Mineral Evolution Database

Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.

Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org

The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.

Locality Name:
Oklo Mine, Franceville, Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon

Oldest recorded age at locality: 2200
Youngest recorded age at locality: 1720

mindat Locality ID: 1749
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-1749.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Oklo Mine, Franceville, Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon": 0
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 0

Latitude: 1°30'"S
Longitude: 13°16'0"E
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): -1.5,13.266666666667

A	This mineral is Anthropogenic.
G	This mineral is directly dated.
B	This mineral is reported as having this age.
Y	This mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
O	This mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
R	The age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
P	The age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
	This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

Apatite	Baryte	Calcite	Chalcopyrite	Chlorite	Clay	Copper	Corundum	Covellite	Diaspore
Digenite	Fluorite	Fritzscheite	Mica	Minium	Molybdenite	Nolanite	None	Phosphuranylite	Pyrite
Quartz	Rocksalt	Scheelite	Schoepite	Sphalerite	Titanite	Wölsendorfite	Zircon

Baryte ()*	Bassetite ()*	Bornite ()*	Calcite ()*	Chalcopyrite ()*
Chervetite ()*	Coffinite ()*	Copper ()*	Covellite ()*	Curienite ()*
Dewindtite ()*	Digenite ()*	Duttonite ()*	Fluorapatite ()*	Fourmarierite ()*
Francevillite ()*	Galena ()*	Goethite ()*	Hematite ()*	Ilmenite ()*
Karelianite ()*	Kasolite ()*	Lead ()*	Metavanuralite ()*	Minium ()*
Molybdenite ()*	Montroseite ()*	Muscovite ()*	Nolanite ()*	Pyrite ()*
Quartz ()*	Roscoelite ()*	Rutherfordine ()*	Sphalerite ()*	Sudoite ()*
Titanite ()*	Torbernite ()*	Uraninite ()*	Uranophane-α ()*	Vanuralite ()*
Wölsendorfite ()*	Wulfenite ()*	Zircon ()*

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al Ba C Ca Cu F Fe H K Mg Mo O P Pb S Si Ti U V Zn Zr

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: Al Ba C Ca Cu F Fe H K Mg Mo O P Pb S Si Ti U V Zn Zr

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality:
Apatite Baryte Calcite Chalcopyrite Chlorite Clay Copper Corundum Covellite Diaspore
Digenite Fluorite Fritzscheite Mica Minium Molybdenite Nolanite None Phosphuranylite Pyrite
Quartz Rocksalt Scheelite Schoepite Sphalerite Titanite Wölsendorfite Zircon

