SENIOR GEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATE
Mr. Rackley received a BA in 1951 and an MS degree in Geology in 1953 from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Following graduation, Mr. Rackley worked in geological, geochemical, and geophysical exploration for New Jersey Zinc Co. in Virginia and North Carolina.
Mr. Rackley began his career in uranium exploration in June 1957, six weeks prior to leading a reconnaissance crew into the Shirley Basin of Wyoming in late July. The geology was deemed favorable and all the men and equipment that Utah Mining could muster descended on Shirley Basin three days later. This crew located mining claims and acquired leases on which the Utah-Pathfinder-Cogema mines were discovered. In 1967, serving as Director of Exploration for Teton Exploration, Div. United Nuclear Corporation based in Casper, Wyoming, Mr. Rackley acquired leases and claims in the Morton Ranch area of the southern Powder River Basin. Mining was underway by the early 1970s.
Along with the discovery of these mines, Mr. Rackley and his associates developed useful theories on the origin of uranium deposits that led to more efficient ways of doing exploration and evaluating properties. These theories were thoroughly researched and a number of professional articles by Mr. Rackley and others have been published. These theories and field experiences were incorporated into the SRI International computer-based Prospector Consultant System in which Mr. Rackley served as Expert — a program financed by The Office of Resource Analysis, U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.
His publications are known worldwide:
Rackley, R.I., et al., 1968, Concepts and Methods of Uranium Exploration, Wyoming Geological Association Earth Science Bulletin, Sept., pp. 23-24.
Rackley, R.I., et al., 1968, Concepts and Methods of Uranium Exploration, Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook Twentieth Annual Field Conference, pp. 115- 124 (here).
Rackley, R. I., and R. L. Johnson, 1971, The Geochemistry of Uranium Roll-Front Deposits with a Case History from the Powder River Basin (Abstract – Economic Geology, Vol. 66, No.1, p. 125).
Rackley, R.I., 1972, The Environment of Wyoming Tertiary Uranium Deposits: AAPG Bulletin, v. 56, n. 4, pp. 755-774.
Rackley, R.I., 1975, Problems Converting Potential Uranium Resources into Mineable Reserves: Mineral Resources and the Environment Supplementary Report: Reserves and Resources of Uranium in the United States, National Academy of Science, Washington, D. C. , 1975, pp. 120-140.
Rackley, R.I., 1976, Origin of Western-States Type Uranium Mineralization, in Handbook of Strata-Bound and Strataform Ore Deposits, Chapter 3, K.H. Wolf (ed), Elsevier Sci. Pub. Company, Amsterdam, pp. 89-156.
Campbell, M. D., H. M. Wise, R. I. Rackely, 2007, “Uranium In-Situ Leach Development and Associated Environmental Issues,” Proc. Gulf Coast Geological Societies Conference, Fall, Corpus Christi, Texas, 17 p. – Peer Reviewed. PDF Version: (here)
Campbell, M. D., J. D. King, H. M. Wise, R. I. Rackley, 2008 “The Nature and Extent of Uranium Reserves and Resources and Their Environmental Development in the U.S. and Overseas,” AAPG – Energy Minerals Division Conference, April 23, 2008, Session: “Uranium Geology and Associated Ground Water Issues”, San Antonio, Texas – Peer Reviewed. (Click here).
Campbell, M. D., J. D. King, H. M. Wise, R. I. Rackley, and B. Handley, 2009, “The Nature and Extent of Uranium Reserves and Resources and Their Environmental Development in the U.S. and Overseas,” AAPG – Energy Minerals Division 2008 Report, revised for publishing in AIPG’s The Professional Geologist, Vol. 46, No. 5, September/October, pp. 42-51 – Peer Reviewed. (Click here).
Campbell, M. D., R. I. Rackley, R. W. Lee, M. David Campbell, H. M. Wise, J. D. King, and S. E Campbell, 2018, “Characterization of the Occurrence of Uranium, Thorium, Rare Earths and Other Metals in Basement Rocks as a Source for New Uranium Roll-Front District in the Tertiary Sediments in the McCarthy Marsh and Death Valley and Associated Metallogenic Areas in the Eastern Seward Peninsula, Alaska,” Journal Geology and Geosciences, Vol. 2(1), 2018, 65 p. (here).
Mr. Rackley presently plays a significant role for I2M Consulting, as a senior geological associate and provides exploration management and associated functions.
Feel free to contact us to discuss your project needs or to arrange a speaking engagement by one of our Associates for a professional training session, a technical conference, society meeting, or for a graduation ceremony or other function where the knowledge and experience of our Associates may be of interest to your group.
