Magnetic Titanohematite Minerals in Uranium-Bearing Sandstones

Detrital grains of the rhombohedral ilmenite (FeT1O3)--hematite (Fe2O3) solid solution series (titanohematites) have been identified by thermomagnetic, reflection microscopic, and X-ray diffraction analysis in six uranium-bearing sandstones in the western United States. Many of the titanohematites are ferrimagnetic and have Curie temperatures ranging from about 70 Deg C to 220 Deg C. Magnetic titanohematite is commonly more abundant than magnetite in many samples and, therefore, should be considered as a major source of the permanent magnetization in these units.