43 IMA Minerals at location:

Mineral name	Structural Groups	IMA Formula	Max Age (Ma)	Min Age (Ma)	# of localities containing mineral
Baryte ()*	Baryte	Ba(SO₄)	2200	1720	11547
Bassetite ()*	None	Fe²⁺(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂(H₂O)₁₀	1840	1720	51
Bornite ()*	None	Cu₅FeS₄	2200	1720	5516
Calcite ()*	Calcite	Ca(CO₃)	2200	1720	27770
Chalcopyrite ()*	Chalcopyrite	CuFeS₂	2200	1720	27198
Chervetite ()*	None	Pb₂V⁵⁺₂O₇	2200	1720	7
Coffinite ()*	Zircon	U(SiO₄)·nH₂O	2200	2200	566
Copper ()*	Copper	Cu	2200	1720	3846
Covellite ()*	Covellite	CuS	2200	1720	4165
Curienite ()*	Fritzscheite	Pb(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂·5H₂O	1840	1720	15
Dewindtite ()*	Phosphuranylite	H₂Pb₃(UO₂)₆O₄(PO₄)₄·12H₂O	1840	1720	82
Digenite ()*	Digenite	Cu_1.8S	2200	1720	1027
Duttonite ()*	None	V⁴⁺O(OH)₂	2200	1720	7
Fluorapatite ()*	Apatite	Ca₅(PO₄)₃F	2200	1720	2740
Fourmarierite ()*	Schoepite	Pb_1-xO_3-2x(UO₂)₄(OH)_4+2x·4H₂O	1840	1720	61
Francevillite ()*	Fritzscheite	Ba(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂·5H₂O	1840	1720	43
Galena ()*	Rocksalt	PbS	2200	1720	24243
Goethite ()*	Diaspore	FeO(OH)	2200	1720	7437
Hematite ()*	Corundum	Fe₂O₃	2200	1720	14640
Ilmenite ()*	Corundum	Fe²⁺Ti⁴⁺O₃	2200	1720	5433
Karelianite ()*	Corundum	V₂O₃	2200	1720	17
Kasolite ()*	None	Pb(UO₂)(SiO₄)·H₂O	1840	1720	198
Lead ()*	Copper	Pb	2200	1720	192
Metavanuralite ()*	None	Al(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂(OH)·8H₂O	1840	1720	4
Minium ()*	Minium	Pb²⁺₂Pb⁴⁺O₄	2200	1720	247
Molybdenite ()*	Molybdenite	MoS₂	2200	1720	5800
Montroseite ()*	Diaspore	(V³⁺,Fe²⁺,V⁴⁺)O(OH)	2200	1720	136
Muscovite ()*	Mica Clay	KAl₂(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₂	2200	1720	17380
Nolanite ()*	Nolanite	V³⁺₈Fe³⁺₂O₁₄(OH)₂	2200	1720	19
Pyrite ()*	Pyrite	FeS₂	2200	1720	39462
Quartz ()*	Quartz	SiO₂	2200	1720	61156
Roscoelite ()*	Mica	KV³⁺₂(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₂	2200	1720	253
Rutherfordine ()*	None	(UO₂)(CO₃)	1840	1720	58
Sphalerite ()*	Sphalerite	ZnS	2200	1720	21482
Sudoite ()*	Chlorite Clay	Mg₂Al₃(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₈	2200	1720	51
Titanite ()*	Titanite	CaTi(SiO₄)O	2200	1720	4899
Torbernite ()*	None	Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·12H₂O	1840	1720	1059
Uraninite ()*	Fluorite	UO₂	2200	1720	2718
Uranophane-α ()*	None	Ca(UO₂)₂(SiO₃OH)₂·5H₂O	1840	1720	890
Vanuralite ()*	None	Al(UO₂)₂(VO₄)₂(OH)·8.5H₂O	1840	1720	3
Wölsendorfite ()*	Wölsendorfite	Pb₇(UO₂)₁₄O₁₉(OH)₄·12H₂O	1840	1720	43
Wulfenite ()*	Scheelite	PbMoO₄	2200	1720	1655
Zircon ()*	Zircon	Zr(SiO₄)	2200	1720	5251

Locality Notes from all Ages at Locality:

Age ID	Locality Notes
Giersdorf_00000792	The Oklo uranium deposit is found in the Franceville sediment. It is host to the only known natural nuclear fission reactor, spread across over a dozen mineral nodes in the shale of the Franceville sediment.

2 Ages assigned to this locality:

	Excel ID	Max Age (Ma)	Min Age (Ma)	Age as listed in reference	Dating Method	Age Interpret	Prioritized?	Sample Source	Sample Num	Run Num	Age from other Locality	Dated Mineral	Minerals explicitely stated as having this age	Age applies to these Elements	MinDat Locality ID	Dated Locality (Max Age)	Location as listed in reference	Reference	Reference DOI	Reference ID	Age Notes
	Giersdorf_00000792	1840	1720	1780±60	U-Pb	Indirect arguments may, however, put limits on the reactor age: (1) If the age is older than 1.78 b.y., the reactor would have run before the formation of the Franceville series. If this is true, it is almost impossible to explain the fact that the Oklo o							Uraninite	U	1749	Oklo Mine, Franceville, Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon	Oklo Mine	Lancelot et al. (1975)	10.1016/0012-821X(75)90195-8	EPSL25_189	The sampled uranium minerals were drawn from zones outside of the reactor area in the Oklo deposit. Samples with too low a U concentration were additionally discarded. The age was compiled from many samples all intersecting on a concordia diagram, to the left or the right of the concordia line, and is also in agreement with the another author's Rb-Sr age for the Franceville sediment, as well as another's K-Ar age for a tuff in the Franceville deposit.
	Giersdorf_00000821	2200	2200	2200									Coffinite, Uraninite		1749	Oklo Mine, Franceville, Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon	Oklo Mine	Pearcy et al. (1994)	10.1016/0883-2927(94)90030-2	AG9_713	Age is given in comparison to the Nopal deposit due to its similarity as a natural analogue to nuclear waste disposal systems

Sample	Source Locality	Reference URL

All locality data graciously provided by mindat.org

All age data...