Fifty five samples from the Koongarra uranium deposit have been analysed for radiometric disequilibrium.
The deposit is situated in the Northern Territory, Australia and consists primarily of steeply dipping pitchblende veins overlain by a dispersion fan of weathered ore. The disequilibrium ratios, which assess the degree to which the emitted gamma radiation represents the uranium content of a sample,
show the pitchblende ore to be at, or close to, equilibrium. The host wall rocks, which have a low uranium grade, and some samples from the dispersion fan have low ratios indicating radium enrichment.
Analysis of Variance of the data was performed to determine if significant disequilibrium trends were associated with sample location, grade, rock type or grouping by ore type. A significant trend was found in samples from the dispersion fan where the disequilibrium ratio increases in the direction of the groundwater flow, indicating movement of uranium in these waters. No conclusive evidence was found for movement of uranium from depth to the dispersion fan and the fan is apparently a result of weathering processes on a previous upward extension of the primary pitchblende veins. Redistribution of both uranium and radium has occurred at depth within primary ore zones and host wall rocks.