Abstract: Reactive transport modeling is known to be computationally intensive when applied to 3D problems. Transforming sequential computing on the computer processor units (CPU) into parallelized computation on the high-performance parallel graphic processor units (GPU) is a classical approach to increasing computational performance. Another complementary approach is to decompose a complex 3D modeling problem into a set of simpler 1D problems using streamline approaches which can be easily parallelized, therefore reducing computation time. This paper investigates solutions to the equations governing dissolution and transport using streamlines coupled with a parallelization approach. In addition, an analytical solution to the dissolution and transfer equations of uranium describing the In-Situ Leaching (ISL) mining recovery is found using an approximation series to the 2nd order. The analytical solution is compared to the 1D numerical resolution along the streamlines and to the 3D simulation results superimposed on the streamline. Both approaches give similar results with a relative error of \textless2 % (2%). The proposed methodology is then applied to a case study in which the classical 3D resolution is compared to the newly suggested streamline solution, demonstrating that the streamline approach increases computational performances by a factor ranging from hundred to thousand depending on the complexity of the grid-block model.

Abstract: The common sulfide mineral pyrite is abundant throughout sedimentary uranium systems at Pepegoona, Pepegoona West and Pannikan, Lake Eyre Basin, South Australia. Combined chemical, isotopic and microstructural analysis of pyrite indicates variation in fluid composition, sulfur source and precipitation conditions during a protracted mineralization event. The results show the significant role played by pyrite as a metal scavenger and monitor of fluid changes in low-temperature hydrothermal systems. In-situ micrometer-scale sulfur isotope analyses of pyrite demonstrated broad-scale isotopic heterogeneity (δ34S=−43.9 to +32.4‰VCDT), indicative of complex, multi-faceted pyrite evolution, and sulfur derived from more than a single source. Preserved textures support this assertion and indicate a genetic model involving more than one phase of pyrite formation. Authigenic pyrite underwent prolonged evolution and recrystallization, evidenced by a genetic relationship between archetypal framboidal aggregates and pyrite euhedra. Secondary hydrothermal pyrite commonly displays hyper-enrichment of several trace elements (Mn, Co, Ni, As, Se, Mo, Sb, W and Tl) in ore-bearing horizons. Hydrothermal fluids of magmatic and meteoric origins supplied metals to the system but the geochemical signature of pyrite suggests a dominantly granitic source and also the influence of mafic rock types. Irregular variation in δ34S, coupled with oscillatory trace element zonation in secondary pyrite, is interpreted in terms of continuous variations in fluid composition and cycles of diagenetic recrystallization. A late-stage oxidizing fluid may have mobilized selenium from pre-existing pyrite. Subsequent restoration of reduced conditions within the aquifer caused ongoing pyrite re-crystallization and precipitation of selenium as native selenium. These results provide the first qualitative constraints on the formation mechanisms of the uranium deposits at Beverley North. Insights into depositional conditions and sources of both sulfide and uranium mineralization and an improved understanding of pyrite geochemistry can also underpin an effective vector for uranium exploration at Beverley North and other sedimentary systems of the Lake Eyre Basin, as well as in comparable geological environments elsewhere.

Abstract: We show evidence that the primary uranium minerals, uraninite and coffinite, from high-grade ore samples (U3O8\textgreater0.3%) in the Wuyiyi, Wuyier, and Wuyisan sandstone-hosted roll-front uranium deposits, Xinjiang, northwestern China were biogenically precipitated and psuedomorphically replace fungi and bacteria. Uranium (VI), which was the sole electron acceptor, was likely to have been enzymically reduced. Post-mortem accumulation of uranium may have also occurred through physio-chemical interaction between uranium and negatively-charged cellular sites, and inorganic adsorption or precipitation reactions. These results suggest that microorganisms may have played a key role in formation of the sandstone- or roll-type uranium deposits, which are among the most economically significant uranium deposits in the world.