e.g., Förster and Förster, 2000; Förster
et al., 2008, 2009). Thus, these granites represent a major U source for
younger vein-type (e.g., Schlema-Alberoda, Schneeberg), sandstone-
hosted (e.g., Königstein), and coal-hosted (e.g., Döhlen) U mineraliza-
tion (e.g., Tonndorf, 2000; Reichel and Schauer, 2006; Förster, 2010).
Exhumation of the high-strain domains and the granites emplaced
into them, as well as the folding and thrusting of the rocks in the
Wrench-and-Thurst Zone, provide erosional debris for redistribution
into Late Carboniferous to Permian basins, as for instance the
Erzgebirge, NW Saxon, and Döhlen basins (Roscher and Schneider,
2006; Schneider et al., 2006). Uranium in the Silurian black shales and
their metamorphic equivalents, as well as U in readily altered minerals
in the Variscan granites, became available for redistribution by oxidized
fluids. Some of this leached U is entrapped in reduced units of these
Late Carboniferous to Permian basins. Scavenging of U by organic
material in fluvial and lacustrine environments seems to have been
particularly important in the Döhlen Basin (Figs. 5 and 6), possibly
favored by the closeness of several high-U granites and volcanic com-
plexes (e.g., Meissen, Tharandt; Reichel and Schauer, 2006). The ash-
rich (15–50%) and sulfur-rich (2–13%) coals of the Döhlen Basin ty-
pically have 10–80 ppm U, but locally show very distinct U enrichment
that seems to depend on coal type, reaching average U contents of
0.12 wt% (carbargillite), 0.20 wt% (boghead and channel), 0.30 wt%
(silicate and sulfur-rich sapropelic), and 0.49 wt% (gélosic; Reichel and
Schauer, 2006). Typical coal seams have a thickness of 0.4–0.6 m, but
may reach up to 6 m in topographic depressions. The sediments of the
Döhlen basin have been mined for more than 500 years, originally for
Cu and clay, building stones, and fossils, later mainly for coal (until
1967), and eventually for U (1963–1989; Reichel and Schauer, 2006).
Coal seams from other Carboniferous and Early Permian basins of the
Variscan orogen (e.g., Stockheim basin; Dill, 1987) are not known to
have similarly high U contents as those of the Döhlen basin, which
implies that the availability of a U-source is a critical factor to form U-
rich peat.
The Permian basin development in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone is
controlled by fault zones parallel to the basin axes and transverse to the
basins and shows associated mainly felsic volcanism (e.g., Breitkreuz
and Kennedy, 1999; Schneider and Romer, 2010). These fault zones
have the same orientation as major structural elements of the Variscan
orogen and, thus, represent the reactivation of older structures, which
began after c. 305–300 Ma and lasted until about 275 Ma (e.g.,
Breitkreuz and Kennedy, 1999; Lützner et al., 2006; Schneider et al.,
2006). Reactivation and basin formation is coeval within the entire
Variscan orogen and, therefore, is related to the change of relative
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
movement between Gondwana and Laurussia after the continental
collision of these two blocks and the related new stress pattern, as well
as the development of the Central European Extensional Province (cf.
Kroner et al., 2016).
The tectonic reactivation of Variscan structures not only controls
the distribution and shape of the sedimentary basins, but also the
spatial distribution and orientation of vein-type U mineralization. The
most prominent fault zone with vein-type U mineralization is the Gera-
Jáchymov Zone that runs from the Autochthonous Domain in the
northwest across the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone and the Allochthonous
Domain to the Tertiary Eger rift in the southeast (Hiller and Schuppan,
2008, 2016). The U deposits of the Ronneburg district, Schlema-Al-
beroda, Schneeberg, Tellerhäuser, Johanngeorgenstadt, Jáchymov, and
Příbram – to name only the most important ones – are located along this
zone. The Zeulenroda-Zobes/Bergen-Mariánské Láznĕ Zone is a deep
fault zone parallel to the Gera-Jáchymov Zone (Figs. 5 and 6). It hosts
among others the U deposits of Zobes, Bergen, Schneckenstein, Got-
tesberg-Grummetstock, and Horní Slavkov (Hiller and Schuppan,
2016). Uranium mineralization of the western Erzgebirge and bor-
dering areas is related to these two fault systems or to smaller faults
systems between them (Fig. 6). Within the Allochthonous Domain, the
two fault zones roughly constrain the Eibenstock granite to the NE and
SW. Furthermore, there occur several granite intrusions (Aue, Bur-
kersdorf, Bernsbach/Beierfeld, Lauter, Schwarzenberg) along the Gera-
Jáchymov Zone (Förster et al., 1999, 2009). Uranium mineralization
normally occurs in the outer margins of the contact metamorphic aur-
eole of the granites rather than in the granites (e.g., Hiller and
Schuppan, 2008). Generally, the veins are hosted in metamorphosed
Ordovician to Silurian sedimentary rocks and seem to be particularly U-
rich in pyrite-bearing phyllites and amphibolites (Runge, 2001). The
decimeter to meter wide steeply dipping vein-type mineralization has
been extensively mined since the 15th century (originally mainly for Ag
and locally also for Sn and Fe). The five-metal (Ag-Bi-Co-Ni ± U) as-
semblage, which is characteristic for these veins, is the result of re-
peated metal redistribution. For instance, hydrothermal redistribution
occurred at 180, 150, and 120 Ma and is related to changes in the
spreading rate of the North Atlantic Ocean and the resulting changes of
the stress pattern in the continent (e.g., Romer et al., 2010). Typically,
native Ag is late in each phase of hydrothermal remobilization and may
be locally associated with native As, Bi, and Sb, and/or Bi-Sb and As-Sb
alloys (e.g., Ondruš et al., 2003b). The most prominent mineralization
of this type occurs in the districts of Schneeberg/Schlema/Alberoda,
Pöhla/Tellerhäuser, Schwarzenberg/Johanngeorgenstadt, Zobes,
Bergen, and Jáchymov (Runge, 2001; Ondruš et al., 2003a; Hiller and
Schuppan, 2008, 2016).
There are two U sources for the vein-type mineralization, the
granites (Tischendorf and Förster, 1994; Förster, 1999; Förster et al.,
2009) and the Silurian organic-rich sedimentary rocks that additionally
may have served as sources for Ni, Co, As, Ag, Mo, and Se (e.g., Ondruš
et al., 2003a; Romer et al., 2010). The importance of these two lithol-
ogies as U source changed with time, as Ni and Co are typically only
found in late redistributions that are unrelated with the Permian for-
mation of the mineralization (B. Förster, 1996; Ondruš et al., 2003a;
Hiller and Schuppan, 2008). Redistribution of U by oxidizing meteoric
fluids typically reached 100–200 m, but locally as far as 500 m, below
the surface (Runge, 2001). Other fault zones parallel to the Gera-Já-
chymov and the Zeulenroda-Zobes/Bergen-Mariánské Láznĕ zones in-
clude the Franconian Line with minor Permian vein-type U miner-
alization (Dill, 1986) and the Elbe Zone with no known Permian vein-
type U mineralization. The contrasting importance of U mineralization
along these faults zones seems to reflect the distribution of U-rich
protoliths and their availability for leaching and U redistribution, but
also whether these U-rich protoliths have been leached earlier and
whether erosion and tectonic movements brought fertile protoliths into
the oxidation zone and made them available for leaching.
Within the Wrench-and-Thrust Zone, the Gera-Jáchymov and the
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
Zeulenroda-Zobes/Bergen-Mariánské Láznĕ zones cut through Silurian
rocks of the pre-Variscan basement (e.g., Hiller and Schuppan, 2016).
In the Ronneburg area, vein-type mineralization formed during the
Permian reactivation of the Gera-Jáchymov Zone. Furthermore, intense
Permian weathering (Rotliegend) resulted in the redistribution of U
within the lower Silurian black shales in particular along faults of the
Gera-Jáchymov Zone that allowed for deeper penetration of oxidized
meteoric waters and that may have been reactivated repeatedly (Runge,
2001; Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012). In the Sorge-Culmitzsch-Gauern
area, the reactivation of faults of the Zeulenroda-Zobes/Bergen-Mar-
iánské Láznĕ Zone resulted in the formation of halfgraben structures
that contain conglomerates, red and grey sandstones, shales, and do-
lomites. Marine and terrestrial sedimentary rocks interfinger as in-
dicated by local ripple and current marks as well as desiccation cracks
and pseudomorphs after salt crystals (Runge, 2001). Uranium miner-
alization is related to sulfide- and plant-rich shales. Locally U and PbS
replace plant remains that range from chaff to entire tree trunks
(Runge, 2001). Note, the Kupferschiefer, a bituminous shale that de-
veloped at the base of the Zechstein, seems to have its Cu-Ag-richest
sections related to NW-SE striking fault zones, which highlights the role
of late structures intersecting redox traps for the enrichment (and
possibly introduction) of Cu and Ag in this type of stratabound deposit
(Borg et al., 2012). Similar to the shale-bound U deposits of the Ron-
neburg and Sorge-Culmitzsch-Gauern areas, there occur late Ni-Co
veins (Runge, 2001; Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012; Borg et al., 2012). In
contrast to the coeval U mineralization in the Sorge-Culmitzsch-Gauern
area, the Early Zechstein Kupferschiefer does not show U mineraliza-
tion (Borg et al., 2012), which indicates that the availibility of leach-
able source rocks for U (and also Cu) is likely to control the contrasting
metal associations in similar lithologies. Thus, tectonic processes ex-
posing potential source rocks and large-scale glaciations (like the Hir-
nantian glaciation) removing U depleted (as already leached) source
rocks from the surface may be the key processes controlling both the
spatial distribution and the timing of U mineralization in black shales.
