1. By Reid Brown and Rio Diniakos
Geomorphic and Biotic Controls on the Transport of Uranium Bearing Dust
By Reid Brown and Rio Diniakos

2. Geology
Jackpile Formation  Tabular deposits

3. Site History -Operational: 1951-1983 -Ore Grade: 0.1-1.3% U3O8
-NPL metals of concern: U 234, 235 & 238, Cr, Mn, Co, V & Zn
-Remediation completed in 1995
-Covering and contouring
-2007 compliance assessment failed
-Proposed to NPL in 2012
-Current Superfund site
Area around Jackpile Mine near Pagate, NM

4. Site History -Operational: 1953-1982
-NPL metals of concern: U 234, 235 & 238, Cr, Mn, Co, V & Zn
-Remediation completed in 1995
-Covering and contouring
-2007 compliance assessment failed
-Proposed to NPL in 2012
-Current Superfund site
Locations of Backfill(white), contouring(green), and Waste Rock Piles (Red)

6. Wind Patterns throughout the seasons
Winter
Spring
Summer

7. Wind Patterns over the Study Region

9. Questions We Want to Answer
What are the important variables?
Can we build a predictive model?
Can we source the dust samples?
Is there significant difference in the soil and dust samples?

10. Variables of interest
Metals present in the samples: V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Ba, Pb, Th, U
Geomorphic and Biotic variables: Vegetation type, density, distance from source, and elevation.

11. Methods Conduct multiple linear regression Random Forest
Principal Component Analysis

12. Multiple Linear Regression
Adjusted R2 = for Uranium as the response variable and Elevation, distance, and vegetation as the predictors for the system.
P-value =

13. Random Forest: Geomorphic and Biotic Controls
Bagging (mtry=4): MSE = 3.75
Random Forest (mtry=2): MSE = 3.51

14. Random Forest: Important Elements
Bagging (mtry=6): MSE = 4.49
Random Forest (mtry=2): MSE = 4.82

15. Random Forest: Predictive Model

16. Required Sample Size for Prediction

17. Contaminant Sourcing

18. PCA Analysis: Soil and Dust

19. PCA Analysis: Soil and Dust

20. PCA Analysis: Dust Only

21. PCA Analysis: Dust Only

22. PCA Analysis: Soil Only

23. Conclusions
Density and Vegetation Type are important with respect to [U]
Pb and V are important elements
Need more samples for a predictive model with useful margin of error
30+ years of mixing has diluted contaminant source signature
Difference between dust and soil elemental concentrations
Needs additional analysis to determine Higher/Lower
Difference between dust collected at bottom half vs top half of stem
Needs additional analysis to determine significance
Needs analysis to determine differences in specific elements

24. Questions?
Looking south from the north end of the pit: Past and Present