Open-File Report 02-227
The National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) was a program of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and began in 1973 with the goal of identifying the uranium resources of the United States. Although the AEC was abolished by Congress in 1974, the NURE program continued under the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA). When ERDA, in turn, was abolished in 1977, responsibility for the NURE program was transferred to the Department of Energy (DOE; Smith, 2000).
The Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) program, part of NURE, was initiated in 1976 under the perview of four DOE national laboratories: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (now Los Alamos National Laboratory), Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and Savannah River Laboratory (now Savannah River Site). These laboratories were responsible for the systematic sampling and chemical analysis of water and sediment samples in the entire United States. Before 1977, NURE HSSR sampling was carried out on a study-area (state, county, or geomorphic province) basis, but in 1977 the basis was changed to 1° x 2° quadrangle. Later, additional sampling filled in some of the gaps between study-area and quadrangle boundaries. When the NURE program, including HSSR, ended in 1983-84 because funding was no longer available, 307 out of 625 quadrangles in the continental United States had been completely sampled and 86 quadrangles had been partially sampled (Smith, 2000).
Two laboratories were responsible for the collection of samples within our study area (southeastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho, northeastern California, and northern Nevada): Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLL) and Savannah River Laboratory (SRL). LLL originally was responsible for sampling in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. When their participation in the NURE program ended in 1979, responsibility for unsampled quadrangles in these seven western states was passed to SRL (Smith, 2000).
SRL originally was responsible for sampling in 25 states in the eastern United States and assumed responsibility for seven additional states after LLL's participation in NURE ended. SRL collected about 400,000 water and sediment samples. Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, Colorado, edited and issued thirty rough drafts of SRL's reports after their participation in NURE ended (Smith, 2000).
The above information, and the original NURE data, are available at the USGS's National Geochemical Database (NURE) website (http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/pub/open-file-reports/ofr-97-0492).
In 1992, the USGS, in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Bureau of Mines, undertook a mineral-resource assessment of the Winnemucca-Surprise (WS) Resource Assessment Area, which was composed of the BLM's Winnemucca District in northwest Nevada and Susanville District in northeast California and northwest Nevada. In the course of this study, 3,551 previously collected NURE stream-sediment and soil samples were reanalyzed chemically in USGS laboratories. In addition, in order to assure complete sampling coverage for the mineral-resource assessment, the USGS collected and chemically analyzed 321 new stream-sediment samples. The data, along with sampling and analysis protocols, and some information on quality control, were originally reported in King and others (1996). A preliminary interpretation of some of these data was also published at that time (Peters and others, 1996).
Also beginning in 1992, the USGS performed a mineral-resource assessment of the Mahleur, Jordan, and Andrews BLM Resource Areas in Oregon and Idaho. During this assessment, 2,516 previously collected NURE stream-sediment and soil samples were reanalyzed chemically in USGS laboratories. In addition, the USGS collected and chemically analyzed 161 new stream-sediment samples. These data were stored in the USGS's PLUTO geochemical database. Portions of this database, including the Malheur-Jordan-Andrews data, can be found in Baedecker and others, 1998. An interpretation of the geochemical data to support the mineral-resource assessment is in press (Carlson and Lee).
The USGS, in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management, began a mineral-resource assessment of the Humboldt River basin in northern Nevada in October, 1995. In support of this assessment, 3,712 previously-collected NURE stream-sediment and soil samples from the McDermitt, Wells, Winnemucca, Elko, Millett, Ely, and Tonopah 1° x 2° quadrangles were reanalyzed chemically by the USGS via a contract with the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. These data were made available on CD-ROM by Folger (2000).
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