Post-Permian U-redistribution was controlled by both endogenic
factors (tectonic reactivation of fault zones with associated hydro-
thermal fluid flow) and exogenic factors (erosion and climate). The
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reactivation of fault zones due to the changing stress regime in Europe,
which is closely related to the opening of the Tethys and the Atlantic
oceans and later with the Alpine orogeny (cf. Romer et al., 2010), re-
sults in the uplift of blocks along these reactivated faults and inversion
of basins with (i) erosion of uplifted blocks and redistribution of U from
U-rich basement rocks (e.g., Silurian sedimentary rocks and late-Var-
iscan granites) and remobilization of U in existing deposits, (ii) changes
in the hydrologic setting with redistribution of U from reduced lithol-
ogies that become oxidized, and (iii) fluid circulation along the faults
with mobilization of U from older U mineralization and leaching of U
from U-rich wall rocks. Thus, exogenic redistribution of U in many cases
are the indirect result of endogenic processes. Although there are dis-
tinct changes in the European stress field related to changes in
spreading rate and position of the spreading axis of the Atlantic Ocean
at c. 180, 150, and 120 Ma and the Alpine Orogeny (cf. compilation in
Romer et al., 2010), the most prominent inversion occurred in the
Cretaceous (Kley et al., 2008; Al Hseinat and Hübscher, 2017). Erosion
related U redistribution resulted in the formation of U mineralization in
Cretaceous sandstones, most prominently in Königstein (Tonndorf,
2000). The U mineralization occurs mostly in sediments deposited di-
rectly above the Variscan basement and only locally in weathered
basement rocks (Tonndorf, 2000). The exposed Markersbach granite is
supposed to be the source of U for the Königstein deposit. Uranium was
transported by ground waters and trapped in organic-rich intercalations
in terrestrial sandstones and in glauconitic and pyritic layers of silt and
clayey silt in Cenomanian sandstones (Tonndorf, 2000). The uplift of
blocks eventually resulted in changes of the hydrologic setting with
oxidation of previously reduced units, which in turn resulted in the
mobilization of U from oxidized units and precipitation of U in deeper,
still reduced units. This redistribution locally enhanced U contents in
existing U mineralization. This process also operated in the Silurian
shales of the Ronneburg area and the late Permian sedimentary rocks of
the Sorge-Culmitzsch area (e.g., Lange and Freyhoff, 1991; Runge,
2001; Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012), as well as in the near-surface
parts of vein-type mineralization (e.g., Schlema-Alberoda, Zobes-
Bergen, Jáchymov, Horní Halže; Plášil et al., 2014; Sejkora et al., 2007;
Hiller and Schuppan, 2008, 2016). Such changes in the hydrologic
Fig. 8. Simplified map of the Armorican Massif and
the French Massif Central, showing the distribution
of major crustal scale-shear zones, early Paleozoic
sedimentary rocks (generalized), Carboniferous fer-
tile granites, and U mineralization. MC = Margeride
Complex; SSM = Saint Sylvestre Massif; VD = Velay
Dome. Numbers refer to U mineralization and sedi-
mentary basins mentioned in the text: (1) Aumance
Basin; (2) Cérilly Basin; (3) Coutras; (4) Guérande;
(5) Lodève Basin; (6) Mortagne; (7) Pontivy; (8)
Rodez Basin; (9) Saint-Affrique Basin; (10) Saint
Pierre du Cantal. Map from Romer and Kroner
(2018), spatial distribution of U mineralization
based on IRSN (2007) and Ballouard et al. (2017).
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
situation with the extension of the oxidation zone also may be related to
climatic conditions that favor intense chemical alteration of surface
sediments and may have occurred in the Saxo-Thuringian Zone in the
Permian, the Cretaceous, and the Tertiary (Roscher and Schneider,
2006; Schwerdtner et al., 2007).
Isotopic dating of different parageneses in vein mineralization de-
monstrates that the primary mineralization formed around
270–280 Ma, and has been redistributed at 180, 150, and 120 Ma and
more recently during the Alpine orogeny (Förster, 1996; Romer et al.,
2010). The various younger remobilizations have distinctive mineral
assemblages, (i) quartz-polymetallic-sulfides, quartz-hematite, quartz-
carbonate-uraninite, (ii) polymetallic-sulfides-sliver-antimony, dolo-
mite-uraninite-fluorite, fluorite-quartz, (iii) quartz-hematite-baryte,
and (iv) BiCoNi-uraninite, and Fe-Mn-quartz (e.g., Büder and Schuppan,
1992; Förster, 1996; Ondruš et al., 2003a; Hiller and Schuppan, 2008,
2016). The occurrence of Bi, Cu, and Ni, along with native As and Ag in
late mineral parageneses, but not in early ones, indicates that these
metals do not represent deposit internal redistributions, but late addi-
tions. The closeness to Silurian black shales and slates may indicate that
these rocks were the source of these late metal additions. It is note-
worthy that late metal additions to the sediment hosted U mineraliza-
tions in the Ronneburg and Sorge-Culmitzsch areas also include As, Sb,
Cu, Ni, and Mo (Lange and Freyhoff, 1991; Runge, 2001; Bolonin and
Gradovsky, 2012).
4.3. Uranium mineralization in the French Massif Central
Among the Variscan Massifs, the French Massif Central is particular,
as it does not expose rocks of a Cadomian basement, which might be
absent. Instead, the French Massif Central represents a stack of meta-
morphic nappes that are dominated by Paleozoic volcanosedimentary
rocks originally deposited on the Gondwana shelf. The metamorphic
nappes are grouped into three major units (Fig. 8; Ledru et al., 1989;
Faure et al., 2009): the Upper Gneiss Unit, the Lower Gneiss Unit, and
the Para-Autochtonous Unit. The major difference among these three
units is the contrasting metamorphic peak conditions: (i) the Upper
Gneiss Unit to the north is dominated by a bimodal association of
mafic/ultramafic rocks with felsic rocks, migmatitic ortho- and para-
gneisses (the youngest detrital zircon of the metasediments has a U-Pb
age of 523 ± 4 Ma; Melleton et al., 2010), eclogites, and high-pressure
granulites (Lardeaux et al., 2001), mafic Early Ordovician (ca. 480 Ma)
magmatism and Late Silurian (ca. 420–410 Ma) high-pressure meta-
morphism (Ducrot et al., 1983); (ii) the Lower Gneiss Unit has medium-
temperature / medium pressure ortho- and para-gneisses (the youngest
detrital zircon has an age of 573 ± 12 Ma; Melleton et al., 2010), some
of these enriched granitic orthogneisses have up to 20 ppm U (Cuney
et al., 1990); and (iii) the Para-Autochthonous Unit is dominated by
metasedimentary rocks that were intruded by Ordovician plutons and
generally experienced Variscan low-grade metamorphism. The
youngest detrital zircon from the metasedimentary series has an age of
604 ± 16 Ma (Melleton et al., 2010). These main tectonic units of the
French Massif Central are overthrusted to the ENE and WSW by al-
lochthonous low-grade units and are thrust onto non-metamorphic
rocks of the external zone with its fold-and-thrust belt and its foreland
basin to the south (Ledru et al., 1989; Faure et al., 2009). There are
three age groups of Variscan granitoids that intrude the rocks of the
metamorphic nappes of the French Massif Central: (i) ca. 360–350 Ma
peraluminous cordierite-biotite granites and low to highly potassic calc-
alkaline gabbro-dioritic to granitic rocks; (ii) ca. 340–325 Ma mainly
two–mica peraluminous leucogranites in the north-western part of the
French Massif Central, whereas some cordierite-biotite peraluminous
granites such as the Margeride complex, high-K calc-alkaline granites,
and subordinate low-potassic calc-alkaline granitic rocks occur in the
eastern part of the FMC (Chelle-Michou et al., 2017); and (iii) ca.
310 Ma predominantly peraluminous granites, such as the cordierite –
biotite granites of the Velay dome (SE Massif Central) that also include
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highly fractionated rare-metal granites (Stussi, 1989; Le Carlier et al.,
2013; Cuney et al. 2001; Cuney and Barbey, 2014; Chelle-Michou et al.,
2017). Granites of the first two groups formed in an overall compres-
sional setting, whereas granites of the third age group were emplaced in
a late-orogenic extensional setting (Roig et al., 2002; Le Carlier et al.,
2013). There are two events of late orogenic crustal extension, sepa-
rated by the youngest group of granites. Crustal extension was largely
controlled by major, predominantly ENE-WSW and NW-SE oriented
fault systems. The older extensional event is diachronous across the
French Massif Central. It started at c. 330 Ma in the north and c. 320 Ma
in the south and lasted to c. 315 Ma. The younger extensional event
encompasses the age range 310–290 Ma (Joly et al., 2008) and is lar-
gely coeval with the development of volcanosedimentary basins in the
Central European Sedimentary Province (Roscher and Schneider,
2006), which by and large is synonymous to the Central European
Extensional Province of Kroner and Romer (2013).
Uranium mineralization in the French Massif Central occurs in
episyenites and veins within granites, rarely as veins in the meta-
morphic rocks near the contact to granites, and in Permian sedimentary
rocks (e.g., Poty et al., 1986; Cathelineau, 1986; Pagel et al., 1990;
Cuney, 1990; Patrier et al., 1997; Mathis et al., 1990). In the north-
western part of the Massif Central, in the Saint Sylvestre Massif, isotopic
dating demonstrated that formation of episyenite is distinctly older
than the formation of U mineralization (e.g., Leroy and Turpin, 1988;
Turpin et al., 1990; Scaillet et al., 1996). The sources of U for episye-
nite, vein, and sediment U mineralization are the granites, and in par-
ticular the uraninite bearing peraluminous granites that formed by
partial melting of Early Paleozoic orthogneisses (Turpin et al., 1989) or
the granulitized metasedimentary lower crust (Williamson et al., 1996).
Uranium mineralization of the French Massif Central falls in four sub-
areas that reflect the regional distribution of U-fertile granites
(Cathelineau et al., 1990; Cuney et al., 1990; Bril et al., 1994). Typi-
cally, U mineralization in the Saint Sylvestre granitic complex is bound
to magmatic shear zones that have been intruded by highly fractionated
leucogranites and that have acted as pathway for hydrothermal fluids
during reactivation of these structures under brittle conditions. During
a phase of uplift associated to crustal extension, meteoric fluids that had
infiltrated into the basement, were heated, migrated upward, and
eventually underwent boiling and phase separation. The condensation
of the vapour phase resulted in silica undersaturated fluids that dis-
solved selectively quartz from the granites leading to the formation of
porous granite bodies: the episyenites (Pécher et al., 1985; El Jarray
et al., 1994). The leucogranites represent the local U sources and the
episyenites with their high porosity eventually acted as traps for U
mineralization in areas that have experienced brittle deformation (e.g.,
Friedrich et al., 1987; Cuney et al., 1990; Cuney, 1990). It is important
to note that granite emplacement (including the leucogranites), for-
mation of episyenite, and the U mineralization are three events sepa-
rated by several tens of million years. Whereas episyenites formed in
the late Carboniferous (c. 305 Ma; Scaillet et al., 1996), the U miner-
alization formed by low-temperature hydrothermal fluids in the Per-
mian, essentially coeval with a first U enrichment in the Permian se-
dimentary basins (e.g., Cathelineau, 1986; Leroy and Turpin, 1988;
Turpin et al., 1990; Cathelineau et al., 1990, 2004).
