Advances on geological-geochemical research of coal-type uranium in China

There is a huge gap in uranium resources in China. Only developing traditional uranium resources is unable to meet the increasing demand in energy and national defense construction. The exploitation and utilization of coal-type uranium resources can relieve the pressure of demand for uranium resources to a certain extent. By summarizing the research results of coal-type uranium in recent years, the ore location, uranium content range, formation time and distribution range of coal-bearing strata of major coal-type uranium deposits in China, and the definition criteria of coal-type uranium are given, which provides a basis for the classification of coal-type uranium deposits. The occurrence, metallogenic mechanism and influencing factors of coal-type uranium deposits are comprehensively expounded. Generally speaking, the research on coal-type uranium is insufficient, among which the micro-geological selection process is insufficient, and the identification of the micro-geological selection process of uranium enrichment in coal is very important for understanding the metallogenic mechanism; the study on the time and stage of coal-type uranium mineralization needs to be further deepened, which is conducive to analyzing the mineralization model of coal-type uranium and revealing the genetic association between coal-type uranium and associated sandstone-type uranium deposits. It will further deepen the understanding of the mechanism of coal-type uranium mineralization.