Uranium in Carbonaceous Clays in Neyveli South Arcot, Madras State

Since some low-rank coals have been found to contain significant amounts of uranium in several countries, the recently exposed Lignite bed at Neyveli, S. Arcot, was examined for its uranium content. Though the lignite itself was found to contain only a poor amount of uranium, a carbonaceous clay bed immediately overlying the lignite showed uranium in amounts varying from .005% to .086%. From the nature of the occurrence and the radio ­ active disequilibrium seen in the clays, the uranium appears to have been emplaced in the clays by groundwater, which leached it from the crystalline rocks to the north and north-west of Neyveli. Uranium is apparently present in the carbonaceous clays as urano ­ organic complex.