Uranium mineralization is known for a number of Permian (e.g.,
Lodève, Cérilly, Rodez, Saint-Affrique; e.g., Lancelot et al., 1984; Pagel,
1990; Mathis et al., 1990; Marignac and Cuney, 1999) and Tertiary
(e.g., Coutras, Saint Pierre du Cantal; Meunier et al., 1989; Marignac
and Cuney, 1999) sedimentary basins. Most of these basins are bound
by faults that were active during the development of the Central Eur-
opean Extensional Province and later tectonic reactivation of the same
structures (e.g., Lévêque et al., 1988; Pagel, 1990). Uranium was lea-
ched by oxidizing meteoric water in the subsurface and became en-
trapped in reduced units within the continental sedimentary rocks of
the various basins (Pagel, 1990; Marignac and Cuney, 1999). The
basement, in particular its Carboniferous peraluminous leucogranites,
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
may be not only the source of U for these sediments. Instead, intense
alteration of rocks at or near the surface also may have resulted in re-
distribution of U in vein-type mineralization due to dissolution of mi-
nerals in the oxidized zone and redeposition of U in the reduced zone of
the same vein (e.g., Cuney, 1978; Schmitt and Thiry, 1987, Condomines
et al., 2007), and the entrapment of U mobilized in the exogenic en-
vironment along fractures reaching deep into the basement (Barbier,
1974).
4.4. Uranium mineralization in the Armorican Massif
The Armorican Massif is subdivided into three segments of con-
trasting Variscan history by the roughly E-W striking North Armorican
Shear Zone and the NW-SE striking South Armorican Shear Zone
(Fig. 8). The northern segment, the North Armorican Domain, did not
experience significant Variscan metamorphism. It consists of rocks of
the deeply eroded Cadomian magmatic arc overlain by Cambrian and
Ordovician sandstones. The oldest sediments deposited during the post-
Hirnantian transgression are Silurian pyritic quartzites and black shales
that have 5–15 (35) wt% organic material and enhanced contents of Ni
(up to 130 ppm) and V (up to 5000 ppm; Dabard and Paris, 1986).
Ordovician and Silurian black shales have the highest U contents
(Cuney et al., 1990). The Silurian sediments are overlain by Devonian
platform-type sediments with siltstones, sandstones, and limestones
(Robardet et al., 1994). The Paleozoic sedimentary cover in the central
segment, the Central Armorican Domain, has been only moderately
affected by Variscan deformation and metamorphism in the east and
has been stacked by thin-skin tectonics to packages reaching several
thousand meters thickness in the west. The southern segment, the South
Armorican Domain, includes three major tectono-metamorphic units
dominated by Paleozoic sedimentary and magmatic rocks of contrasting
peak metamorphic conditions (e.g., Pitra et al., 2010; Ballouard et al.,
2017) that have been intruded by late- and post-kinematic Mg-K biotite-
hornblende calc-alkaline and peraluminous two–mica granites and
subordinate cordierite-biotite granies between 320 and 300 Ma
(Ballouard et al., 2017).
Rocks with anomalous U contents include Silurian sedimentary
rocks, in particular the black shales, and post-kinematic Variscan
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granites (Ballouard et al., 2018). Uranium mineralization is mainly
restricted to Carboniferous peraluminous leucogranites that are related
to the various branches of the South Armorican Shear Zone and to a
lesser extent to Mg-K biotite-hornblende granites along the North Ar-
morican Shear Zone (Fig. 8; Chauris, 1984; Rolin et al., 2009; Ballouard
et al., 2018). Uranium mineralization seems to be restricted to those
granites that are derived from a U-enriched source by partial melting
(e.g., Vigneresse et al., 1989; Cuney, 2014). Typically, U deposits re-
lated to the peraluminous two–mica leucogranites forms quartz-ur-
aninite veins within the granites, but locally also at and near the con-
tacts of the granites to Ordovician black shales (Ballouard et al., 2017).
The quartz-uraninite veins show coffinite at depth and secondary U
minerals, such as autunite and torbernite, near the surface where oxi-
dized meteoric water variably altered the original mineralization and
redistributed U (e.g., Chauris, 1977; Ballouard et al., 2018). Vein-type
U mineralization is related to deep fluid circulation during the Permian
extensional event that affected entire Western Europe. The per-
aluminous two–mica leucogranites are characterized by magmatic en-
richment of U to levels of several tens of ppm, which is mostly hosted in
uraninite (Cuney, 2014). Oxidized fluids leaching the granite mobilize
and redistribute U to form quartz-uraninite veins (Ballouard et al.,
2017, 2018). This low-temperature hydrothermal redistribution oc-
curred between 300 and 275 Ma (Ballouard et al., 2018). Uranium
mineralization is the result of a polystage process involving magmatic U
enrichment and U sequestration in minerals that later were easily lea-
ched, followed by shearing and late fracturing of the contact zone with
deposition of uraninite in quartz veins together with Fe-sulfides
(Chauris, 1984). Crystallization of the granite and formation of the
quartz veins represent two separated processes that may have operated
in different tectonic regimes (Chauris, 1984).
4.5. Uranium mineralization in Iberia
The pre-Permian basement of Iberia includes five zones (Fig. 9) of
contrasting pre-Variscan stratigraphic record and contrasting Variscan
structural and metamorphic inventory. Significant U mineralization
only occurs in the Central Iberian and Ossa Morena zones (Fig. 9),
which include rocks of Gondwana provenance (Noblet and LeFort,
Fig. 9. Simplified map of Iberia, showing the five
structural zones (Cantabrian Zone, West Asturian –
Leonese Zone, Central Iberian Zone, Central Iberian
Zone, Ossa Morena Zone, and South Portuguese
Zone) of contrasting Variscan deformation and me-
tamorphic overprint. The Central Iberian Zone is
commonly distinguished into an “allochthonous”
(i.e., Galicia – Tras-os-Montes Zone) and an “au-
thochtonous” domain. Note, most U mineralization
is hosted in the “authochtonous” domain of the
Central Iberian Zone. The Rheic suture separates the
Ossa Morena Zone from the South Portuguese Zone.
P = Pedroches Batholith; B = Burguillos Pluton;
CB = Calaf Basin; MB = Mequinenza Basin;
S = Salamanca. Numbers refer to U mineralization
mentioned in the text: (1) Mina Fe; (2) Retortillo-
Santidad. Map from Romer and Kroner (2018),
spatial distribution of U mineralization based on
Dahlkamp (2016).
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
1990; Robardet, 2002; Abalos et al., 2002) and were part of the Ar-
morican Spur sensu Kroner and Romer (2013). The Central Iberian Zone
is dominated by Ordovician to Carboniferous sedimentary rocks that
commonly are distinguished into Autochthonous and Allochthonous
sequences (Galicia and Trás-os-Montes area) on basis of their con-
trasting Variscan metamorphic overprint and deformation style. The
domain of the Autochthonous sequences is characterized by a pre-Or-
dovician metamorphic basement, which is discordantly overlain by
Ordovician fluviatile, tidal, and shallow marine sandstones and quart-
zites and younger sedimentary rocks. Zircon provenance analysis of
Ordovician sandstones indicates that the Central Iberian Zone had a
more eastward position in peri-Gondwana than the other blocks of the
Armorican Spur (Stephan et al., in press), whereas the enhanced U
contents of Silurian black shales indicates that the Central Iberian Zone
still was part of the extended Gondwana shelf at that time. There are
several groups of Variscan granites, starting with voluminous
325–320 Ma migmatic granites and ending with 310–300 Ma per-
aluminous leucogranites and vaugnerites. (Martínez et al., 1990; Ugidos
et al., 2003; López-Moro et al., 2013, 2017). Minor granites and
300–270 Ma old episyenites along late-Variscan strike-slip faults show
polyphase W-U-Au mineralization (e.g., Timón-Sánchez et al., in press).
The Ossa Morena Zone (Fig. 9) was in a passive margin setting during
the Ordovician to Devonian and was variably segmented along Variscan
NW-SE oriented transpressional fault zones that control both the em-
placement of several groups of 340–280 Ma structurally bound granites
(Tornos et al., 2002). Uranium mineralization in the Ossa Morena Zone
is spatially related to these Variscan granites.
There are three groups of U mineralization, (i) mineralization bound
to sedimentary rocks rich in organic material, (ii) mineralization in
veins bound to granite intrusions, and (iii) mineralization related to
episyenite within granite intrusions. There is rare U mineralization in
Permian to Triassic sandstones. Uranium may have been leached from
Variscan granites, some of which contain uraninite, secondary U-
phosphates, and allanite as major U hosts (e.g., Mohamud et al., 2015),
after Cretaceous rifting (Marfil et al., 2013). Oligocene lignites, which
formed in shallow marsh-swamp-lake systems in the Calaf and Mequi-
nenza basins, are characterized by distinctly enhanced Mo and U con-
tents in comparison with comparable lignites from other areas (e.g.,
Querol et al., 1996).
(I) Uranium mineralization bound to sedimentary rocks rich in or-
ganic material are known from the Central Iberian Zone. Cambrian
black shales (Mina Fe, Alameda, Fuented de Oñoro; Both et al.,
1994; Martín-Izard et al., 2002; Pérez del Villar et al., 2002) and
late Ordovician black shales (Retortillo-Santidad) show significant
U mineralization that typically forms in breccias, veins, and frac-
tures in the host rocks. The mineral association and truncation
relations among the veins indicate that pitchblende and uraninite
as main U minerals had been repeatedly redistributed. Deep per-
colating meteoric water leach the sediments and mobilize U in
particular from the black shales and nearby peraluminous leuco-
granites and eventually precipitate U in veins within the black
shales (e.g., Mina Fe, Retortillo-Santidad; Both et al., 1994; Martin-
Izard et al., 2002; Huertas et al., 2015). Multiple redistribution of
U during the Variscan and Alpine orogeny, which in part is re-
flected in apparently conflicting ages derived from field relations
and U-Pb dating (Both et al., 1994; Martin-Izard et al., 2002). Most
of the various mineralization show important near-surface redis-
tribution of U by leaching of U in the oxidation zone and re-
precipitation in reducing deeper parts of the shales (Pérez del
Villar et al., 2002, Huertas et al., 2013, 2015). The lack of deep
bore holes or mines reaching into non-remobilized mineralization
prevented the determination of the age of the original U deposi-
tion.
(II) Granite related U mineralization occur in the Central Iberian Zone,
which hosts a large number of fertile granites (e.g., Mohamud
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et al., 2015; Pérez del Villar et al., 1991), and the Ossa Morena
Zone (Burguillos pluton, Pedroches batholith; Locutura et al.,
1990). Typically U mineralization forms veins and skarns within
the granites or the sedimentary wall rocks with variable mineral
assemblages including pitchblende, Fe-sulfides, quartz, carbo-
nates, and/or REE minerals, as well as As, Ni, Co, or Bi minerals
(e.g., Locutura et al., 1990; Pérez del Villar et al., 1991; Marcuello
et al., 2006).
(III) Late-Variscan NW-SE striking shear zones locally induced im-
portant loss of quartz in granites. This type of U mineralization is
found in the Central Iberian Zone. The resulting episyenites have a
high permeability and typically were mineralized during later
events with W, U, and Au (López-Moro et al., 2013). Geochemi-
cally and texturally different types of uraninite commonly are as-
sociated with the various mineralization stages, typically yielding
chemical ages ranging from c. 300 to c. 275 Ma (Timón-Sánchez
et al., in press), implying most importantly that episyenite for-
mation post-dates granite emplacement and that there are several
– possibly unrelated – stages of mineralization.
