Combined Solid-State LiDAR and Fluorescence Photogrammetry Imaging to Determine Uranyl Mineral Distribution in a Legacy Uranium Mine

Thomas Bligh Scott; Ewan Woodbridge; Yannick S R Verbelen; Matthew G Ryan Tucker; Lingteng Kong; Adel El-Turke; David Megson-Smith; Russell Malchow; Pamela  Burnley

doi:10.3390/s25072094

Combined Solid-State LiDAR and Fluorescence Photogrammetry Imaging to Determine Uranyl Mineral Distribution in a Legacy Uranium Mine

Thomas Bligh Scott^*, Ewan Woodbridge, Yannick S R Verbelen, Matthew G Ryan Tucker, Lingteng Kong, Adel El-Turke, David Megson-Smith, Russell Malchow, Pamela Burnley

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Determining the presence and abundance of uranium mineralization at legacy mine sites is important both for responsible environmental management and potential resource recovery. Technologies that can make such determinations quickly and at low costs are highly desirable. The current work focuses on demonstrating the use of simple handheld commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices for rapidly determining the presence and distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine. Specifically, this work demonstrates the use of a COTS iPhone 13 Pro smartphone with an inbuilt solid-state LiDAR (laser) scanner in combination with a handheld LED-based UV torch to conduct a rapid fluorescence imaging photogrammetry survey aimed at rapidly determining the distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area, Gila County, Arizona, USA. Such a simple methodology, presented herein, can be used to quickly determine the distribution of uranyl minerals on exposed surfaces within the underground workings and provide an indication of the presence of primary uranium ore minerals buried within the surrounding rock.

Original language	English
Article number	2094
Number of pages	20
Journal	Sensors
Volume	25
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/s25072094
Publication status	Published - 27 Mar 2025

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Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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title = "Combined Solid-State LiDAR and Fluorescence Photogrammetry Imaging to Determine Uranyl Mineral Distribution in a Legacy Uranium Mine",

abstract = "Determining the presence and abundance of uranium mineralization at legacy mine sites is important both for responsible environmental management and potential resource recovery. Technologies that can make such determinations quickly and at low costs are highly desirable. The current work focuses on demonstrating the use of simple handheld commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices for rapidly determining the presence and distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine. Specifically, this work demonstrates the use of a COTS iPhone 13 Pro smartphone with an inbuilt solid-state LiDAR (laser) scanner in combination with a handheld LED-based UV torch to conduct a rapid fluorescence imaging photogrammetry survey aimed at rapidly determining the distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area, Gila County, Arizona, USA. Such a simple methodology, presented herein, can be used to quickly determine the distribution of uranyl minerals on exposed surfaces within the underground workings and provide an indication of the presence of primary uranium ore minerals buried within the surrounding rock.",

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T1 - Combined Solid-State LiDAR and Fluorescence Photogrammetry Imaging to Determine Uranyl Mineral Distribution in a Legacy Uranium Mine

AU - Scott, Thomas Bligh

AU - Woodbridge, Ewan

AU - Verbelen, Yannick S R

AU - Ryan Tucker, Matthew G

AU - Kong, Lingteng

AU - El-Turke, Adel

AU - Megson-Smith, David

AU - Malchow, Russell

AU - Burnley, Pamela

PY - 2025/3/27

Y1 - 2025/3/27

N2 - Determining the presence and abundance of uranium mineralization at legacy mine sites is important both for responsible environmental management and potential resource recovery. Technologies that can make such determinations quickly and at low costs are highly desirable. The current work focuses on demonstrating the use of simple handheld commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices for rapidly determining the presence and distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine. Specifically, this work demonstrates the use of a COTS iPhone 13 Pro smartphone with an inbuilt solid-state LiDAR (laser) scanner in combination with a handheld LED-based UV torch to conduct a rapid fluorescence imaging photogrammetry survey aimed at rapidly determining the distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area, Gila County, Arizona, USA. Such a simple methodology, presented herein, can be used to quickly determine the distribution of uranyl minerals on exposed surfaces within the underground workings and provide an indication of the presence of primary uranium ore minerals buried within the surrounding rock.

AB - Determining the presence and abundance of uranium mineralization at legacy mine sites is important both for responsible environmental management and potential resource recovery. Technologies that can make such determinations quickly and at low costs are highly desirable. The current work focuses on demonstrating the use of simple handheld commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices for rapidly determining the presence and distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine. Specifically, this work demonstrates the use of a COTS iPhone 13 Pro smartphone with an inbuilt solid-state LiDAR (laser) scanner in combination with a handheld LED-based UV torch to conduct a rapid fluorescence imaging photogrammetry survey aimed at rapidly determining the distribution of uranyl minerals within an abandoned copper–uranium mine in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area, Gila County, Arizona, USA. Such a simple methodology, presented herein, can be used to quickly determine the distribution of uranyl minerals on exposed surfaces within the underground workings and provide an indication of the presence of primary uranium ore minerals buried within the surrounding rock.

U2 - 10.3390/s25072094

DO - 10.3390/s25072094

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 40218612

SN - 1424-8220

VL - 25

JO - Sensors

JF - Sensors

IS - 7

M1 - 2094

ER -

Combined Solid-State LiDAR and Fluorescence Photogrammetry Imaging to Determine Uranyl Mineral Distribution in a Legacy Uranium Mine

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