4.6. Uranium mineralization in Morocco, Nova Scotia, and Cornwall
Morocco was part of mainland Gondwana during the Variscan or-
ogeny and has a similar geological history as those Gondwana frag-
ments that formed the Armorican Spur and remained attached to
Gondwana during the opening of the Paleotethys. Silurian hot shales
(e.g., Lüning et al., 2000b; Le Heron et al., 2008) deposited on the
Armorican Spur were overprinted by the Variscan orogeny, possibly
resulting in the redistribution of U hosted in these black shales by
Variscan granites and metamorphic fluids. Uranium mineralization re-
lated with the Variscan orogenic overprint, however, is only minor (Idir
and Renard, 2002). Uranium mineralization is known from Jurassic
(Hauterivian) plant-rich pelitic sandstones in Jebbel Wafagga (Idir and
Renard, 2002), whereas there seems to be no U mineralization related
to the U-rich sedimentary rocks in the Cretaceous Timahdit and Oulad
Abdoun basins (e.g., Benalioulhaj and Trichet, 1990). In the Timahdit
basin, U is mainly related to black shales, whereas in the Oulad Abdoun
basin, U is related to phosphorites (Benalioulhaj and Trichet, 1990) and
may be recovered from them as byproduct of fertilizer production (e.g.,
Owen, 1992; Cuney, 2010).
Basement areas that have separated from Gondwana during the
opening of the Rheic Ocean, i.e., may show late Cambrian and possibly
early Ordovician sedimentary rocks of Gondwana provenance, were not
covered by the Hirnantian ice sheet and, thus, did not have near-surface
rocks that have not been depleted in U before. Therefore, these areas
did not represent a source of leachable U in the early Silurian when
extensive black shales could have trapped and concentrated U leached
from the near-surface basement. Black shales on Avalonia (Nova Scotia,
British Isles) are likely to have lower U contents than those deposited
areas that remained with mainland Gondwana. Typical U contents of
such black shales may be less than 10 ppm (e.g., Wignall and Myers,
1988; Lu et al., 2017). Therefore, U deposits on Avalonia are rare and
relatively small, as for instance roll-front type mineralization in the
Carboniferous sedimentary rocks of the Horton Group (Nova Scotia)
and vein-type mineralization associated with the Permian granites of
Cornwall.
On Nova Scotia, U mineralization is documented from
Carboniferous sandstones of the Horton Group that seem to have con-
centrated U derived from deeply weathered Devonian granites in roll-
front type deposits, either associated to carbon-pyrite-rich sandstone of
the Horton Bluff Formation or to hematized arkosic sandstone of the
Cheverie Formation (Ryan and O'Beirne-Ryan, 2009). Sedimentary
rocks of the Horton group extend into New Brunswick. There, U
showings are known from a belt that has been overprinted by the
Acadian orogeny and hosts Devonian granites (Hassan et al., 1987).
Common to these areas with U mineralization or U showings is that
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
they have Ordovician to Devonian clastic sedimentary rocks with in-
tercalations of black shale. There is U mineralization (mainly the Millet
Brook deposit) associated with Devonian-Carboniferous two–mica
peraluminous granites, in particular the 370 Ma South Mountain
Batholith where episyenites have been recognized (Kontak and
Cormier, 1991; Chatterjee et al., 1982). The main U-bearing minerals in
the veins are pitchblende and torbenite at depth and autunite and Pb-
meta-autunite in the near-surface (Chatterjee et al., 1982). These
granites served also as U sources for later U redistribution.
In Cornwall, U mineralization typically is closely related to the
Cornish granites, well known for their Sn mineralization. The richest U
mineralization includes structurally late N-S striking veins at South
Terras Mine (LeBoutillier, 2002) hosted in grey and brown slate of the
Lower Devonian Meadfoot Group to the south of the metamorphic
aureole of the St. Austell granite (Smale, 1993). Main U minerals are
uraninite, pitchblende, and coffinite. Isotopic dating yields a wide range
of ages from c. 280 Ma to c. 50 Ma, indicating that there was not one
single event of mineralization, but there were several events of mi-
neralization or redistribution (Darnley et al., 1965). The oldest ur-
aninite typically is associated with Sn and shows high Th contents
(Darnley et al., 1965). This uraninite may be related to the emplace-
ment of the Cornish granites and the formation of Sn mineralization.
Uraninite of the second age group (c. 220–c. 160 Ma) is associated with
sulfide mineralization of Co, Ni, Cu, Fe, As, Bi, and/or Ag. Uraninite of
the youngest group yields ages around 50 Ma (Darnley et al., 1965;
LeBoutillier, 2002).
5. Formation of the source rocks for U mineralization: pre-
Variscan U-enrichment in Paleozoic sediments
Paleozoic rocks that have been reworked during the Variscan or-
ogeny and that may be source rocks for the high U-granites of the
Variscan belt include remains of the Cadomian magmatic arc (e.g.,
Linnemann et al., 2008), Lower Paleozoic orthogneisses, and latest
Precambrian to Silurian (and possibly Devonian) sedimentary rocks.
Rocks of the Cadomian magmatic arc have low U contents (Linnemann
and Romer, 2002; Linnemann et al., 2004) as have most Paleozoic se-
dimentary rocks, in contrast to U-rich Lower Paleozoic orthogneisses
and organic-rich shales (Fig. 7 and Romer and Hahne, 2010; Romer
et al., 2014a). The latter have been deposited under anoxic conditions,
which resulted in the enrichment of redox-sensitive elements like U, Ni,
Co, Mo, and V (Fig. 7). There is no direct correlation between organic
content and U content (Lüning and Kolonic, 2003). Instead, the low-
ermost units of Silurian black shales have considerably higher U con-
tents than similar black shales in stratigraphically higher positions.
Anomalously high U content in the lowermost Silurian black shales is
not restricted to the Schwarzburg profile (Fig. 7), but is also well known
from black shales of northern Gondwana and the Armorican Spur,
Central Asia, and southern China (Melchin et al., 2013; Fig. 4). The high
organic content of these shales makes them to very important source
rocks for the formation of oil and gas reservoirs in northern Africa,
Arabia, and Iran (e.g., Lüning et al., 2000a; Le Heron et al., 2009).
Therefore, these shales have been extensively drilled. Gamma-logs de-
monstrate that the lowermost Silurian black shales of northern Africa,
Arabia, and Iran commonly have markedly higher U contents than
stratigraphically higher black shales (e.g., Lüning et al., 2000b; Al-
Juboury and Al-Hadidy, 2009; Yan et al., 2015; Saberi et al., 2016).
The formation of U-rich early Silurian shales requires a U source and
an efficient, spatially restricted trap. In the following, we argue that
earlier glaciated Gondwana is the U source and the extended shelf is the
trap.
Large parts of Gondwana were extensively eroded after the forma-
tion of the 620–600 Ma old West Gondwana Orogen and the
520–500 Ma old East Gondwana Orogen (Avigad et al., 2005;
Hauzenberger et al., 2004; Hawkesworth et al., 2013; Ganade de Araujo
et al., 2014). In particular during the Cambrian, extensive chemical
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alteration resulted in sedimentary rocks characterized by a very high
Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) and very low contents of Ca, Na, Sr,
and Pb (these elements are typically feldspar-bound) and redox-sensi-
tive elements, such as Mo, V, and U. During the early Ordovician
opening of the Rheic Ocean, the Cambrian sedimentary rocks were
redistributed and their geochemical signature was inherited by younger
sedimentary rocks. Because of the intense chemical alteration of the
Gondwana surface, pre-Hirnantian near-surface rocks do not represent
a likely U source for U mineralization within the Variscan belt of
Europe.
The Hirnantian glaciation (444.7–443.4 Ma; Brenchley et al., 1994;
Rohrssen et al. 2013) removed deeply altered basement and sedimen-
tary rocks from large parts of Gondwana, leaving behind a surface with
rocks that had not yet been exposed to chemical alteration. These newly
exposed rocks at the post-Hirnantian surface had not yet lost their U
due to surficial alteration processes and, therefore, represent a much
more fertile U source than pre-Hirnanatian surface rocks. Chemical
alteration may mobilize U by oxidation from these rocks and transport
U toward the oceans. Major source minerals for U mobilizations may be
old high-U zircon, allanite, and U-thorite that have acquired over time
significant α-recoil damage, which facilitates the liberation of U (e.g.,
Poitrasson, 2002; Geisler et al., 2003; Romer, 2003). Furthermore,
some U-rich granites may have a significant portion of their U hosted in
uraninite (e.g., Cuney, 2014). Whether the post-Hirnantian land surface
represented a major source of U does not only depend on the nature of
the minerals that host U, but resulted from the fact that these rocks had
not been leached before and readily mobilized U still was available for
leaching and redistribution. Note, sediments deposited by the Hirnan-
tian ice sheet are dominated by sands and show significant regional
facies changes (Le Heron et al., 2009). Because of the absence of vas-
cular plants in the Ordovician and early Silurian, these sedimentary
rocks are unlikely to host redox-controlled U deposits, whereas calcrete-
related U mineralization may have formed locally in closed basins.
Thus, the sedimentary cover on Gondwana generally did not act as trap
for U when the Hirantian ice sheet melted. Instead, U leached from the
newly exposed rocks was dominantly transported by surface runoff to
the sea.
On Gondwana, there is a close spatial and temporal relation be-
tween sources and traps in the Silurian: (i) Melting of the Hirnantian ice
sheet resulted in a global rise of sea level and transgression on the shelf
area. Paleotopography on the shelf resulted in the development of ba-
sins with restricted circulation. These basins, which correspond to
paleo-depressions such as former glacial outwash valleys and structural
intrashelf basins (Lüning et al., 2000a; Le Heron et al., 2008, 2009),
developed anoxic conditions that reflect the effects of high organic
production and restricted circulation, which may be favored by strati-
fication of the water masses due to freshwater influx from the melting
ice sheet (Lüning et al., 2000a). Continued rise of the sea level moved
the coastline inland, which implies that coarse detritus was trapped in
retrograding river mouths, resulting in less dilution of the black shales
by coarse material and eventually in better water-circulation on the
shelf, which in turn resulted in less anoxic conditions and in lower
organic contents ins stratigraphically higher shales (Lüning et al.,
2000a). Thus, anoxic conditions to trap dissolved U on the shelf per-
sisted only for a relatively short period (Lüning et al., 2000a). (ii)
Leachable U source rocks become available on Gondwana as the Hir-
antian ice sheet melted (melting of the ice sheets does not affect the
availability of leachable U on the continents that have not been gla-
ciated). The melt water represents both the leaching and the transport
agent. Leaching of U will deplete the source rocks and eventually less U
will be available for leaching and redistribution, explaining why stra-
tigraphically higher black shales have lower U contents than the stra-
tigraphically lowermost black shales deposited during the post-glacial
transgression. Uranium-rich black shales may develop only on the shelf
over a short period, in part as the U source rocks become readily de-
pleted in leachable U (unless there is active tectonics making fresh
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504

rocks available for leaching), in part as U delivered from the continent shelfs that had been transgressed during the melting of the Hirnantian
will not be added to the U budget of the ocean, but is efficiently pre- ice sheet, but only those that received U from the drainage of previously
cipitated on the shelf (in analogy with Mo, cf. McManus et al., 2006; glaciated areas are likely to be particularly U-rich. For instance in South
Gilleaudeau and Kah, 2013). Black shales deposited on the outer shelf Africa, shales deposited on the diamictites of the Table Mountain Group
and in a deep anoxic ocean will not develop particularly high contents
of U, as U coming from the continent is precipitated in black shales on
the anoxic shelf and little U remained in solution to reach the open
ocean. (iii) The development of anoxic conditions alone is not sufficient
for black shales to develop high U contents as there is no one-to-one
relation between U-rich shales and glaciations: the source of U must not
have been depleted by U leaching in the time between the generation of
a fresh surface and the development of anoxic sedimentation environ-
ment on the shelf. Otherwise, the U source may have become depleted
before trapping conditions were established. Furthermore, there are
also U-anomalous black shales without preceding large-scale glaciation
in the drainage area that represents the U source area (e.g., Sun et al.,
2005), which implies that major glaciation does not represent the only
mechanism to make U sources available for U leaching and redis-
tribution. Thus, for the development of U-rich black shales, the avail-
ability of leachable U source rocks seems to be the restricting require-
ment.
The Silurian black shales of Gondwana, in particular the strati-
graphically lower black shale units, are characterized by high U-con-
tents (e.g., Fig. 7). These U-rich shales formed on the inundated shelves
of the formerly glaciated continent. Silurian shales of Northern Africa,
Arabia, and Iran have not been involved in later orogenic events and
represent now a major source lithology for the oil occurrences of these
regions (e.g., Lüning et al., 2000b; Al-Juboury and Al-Hadidy, 2009; Le
Heron et al., 2009). In contrast, Silurian black shales of Iberia, Ar-
morica, the French Massif Central and various tectonic elements of the
Bohemian Massif have been involved in the Variscan orogeny and have
experienced regionally contrasting Variscan metamorphism. These
rocks do not host hydrocarbon resources. Instead, these Silurian shales
show close spatial association with U mineralization. For instance,
major U deposits in the Ronneburg area are largely hosted in Silurian
black shales. Within the Variscan Massifs, Silurian black shales host
vein-type U mineralization and the sedimentary rocks that melted to
form the Variscan granites also included Silurian strata. At some loca-
tions, the relation of U mineralization to Silurian black shales of the
former Gondwana shelf may be indirect. For instance, post-Variscan
sediment-hosted occurrences (Königstein, Hamr, Osečná, Stráž in Cre-
taceous sandstones; Döhlen, Stockheim, Lodève, and Aumance basins
with Carboniferous to Permian continental sandstones and coal seams)
derive their U from altered granites (e.g, Meunier et al., 1989;
Tonndorf, 2000; Reichel and Schauer, 2006; Cuney et al., 2014). These
granites, however, may derive part of their U budget from Silurian
Fig. 10. Spatial relation between glaciations with major ice sheets on
rocks that melted in the source of the granites.
Gondwana, black shales deposited during the deglaciation, and post-glacial U
Note, the presence of Silurian black shales seems not to be the sole mineralization. (a) Hirnantian glaciation; the maximum extent of the ice sheet
requirement for later U mineralization. Even though there are Silurian according to Le Heron et al. (2009), distribution of Silurian hot shales from
black shales on Avalonia (e.g., Verniers et al., 2008), which had not Lüning et al. (2000a,b) and Le Heron et al. (2009), distribution of Silurian black
been covered by the Hirnantian ice sheet, U mineralization on Avalonia shales (and their metamorphic equivalents) on fragments of the Armorican Spur
is small and rare, possibly indicating that (i) black shales deposited on and Avalonia according to Dabard and Paris (1986), Wignall and Myers (1988),
the shelf (and in particular in the coastal zone) scavenge U from the Romer and Hahne (2010), Trela et al. (2016), and Lu et al. (2017). (b) Karoo
continental runoff, therefore, are more fertile than deep-water black glaciation; the extent of the Karoo glaciation, which includes at least three
shales and (ii) large-scale glaciations in the drainage area make U stages is disputed. The extent of the ice sheet shown here follows Isbell et al.
(2003), distribution of post-glacial Permian bituminous shales and coal deposits
sources available for leaching by removing previously leached rocks
according to Cairncross (2001), Chakraborty et al. (2003), Catuneanu et al.
and bringing rocks to the surface that have not been depleted in U
(2005), and Veevers et al. (2006). Spatial distribution of U mineralization
earlier. schematically according to Toens et al., (1980), Toens and Le Roux (1981),
A link between glaciation and U-rich black shales may not be re- Kreuzer et al. (2010), and Penney (2012). Numbers refer to Permian sedi-
stricted to Silurian rocks of northern Gondwana, but may also be pre- mentary basins mentioned in the text: (1) Botswana Basin; (2) Callingasta-Us-
sent in other parts of Gondwana and apply to glaciations of different pallata Basin; (3) Canning Basin; (4) Carnarvon Basin; (5) Collie Basin; (6) East-
age, such as the Quaternary, Karoo (Permian), and Andean-Saharan Africa Basin; (7) Eromanga Basin; (8) Mid-Zambesis Basin; (9) Parana-Karoo
(Hirnantian) glaciations, but possibly also the Sturtian-Varangian Basin; (10) Satpura Gondwana Basin; (11) Springbokflats Basin. Note, Europe
(Cryogenian, late Neoproterozoic) and Huronian (early was not affected by the Karoo glaciation (with the possible exception of topo-
Paleoproterozoic) glaciations. For instance, the Hirnantian glaciation graphically high areas). The source for Late Carboniferous to Permian sediment-
covered part of Gondwana (Fig. 10). Silurian black shales occur on all hosted U mineralization is not related to deglaciation, but to tectonic processes.

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have higher U contents than shales deposited before the diamictites
(e.g., Young et al., 2004). The unusual chemical composition of these
shales is attributed to a reducing environment during rapid sea level
rise that accompanied the melting of the late Ordovician glaciers
(Young et al., 2004).
An example for the interplay of sea level rise and a stratified water
column in generating anoxic conditions is the Black Sea. Sea level rise
resulted in the flooding of a former sweet water lake by sea water in-
vading through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus (e.g., Ryan et al.,
2003; Lericolais et al., 2011), which resulted in a stratified water body
in which deeper parts became anoxic during initial oxidation of organic
material. Freshwater discharge supports this stratification and supplies
redox sensitive elements. Sediments deposited in the Black Sea and in
an area with anoxic upwelling water show broadly similar trace metal
contents, which implies that the trace metal content is largely domi-
nated by the availability of the material in the water column and, thus,
the input from surface runoff (e.g., Brumsack, 2006). Uranium contents
in black shales of the Black Sea reach 15–20 ppm (Rolison et al., 2017).
The highest authigenic U contents occur in abyssal sediments and the
lowest ones in sediments of the outer shelf (Anderson and Fleisher,
1991). Sediments of the inner shelf have intermediate U contents. Au-
thigenic U is inversely related to sediment accumulation rate (Anderson
and Fleisher, 1991).
The Permian glaciation covered a large area of southern Africa and
South America. Tillites left behind after this glaciation are covered by
fluvial and lacustrine sandy deposits with regionally widespread and
locally significant U mineralization. The most important of these post-
glacial sedimentary basins is the Parana-Karoo basin of South Africa,
Angola, and Brazil. Smaller basins in similar position are known from
Argentina, Zambia, Tanzania, and Kenya (e.g., Callingasta-Uspallata,
Botswana, Mid-Zambezi, and East African basins; Toens et al., 1980;
Toens and Le Roux, 1981). In these post-glacial sedimentary rocks, U
mineralization is present in high and low grade coal seams and black
shales (Toens et al., 1980). Note, within these basins, there is also U
mineralization in paleochannels in sandstones and delta fans that are
not necessarily related to glaciation and also in higher strata (Toens
et al., 1980) that do not show a relation with glaciation. Uranium of
these settings and strata may represent redistributed material from the
older U-rich strata that became available for redistribution by tectonic
processes leading to uplift and increased erosion. In South Africa, the
richest U-bearing sediments are Late Permian carbonaceous shale and
coal measures of the Hammanskraal Formation within the Springbok
Flats Basin, with 82,000 t U at about 400 ppm (Coles, 1998). The soure
is the U-rich red granite at the top of the Bushveld complex.
Direct evidence for early Paleozoic glaciations on the Baltic Shield is
lacking as glacial sands and scratched pebbles that occur locally (e.g.,
Kulling, 1964; Lindström, 1972) also might reflect high altitude. Fur-
thermore, direct evidence for early Paleozoic glaciation may have been
destroyed as Cambrian and Ordovician rocks have been reworked
during the Caledonian orogeny or have been eroded from the shield
areas and are only locally preserved (e.g., Lidmar-Bergström, 1996;
Lidmar-Bergström and Näslund, 2002). In the Cambrian, Baltica was at
temperate latitudes, but was affected by permafrost as indicated by ice-
wedge casts, tapering fissures, and collapse structures (Cherns and
Wheeley, 2009). These sedimentary rocks with permafrost indications
are overlain by Alum Shales that are preserved in sediments overthrust
by the Caledonian nappes and local remains of the former Phanerozoic
sediment cover of the Baltic shield (e.g., Andersson et al., 1982). The
Scandinavian Alum Shales are characterized by enhanced contents of U,
Mo, and V (Andersson et al., 1982; Berry et al., 1986; Schovsbo, 2003).
Uranium contents vary considerably, being higher shorewards
(Schovsbo, 2002). They may locally reach several hundred ppm
(Andersson et al., 1982). High U contents, which are characteristic for
the Scandinavian Alum Shales have not been observed in coeval black
shales from Llyn Peninsula (Wales), Levis (Quebec), Schaghticoke (New
York), and the Cordillera of Bolivia (Berry et al., 1986), highlighting the
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importance of leachable U sources.
6. Uranium mobilization during the Variscan orogeny
Partial melting of continental crust is the dominant process of U
redistribution during the Variscan orogeny. The major importance of
crustal melting is not the formation of U mineralization, as there is no
granite-bound magmatic U mineralization in Variscan Europe, but the
transport of U from the lower crust to the middle and upper crust and to
make U available for leaching and further redistribution by tectonic and
exogenic processes. The spatial association of structurally controlled U
mineralization with granites, either in the immediate wallrocks or
within the granites, is not related to the cooling of the granites and does
not imply that this type of mineralization is related to granitic mag-
matism, in particular, as isotopic dating reveals that U mineralization
commonly is 20–50 Ma younger than the emplacement of the granites
(e.g., Turpin et al., 1990; Scaillet et al., 1996; Kříbek et al., 1999;
Cathelineau et al., 2004; Hiller and Schuppan, 2008, 2016; Škácha
et al., 2009; Ballouard et al., 2018). Therefore, structurally controlled
mineralization it treated here as post-Variscan tectonic mineralization.
There are three types of Variscan granites that differ in age, tectonic
setting, and heat source, (i) syn-kinematic granites emplaced along
crustal-scale structures at the time of thrusting of Variscan meta-
morphic nappes, (ii) post-kinematic granites that represent crustal
melts that largely form by dehydration melting, and (iii) post-kinematic
granites and related rocks of the Central European Extensional Province
(e.g., Förster and Romer, 2010, Romer et al., 2014b; Couzinié et al.,
2014; Laurent et al., 2017). The syn-kinematic granites are regionally
diachronous as different crustal blocks within the Armorican Spur
collided at different times. They include mantle-derived melts, such as
durbachites, shoshonites, and monzonites (e.g., Wenzel et al., 1997;
Janoušek and Holub, 2007), and melts that formed in the roof of UHT
metamorphic units during their emplacement (e.g., Förster and Romer,
2010). The post-kinematic anatectic melts form in stacks of high-grade
metamorphic rocks, post-dating nappe emplacement by some
10–30 m.y. as in the Erzgebirge, the French Massif Central, or the
Central Iberian Massif (Förster and Romer, 2010; Couzinié et al., 2014;
Pascual et al., 2013; Denèle et al., 2014; Laurent et al., 2017). Melting
may have been induced by emplacement of UHT metamorphic rocks at
depth or CO2-influx into the lower crust (e.g., Cuney and Barbey, 2014;
Romer and Kroner, 2016). Post-kinematic magmatism in the Central
European Extensional Province is the result of the final closure of the
Rheic between Laurussia and Africa along the Appalachian-Mauritanide
belt (Kroner et al., 2016) that results in mantle upwelling with crustal
dehydration melting or decompression melting of metasomatized
mantle. Granites of Cornwall and the Central Iberian Zone (e.g., Müller
et al., 2006; Carvalho et al., 2012), widespread volcanism in Permian
basins (e.g., Timmerman, 2004; Breitkreuz and Mock, 2004), and local
vaugnerite plugs (Couzinié et al., 2014; López-Moro et al., 2017) are
different expressions of the same large-scale tectonic process. These
granites differ in source lithology and melting conditions, but also
chemical composition and U content. The chemical composition con-
trols the crystallization behavior of the melt, in particular whether U
becomes enriched in late melts or is lost to early crystallizing minerals
that eventually are dispersed in the magmatic rocks (cf. Cuney, 2014;
Cuney and Kyser, 2015; Ballouard et al., 2018). The granite composi-
tion also has a fundamental control on the availability of U for future
leaching, as the U host determines whether U is readily available for
redistribution (e.g., U bound in uraninite) or becomes available only
after a significant period to time due to increased metamictization of
the U-host (e.g., allanite; Cuney, 2014; Cuney and Kyser, 2015;
Ballouard et al., 2018).
The granite type controls the nature of the U and Th host minerals.
For instance, the dominant U host in peraluminous granites is uraninite
(e.g., leucogranites of the Limousin and the Erzgebirge; Thomas et al.,
2006; Cuney, 2014). In high-K metaluminous granites, U and Th may be
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
hosted in a wide range of minerals, including allanite, U-thorite, Nb-
oxides, and uraninite (e.g., monzodiorites and monzogranites of the
Bretagne and Erzgebirge; Förster et al., 2000; Cuney, 2014; Ballouard
et al., 2018), whereas in peraluminous granites, U and Th are dom-
inantly hosted in zircon, U-Zr-Th-silicophosphates, and niobates
(Cuney, 2014). The nature of U and Th host minerals determines
whether U and Th eventually become available for redistribution by
leaching. In most peraluminous granites, as much as 90% of U and Th
reside in accessory minerals. Among the accessory minerals in per-
aluminous granites, uraninite hosts 30–90% of the available U and
monazite hosts most Th (Cuney and Friedrich, 1987; Förster and
Förster, 2000). In rocks without monazite, allanite and thorite may be
important hosts for both Th and U (Cuney, 2014). In volcanic rock, a
significant portion of U and Th may be in the glassy matrix (Cuney,
2014). Whether U and Th become available for redistribution depends
on the chemical stability of their host. For instance, uraninite and
volcanic glass are not very stable und U and Th may become readily
leached in presence of oxidized fluids (e.g., Langmuir, 1978; Cuney,
2010). Thus, if oxidized fluids are available, U and Th may become
mobilized from uraninite or volcanic rocks soon after crystallization. In
contrast, zircon, allanite, monazite, xenotime, and niobates are rather
stable and will not release U and Th before the crystal lattice of the host
mineral has become strongly metamict. The destruction of the crystal
lattice by cumulation of α-recoil damages depends on the contents of U
and Th, as well as time. The higher the U and/or Th contents, the
shorter the period of time is needed to damage the crystal lattice suf-
ficiently (domains of overlapping α -recoil damages form a network
that connects with the mineral surface) to make U and Th mobile. The
cummulation of α -recoil damage is counteracted by thermal annealing,
which tends to occur at lower temperatures for phosphates than for
silicates (e.g., Meldrum et al., 1998). Thus, U and Th hosted in zircon,
allanite, monazite, xenotime, and niobates become available for
leaching at different times after crystallization. The fertility of a granite,
thus, may vary over time, depending on the nature of U hosts, thermal
history, and leaching history.
The spatial distribution of particular granite types depends on
source lithologies and melting conditions, which together control
whether U and Th partition during partial melting of the soure rocks
into the melt or the restite. For instance, the spatial distribution of
High-Heat Producing (HHP) granites, which represent fertile source
rocks for U mineralization (e.g., Cuney and Kyser, 2015), in belts re-
flects (i) the spatial distribution of sedimentary protoliths and their
metamorphic equivalents (e.g., Bernard-Griffith et al., 1985; Cuney
et al., 1990; Förster and Romer, 2010) and (ii) that the protoliths may
have been enriched in U (Cuney et al., 1990). In the Armorican Massif
and the Saxo-Thuringian Zone, the only rocks within the various li-
thologic units (Cadomian basement with arc rocks and related sedi-
mentary rocks and its cover of Cambrian to Silurian sedimentary and
volcanic rocks) that have enhanced U contents are black shales (e.g.,
Cuney, 1990; Romer and Hahne, 2010). In these areas, Silurian black
shales are preserved on tectonic blocks that did not experience ex-
tensive Variscan tectonic reworking (e.g., Dabard and Paris, 1986;
Seidel, 2003; Verniers et al., 2008; Romer and Hahne, 2010). As the
Silurian black shales had regional distribution on the Gondwana shelf
(e.g., Lüning et al., 2000a; Le Heron et al., 2009), the reworking of
Gondwana shelf sediments during the Variscan orogeny also involved
Silurian rocks. Thus, it is quite possible that the distribution of HHP
granites is controlled by the distribution of (i) Silurian black shales at
depth and (ii) heat sources resulting in crustal melting. In France, such
granites define a belt that extends along different branches of the South
Armorican Shear Zone into the western French Massif Central (Fig. 8).
All U districts of the Armorican Massif (Pontivy, Guérande, Mortagne)
and the western French Massif Central (Western Marche, Limousin,
Millevaches, Margeride) occur along this belt (Cathelineau et al., 1990;
Turpin et al., 1990). HHP granites also occur in the Vosges, Schwarz-
wald, and Erzgebirge (Figs. 2, 4, and 6; Förster et al., 1999; Förster and
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
Förster, 2000; Tabaud et al., 2015). There is minor U mineralization in
the Vosges and the Schwarzwald and major U mineralization in the
Erzgebirge (Figs. 2, 4, and 6). Silurian black shales and HHP granites
with spatially associated U mineralization are also known from Iberia
(e.g., Martin-Izard et al., 2002; Mohamud et al., 2015). HHP granites
from Cornwall and Nova Scotia (e.g., Chatterjee et al., 1983; Marshall
et al., 2010) show only minor U mineralization (e.g., LeBoutillier, 2002;
Ryan and O'Beirne-Ryan, 2009), possibly reflecting that Avalonia that
had separated from Gondwana in the early Ordovician and was not
glaciated during the late Ordovician (e.g., McKerrow et al., 2000; Cocks
and Fortey, 2009; Pollock et al., 2009; Delabroye and Vecoli, 2010),
which resulted in black shales that had lower U contents than those on
Gondwana with its vaste deglaciated U source area. Thus on Avalonia,
HHP granites may have overall less U available for leaching than
comparable rocks from the heavily mineralized Variscan areas of the
Armorican Spur, such as the Erzgebirge, the Armorican Massif, or the
French Massif Central.
7. Tectonic controls of post-Variscan uranium mobilization in
Europe
There seems to be no magmatic, metamorphic, or hydrothermal U
mineralization related to the Variscan compressional stress regime in
the interior of the orogenic belt. In contrast, there is abundant and lo-
cally important U mineralization associated with the extensional re-
gime that prevailed throughout Western Europe after c. 300 Ma. There
are three types of U mineralization: (i) episyenites, (ii) quartz-pitch-
blende veins, and (iii) sediment-hosted mineralization. Mineralization
of all three types is directly or indirectly tectonically controlled.
Mineralization in episyenites and veins is structurally controlled by
fault and shear zones that acted as transport channels for the miner-
alizing fluids and are the location of wallrock alteration and metal
precipitation. Typically, the formation of episyenite and U mineraliza-
tion are two separate events (cf. Leroy and Turpin, 1988). For sediment-
hosted U mineralization, the tectonic control is more diverse: (a) Faults
are the transport channels for U or the fluid that induced precipitation
of U, whereas the sediments are the traps for U at the unconformity or
within the basin. (b) The sediments are both the transport channels and
traps for U. The role of tectonic processes for the formation of sediment-
hosted mineralization is to develop topography that enhances erosion,
which removes U-depleted near-surface rocks and makes undepleted U
source rocks available for leaching. This link between tectonic pro-
cesses and U mobilization explains why different types of U miner-
alization that form in contrasting environments are essentially coeval
over vast areas. At Lodève, there was a so-called U preconcentration
during the Permian, whereas economic U mineralization formed in the
Jurassic and Cretaceous (Lancelot and Vella, 1989).
Post-Variscan tectonic activity includes (i) the development of the
Central European Extensional Province with late Carboniferous to
Permian sedimentary basins and rifting (Oslo Rift, Southern Permian
Basin, Northern Permian Basin) during the final stages of the closure of
the Rheic ocean along the Appalachian-Mauritanide belt (e.g., Ziegler,
1990; Roscher and Schneider, 2006; Kroner et al., 2016), (ii) opening of
the Tethys (e.g., Ziegler, 1988; Gómez and Goy, 2005; Kroner et al.,
2016), (iii), opening of the Central Atlantic (e.g., Vogt and Tucholke,
1989; Nomade et al., 2007), (iv) opening of the Northern Atlantic with
establishing of new rifting zones and changes in spreading rate at c.
180 Ma, 150 Ma, 120 Ma, and 80 Ma (Vogt and Tucholke, 1989), and
(v) Cretaceous basin inversion during Iberia-Africa convergence and the
initial stages of the Alpine orogeny (e.g., Cuney, 1978; Voigt et al.,
2008; Kley and Voigt, 2008). Even though the various events of tectonic
reactivation are listed as separate events, some of them overlap or show
continuous transitions from one to the other. Common to these tectonic
events is that they mobilized brines in Mezozoic basins, which resulted
in the formation of fault-bound vein-type mineralization typically
containing Pb, Zn, Ba, and/or F (e.g., Patrier et al., 1997; Boiron et al.,
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
2002; Romer et al., 2010), as well as in the redistribution of U (Cuney,
1978; Förster, 1996). The economically most important period of U
mobilization and mineralization in Central and Western Europe is the
late Carboniferous and especially the early Permian, when U-fertile
granites and volcanic rocks became available for leaching. (e.g., Leroy
and Holliger, 1984; Förster, 1996; Cuney and Kyser, 2015; Ballouard
et al., 2018).
(i) Uranium mineralization related to episyenites. This type of mi-
neralization is particularly important in the French Massif Central
and to a lesser extent in the Central Iberian Zone (e.g., Cathelineau,
1986; Patrier et al., 1997; López-Moro et al., 2013). Episyenites
typically form at the expense of (two mica) leucogranites and felsic
gneisses by dequartzification occasionally associated with the
formation of secondary albite or K-feldspar. This type of alteration
typically occurs in the temperature range of 450–350 °C by low-
salinity aqueous fluids. As these altered rocks are highly perme-
able, early high-temperature alteration may be followed by a series
of hydrothermal alteration stages at increasingly lower tempera-
ture, including precipitation of adularia and quartz, silicification,
argillitization, and kaolinitization, and supergene alteration
(Leroy, 1978, 1984; Cathelineau, 1986; Leroy and Turpin, 1988;
Patrier et al., 1997). Episyenites are structurally controlled and
occur along fault and shear zones or form pipes (Pécher et al.,
1985; Lespinasse and Pécher, 1986). There are barren and miner-
alized episyenites. Fluid inclusions from primary uraninite within
episyenite dominantly fall in the range from 250 to 200 °C, which
is distintly lower than fluid inclusions in episyenite (450–350 °C;
Cathelineau, 1986). Fluid temperatures in the range 150–100 °C
seem to be related to later redistributions (e.g., Lespinasse and
Cathelineau, 1990; El Jarray et al., 1994). Isotopic dating indicates
that episyenite formation and U mineralization is related to two
separate events, as most episyenites yield ages around 305 Ma and
U mineralization typically yields ages around 290–280 Ma or
younger (e.g., Turpin et al., 1990). Isotopic dating also indicates
that there are several periods of U mineralization and that there
may be multiple events of mineralization or redistribution (e.g.,
Lévêque et al., 1988).
(ii) Quartz-(sulfide)-uraninite-pitchblende veins. Vein-hosted U mi-
neralization is particularly important in the Erzgebirge, French
Massif Central, and Armorica (Figs. 6 and 8). This type of U mi-
neralization formed during rifting in the Central European Exten-
sional Province around 290–270 Ma (e.g., Förster, 1996; Ballouard
et al., 2018). Mineralization is spatially closely associated with U-
fertile granites (U commonly hosted in uraninite or allanite) that
acted as source for U leaching. The granites are 30–50 m.y. older
than the mineralization (e.g., Cathelineau et al., 1990; Förster,
1996; Romer et al., 2010; Ballouard et al., 2018). Mineralization
may be particularly rich in segments that cut sufide- or organic-
rich sedimentary or metamorphic rocks that may have acted as
traps (e.g., Runge, 2001). Major tectonic lineaments influence the
distribution of vein type mineralization in double sense: these
structures controlled the emplacement and shape of the granites
and their brittle reactivation formed the mineralized structures,
such as Riedel faults to the major lineament and faults along
contacts between rocks of contrasting rheological properties. There
was repeated U redistribution that seems to fall in the same age
ranges as distinct large-scale tectonic events at c. 180, 150, and
120 Ma, and more recently during the Alpine orogeny (e.g., Romer
et al., 2010; Ballouard et al., 2018). There are also regional dif-
ferences in the mineral and metal assemblages, which indicates
that the local wallrocks played an important role as metal source.
For instance, the oldest (Permian) vein-type U mineralization in
the Erzgebirge is characterized by quartz-sulfide (Fe, As, Cu, Zn,
Pb, and Se), quartz-hematite, and U-quartz-calcite associations that
have been overprinted by multiple younger hydrothermal mineral
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
assemblages, which not only redistributed U within the veins, but
introduced other metals, most prominently Ag-Sb and Bi-Co-Ni
(e.g., Hiller and Schuppan, 2008; Ondruš et al., 2003a,b). In con-
trast, vein-type U mineralization on Armorica, in the French Massif
Central, and in Iberia does not have such complex metal associa-
tions, even though Bi is locally associated with U (e.g., Chauris,
1977; Cuney, 1978). Most vein-type U mineralization shows in
addition to this tectonically controlled hydrothermal redistribution
also low-temperature U redistribution via oxidative fluids that lo-
cally have redistributed U to several hundred meters depth (e.g.,
Cuney, 1978; Runge, 2001; Hiller and Schuppan, 2008).
(iii) Black shale- and sandstone-hosted U mineralization. The sedi-
mentary rocks represent the U trap. Tectonic processes make U
available for transport, both by opening the transport channels or
by tectonic uplift, which turn results in increased erosion and,
thus, brings rocks to the surface that have not loss U during earlier
leaching, but still respresent a source of leachable U. Thus, tectonic
uplift eventually results in an increase of dissolved U surface
runoff.
(a) Faults in the basement cut through organic- and/or sulfide-rich
strata overlying the basement. Uranium leached from the
basement or mobilized from U mineralization in the basement
is precipitated as U-bearing fluids migrating along the faults
interact with these overlying reducing sedimentary rocks.
(b) Uranium is transported within permeable layers of a sedi-
mentary unit and is precipitated at locations with organic-
and/or sufide-rich layers in sandstones and shales. Commonly,
fluid migration and U precipitation occurs in the basal sedi-
mentary units above the unconformity. Locally, however, fluid
flow may have also permeated into the heavily altered, sa-
propelic basement to form U mineralization (e.g., Tonndorf,
2000).
The importance of tectonic processes on sediment-hosted U miner-
alization possibly is best illustrated by the Cretaceous and Tertiary
tectonic reactivation of old structures in Western Europe. Cretaceous
tectonic reactivation resulted in basin inversion and uplift of basement
blocks and is recorded in erosional discordances in the sedimentary
record (e.g., Peyaud et al., 2005), the abundance of Cretaceous apatite
fission-track (120–80 Ma) and apatite and fluorite (U-Th-Sm)-He ages
(110–80 Ma, e.g., Barbarand et al., 2001; Danišík et al., 2012; Vamvaka
et al., 2014; Wolff et al., 2015), locally important hydrothermal struc-
turally-controlled Ba-F and Pb-Zn mineralization (e.g., Boiron et al.,
2002; Schmidt Mumm and Wolfgramm, 2004), the redistribution of U
in older vein-type U mineralization (e.g., Lévêque et al., 1988; Förster,
1996), and the deposition of regionally important continental sand-
stones (e.g., Uličný, 2001; Uličný et al., 2009). Tectonic inversion
makes U sources available for leaching and generates the siliciclastic
debris that eventually represents the U trap and, thus, the host rock of U
mineralization. Thus, both mineralization and host rocks result from
tectonic inversion. Uranium in the Cenomanian sandstones at König-
stein (Fig. 6) possibly is derived from the Markersbach granite (e.g.,
Tonndorf, 2000), whereas U for the mineralization in the Cenomanian
sandstones at Hamr, Osečná, and Stráž may have been leached from the
granitic rocks of the Sudetes. Similarly, the uplift of the Erzgebirge in
the Tertiary resulted in the formation of U mineralization in lignites in
the Eger Graben (Fig. 6). The spatial closeness of U-bearing lignites to
the Jáchymov ore district highlights the importance of the distribution
of fertile source rocks for the distribution of younger sediment-bound
mineralization.
8. Exogenic controls of post-Variscan uranium mobilization in
Europe
Leachable U is readily lost from oxidized rocks at surface. Extreme
environmental conditions are relevant for U mineralization by making
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
U available for leaching (for instance removing earlier leached rocks by
glacial erosion), controlling the distribution of areas of particular in-
tense leaching, and controlling the distribution of traps for U pre-
cipitation (e.g., anoxic conditions on the shelf and in lakes or super-
saturation of groundwater in arid basins). For exogenic U
mineralization to form, a U source and a U trap, generally a reducing
environment, have to occur at the same time and have to be in close
spatial context in the sense that transport of U from the source to the
sink has to be possible. A source without a trap will become U-depleted
without forming U mineralization, whereas a trap without an un-
depleted U source in the drainage area has little U to cumulate and,
therefore, is not likely to concentrate significant U mineralization.
In Western Europe, the Hirnantian glaciation was important for U
mineralization, as glacial erosion brought rocks to the surface that had
not yet lost their leachable U and melting of the ice sheets eventually
led to the Silurian transgression with black shale deposits on the
Gondwana shelf (Fig. 10; see Section 5). Later glaciations were not as
important for U mineralization in Variscan Europe, but have resulted in
U-rich black shale in other areas. For instance, the late Carboniferous to
Permian Karoo glaciation did not affect present Europe (Fig. 10) except
for sealevel changes. Thus, rocks that already had lost their leachable U
remained at the surface. The Quaternary glaciation apparently did not
develop major traps, even though anomalous enrichment of U in local
post-glacial wetland, bogs, and swamps is well documented (e.g.,
Wilson, 1984; Regenspurg et al., 2010). Furthermore, the distribution
of U contents in European Quaternary soil and stream sediments does
not follow the distribution of glaciated areas (Plant et al., 2003). In-
stead, the highest U contents are found (i) in the Variscan Massifs that
have important U-fertile granites, a history of U mining, and periglacial
deposits and (ii) in Alpine areas (which include reworked Variscan
basement). In contrast, stream sediments from Scandinavia, which have
been covered by an ice sheet, generally have relatively low U contents
(Plant et al., 2003) except for stream sediments (and to a lesser extent in
soil) from areas in southern Norway and Finland that have importat
rare element pegmatites and related granites. Thus, glaciation may
rejuvenate an old land surface, but whether a formerly glaciated area
represents an important U source largely depends on the lithology and
the nature of U-hosting minerals at the exposed surface.
There is significant U mineralization in areas that have been directly
affected by the Karoo glaciation (Fig. 10). In Europe, however, the in-
fluence of the Karoo glaciation was restricted. Eustatic sealevel fluc-
tuation (e.g., Catuneanu et al., 2005) locally resulted in the formation
of organic-rich sediments. With the possible exception of high-altitude
areas, there was no Karoo glaciation in Europe. Thus in coastal areas of
Europe, the Karoo glaciation may have resulted in the formation of U
traps, but there were no leachable U sources at the surface available.
Only in high-altitude areas, local glaciations may have produced re-
stricted U sources that eventually might have given rise to local Alpine-
type peat and bog mineralization, which has a low preservation po-
tential. The Permian represents the most important period of U mi-
neralization in Western and Central Europe. Permian U deposits are not
related to glaciation in the U source. Instead, Permian U mineralization
in Western and Central Europe is related to tectonic processes.
Intense chemical alteration with the complete decomposition of
feldspar is enhanced by both elevated temperatures and high atmo-
spheric CO2 (e.g., Avigad et al., 2005), but also requires a gentle to-
pography that allows for a long residence of the sediments on the
continent. The intense chemical alteration during the Cambrian (and
Ordovician) that eventually resulted in the formation of mature sand-
stones all over Gondwana (e.g., Avigad et al., 2005; Meinhold et al.,
2013) not only decomposed feldspar, but also removed readily oxidized
minerals, such as Mo- and U-bearing minerals. Thus, intense chemical
alteration is an efficient process to mobilize U and to deplete a source
lithology in U. During the Cambrian and Ordovician, there were no
traps for U in areas of future Variscan Europe, with the possible ex-
ception of continental basins where sandstone-hosted and surficial U
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mineralization may have formed. During the extension of the northern
margin of Gondwana, which eventually resulted in the opening of the
Rheic Ocean, Cambrian and early Ordovician sediments on Gondwana
were largely eroded and redistributed to the shelf areas of Gondwana.
Therefore, Cambrian and Ordovician rocks of Gondwana are poor
source rocks for younger U mineralization. The situation changed with
the Hirnantian glaciation that resulted in the exposure of basement
rocks that did not lose U during earlier weathering and alteration (see
above).
The Carboniferous to Permian assembly of Pangea eventually re-
sulted in a large-scale desertification of Gondwana and Variscan Europe
(Michel et al., 2015), largely due to the closure of the Rheic Ocean and
the overall northdrift of Pangea (Roscher and Schneider, 2006;
Schneider et al., 2006). The trend of increasing desertification was in-
terrupted by several phases of more humid climate. In each phase, the
increase of humidity occurs toward the top of the corresponding glacial
cycle, which implies the humid phases on northern Gondwana are
coupled with the growth of ice sheets on southern Gondwana (Roscher
and Schneider, 2006; Schneider et al., 2006). Both plate drift and cli-
matic changes influence the nature of U trap on northern Gondwana
with its marine and lacustrine coastal swamps in the Carboniferous
(e.g., coal-bearing Döhlen and Lodève basins) to the predominance of
desert basins in the Permian. The different nature of traps in turn also
would result in different types of U mineralization, whereas the coeval
availability of leachable U determines the importance of U miner-
alization. The contrasting availability of U for leaching in the Carbo-
niferous may account for rich U mineralization the Döhlen basin and
only minor U mineralization in the Stockheim basins (e.g., Dill, 1987;
Reichel and Schauer, 2006).
Periods of intense chemical weathering due to a particularly ag-
gressive atmosphere (high CO2) or high temperatures are important for
U mineralization because of the following reasons: (i) intense chemical
weathering results in extreme source depletion and younger traps are
unlikely to receive surface U; (ii) in semi-arid and arid environments, U
may concentrate locally in closed basins (roll-front type and calcrete-
hosted U mineralization); (iii) the oxidized zone may penetrate deeper,
resulting in the redistribution of U to deeper, still reduced levels.
The important feature of deep alteration and oxidation of near-
surface rocks is that these rocks lose their leachable U during this
process and thereafter do not represent a U source in continuation.
Furthermore, U mobilization occurs only over a short period until near-
surface rocks are depleted in leachable U and stop to be U sources,
independent whether environmental conditions are favorable for U
mobilization. Existing near-surface U mineralization and U-rich rocks
may be affected in two different ways: (i) oxidation of U mineralization,
U-fertile granites, or black shales may result in the mobilization and
dispersion of U eventually resulting in the destruction of older U mi-
neralization or depletion of potential U source rocks (e.g., Fischer et al.,
2009). (ii) Mobilization of U by deeply penetrating oxidized meteoric
fluids results in loss of U in the oxidation zone and cumulation of U in
the reduction zone. In particualr for older U mineralization, this may
result in strong local U enrichment (e.g., Hiller and Schuppan, 2008;
Bolonin and Gradovsky, 2012).
9. Uranium mineralization in Variscan Europe – the result of
coupled endogenic and exogenic processes
The spatial distribution of U mineralization within the Variscan
orogeny is in a first-order approach dominantly controlled by the dis-
tribution of Silurian hot shales. These shales formed on the proximal
shelf on the northern part of Gondwana after the Hirnantian glaciation.
The particular feature of these black shales and their high U content is
their causal relation with the Hirnantian glaciation that (i) created the
U source by glacial erosion of the old land surface; (ii) made undepleted
source rocks available for leaching during and after the melting of the
ice sheet; and (iii) created the sedimentary trap due to sea level rise
R.L. Romer, M. Cuney
during melting that in combination with the stratified water body
(sweet water on salt water) and high organic productivity eventually
resulted in anoxic conditions. Enhanced U contents probably are re-
stricted to the inner shelf and are confined to a short period of time, as
leaching of the glacially modeled land surface rather rapidly depleted
the U source.
Redistribution of U from the Silurian black shales took a wide range
of different paths that are linked to endogenic and exogenic processes
that made U available for redistribution and created traps for con-
centration of U.
(i) Stacking of Paleozoic sedimentary packages locally repeated U-
rich lithologies. Although this process is unlikely to result in mi-
neralization, it increases the amount of U locally available for later
redistribution. In the Ronneburg area, the stacking of Silurian
black shales may have been an essential feature for this district to
develop subsequently major U mineralization.
(ii) Partial melting of high-grade metamorphic rocks after the empla-
cement of the metamorphic nappes resulted in the partitioning of U
from the metamorphic rocks into the melts. The emplacement of
these melts in the upper crust redistributes U from the lower crust
to the middle and upper crust. Within the Variscan orogen, most
high-grade nappe complexes are dominated by metamorphosed
sedimentary rocks of the former Gondwana shelf. Among these
sedimentary rocks, the Silurian black shales are particularly U-rich.
Partial melting of metamorphosed Silurian black shales not only
may enhance the U contents in the melt, but also may contribute to
the reduced character of the melts. Thus, assimilation and partial
melting of Silurian black shales may explain, why some Variscan
two–mica leucogranites carry accessory uraninite. Permian vol-
canism reflecting large-scale crustal extension with mantle up-
welling and crustal melting reflects a second magmatic event that
may have redistributed U to the upper crust and the surface.
(iii) Late- and post-Variscan hydrothermal U mineralization involved
the leaching of granitic (in particular two-mica leucogranites with
accessory uraninite) and sedimentary source rocks (in particular
Silurian black shales). The spatial distribution of hydrothermal U
mineralization is controlled by the spatial distribution of U-fertile
two-mica leucogranites (possibly reflecting the distribution of
Silurian black shales at depth) and Silurian black shales at the level
of hydrothermal fluid circulation along fault zones. The miner-
alized structures are spatially closely related to the granites as the
emplacement of the granites is controlled by older shear and fault
zones and later stress on the continental crust reactivated favor-
ably oriented old structures. This includes the same structures al-
ready exploited by the granites, but also rheological contrasts
along the granite contact or within the contact metamorphic aur-
eole. Such repeated reactivation of old structures explains both the
spatial coincidence of episyenite and U mineralization, which
formed at different temperatures and different time (e.g.,
Cathelineau, 1986; Turpin et al., 1990), and the multiple episodes
of hydrothermal redistribution within vein-type U mineralization
(e.g., Ondruš et al., 2003a; Hiller and Schuppan, 2008).
(iv) Post-Variscan U mobilization within the Variscan belt mainly is
controlled by weathering and hydrothermal mobilization. The
most important periods of U mineralization are the Permian, which
in Europe mainly is linked to the extensional event of the Central
European Extensional Province, and later basin inversions related
to the spreading of the Atlantic Ocean and/or to the Alpine colli-
sion.
The formation of endogenic mineralization is largely controlled by
the availability of source rocks and a heat source that mobilizes U into
melts or hydrothermal fluids. Source depletion occurs when U hosted in
volcanic glass, uraninite, or strongly metamict U-bearing minerals is
mobilized. If metamict minerals represent an important U host, the
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Ore Geology Reviews 102 (2018) 474–504
cooling history of their host rock is essential for making U available for
leaching. Heating induces recrystallization and may lead to the in-
corporation of U into the crystal lattice of the host mineral, which
makes U unavailable for mobilization and redistribution. Long re-
sidence at low temperature, which eventually results in the acquisition
of significant radiation damage and turns the host mineral of U and Th
increasingly metamict, makes U available for leaching and redistribu-
tion. It should be noted that volcanic rocks and uraninite are “instant” U
sources as their U content is available for redistribution under oxidizing
conditions right after the rock or mineral formed, whereas silicate,
niobate, and phosphate minerals that substitute U into their crystal
lattice are “delayed” U sources as their U only may become mobilized
after the host mineral has become metamict. If the U content of a rock is
distributed among different accessory minerals with appreciable con-
tents of U and/or Th, the various accessory minerals may become
“sufficient” metamictized to allow for U mobilization at different time,
depending on the contents of U and Th and the temperature at which
annealing of radiation damage takes place. Such samples may be re-
peatedly fertile, even though the leachable U in the various leaching
events is likely to be contributed from different accessory minerals.
The formation of exogenic mineralization is strongly controlled by
the coupled availability of U sources and traps, as a source generally
becomes depleted. If there is no trap available at that time, leached U
becomes dispersed, no mineralization forms. Similarly, a trap will not
be mineralized if the source already is depleted. Active tectonic pro-
cesses may make undepleted U sources available for erosion and
leaching. Thus, periods of tectonic activity correspond to periods of
exogenic U redistribution and U eventually mineralization such that
endogenic processes indirectly control exogenic U mineralization.
Acknowledgments
We thank Uwe Kroner (TU Freiberg) for discussion and the tem-
plates to several maps. We greatfully appreciate the very careful and
detailed review of an anonymous reviewer and the thoughtful editorial
handling by Franco Pirajno.
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