HYDROMETALLUGY OF

URANIUM
 Prepared by
Muhammad Badar Hayat
PhD Student
Mining & Nuclear Engineering Department
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Assistant Professor
UET Lahore
Pakistan
 PRESENTATION LAYOUT

• Introduction
• Uranium bearing ore minerals
• Ore preparation
• Leaching process
• Solid liquid separation
• Solution purification
• Product recovery
• Enrichment
• Fabrication
• Environmental concerns
 INTRODUCTION

• Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element with symbol U

and atomic number 92.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
URANIUM BEARING ORES
 URANIUM BEARING ORES

• Type of Uranium sources

1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary sources
 URANIUM BEARING ORES

• Primary sources
• At the present time, there are only three known primary uranium ore
minerals
1. Uraninite (combined UO2and UO3; 50-85 percent U 308)
2. Pitchblende
3. Davidite (rare earth-iron-titanium oxide; 7-10 percent U 3O8)

Sourcedddd
 URANIUM BEARING ORES

• Secondary sources
1. Carnotite: (K2O.2UO3.V2O5.nH2O; 50-55% U3O8)
2. Tyuyamunite: (CaO.2UO3.V2O5.nH2O; 48-55% U3O8)
3. Torbernite & Meta-torbernite: (CuO.2UO3.P2O5.nH2O;60% U3O8)
4. Autunite & Meta-autunite: (CaO.2UO3.P2O5.nH2O; 60% U3O8)
5. Uranophane: (CaO.2UO3.2SiO2.6H2O; 65% U3O8)
etc………
PROCESSING FLOW CHART
PROCESSING FLOW CHART
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 ORE PREPARATION

• Crushing & grinding

• The primary objective of crushing and grinding in the vast majority of
uranium milling operations is to produce the degree of liberation
required for effective leaching.
• Depending upon the type and mineralogy of the ore being processed, the
required grind may vary from 5 to 0.074 mm (3 to 200 mesh)
Jaw crusher Cone crusher Ball mill
 ORE PREPARATION

• Benefication
• The beneficiation of uranium ores prior to leaching will probably be
undertaken with one, or all three of the following objectives in mind:
1. To enhance the feed grade
2. To remove minerals that will probably prove deleterious in the uranium
leaching and/or recovery stages
3. To produce clean tailings
 ORE PREPARATION

• Benefication processes employ differences in properties such as

radioactivity, size, shape, density and surface characteristics to separate
the desired mineral. The selection of process equipment on the basis of
various physical properties is illustrated in Table.
ORE PREPARATION
 ORE PREPARATION

• Radiometric sorting
• The fact that uranium ore emits natural radiation gives a unique
opportunity for the detection and subsequent separation of uranium
bearing rock from barren gangue.
 ORE PREPARATION

• Optical properties
• Differentiates between opaque, uranium bearing particles and
translucent grains of quartz or quartzite.
 ORE PREPARATION

Separation on the basis of size and shape

 ORE PREPARATION

Separation on the basis of gravity

• uranium is often associated with heavy minerals

 ORE PREPARATION

Magnetic separation
• Some uranium bearing minerals are amenable to magnetic separation.
• Example rinkolite, which has a moderate magnetic susceptibility.
 ORE PREPARATION

Flotation
• separates objectionable constituents, such as sulphides, carbonates and
carbonaceous minerals, from the mill feed
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 LEACHING

• Dissolving soluble minerals or metals out of the ore, as by the use of

percolating solutions such as cyanide or chlorine solutions, acids, or
water. Also known as lixiviation.
 LEACHING

• The leaching process controls the following:

1. The proportion of uranium solubilized from the ore
2. The concentrations of impurities in solution, which will have an
important impact on subsequent unit operations such as solvent
extraction, product precipitation/purification and effluent treatment
 LEACHING

• Uranium ores are treated by either acid or alkaline reagents with

sulphuric acid or sodium carbonate-sodium bicarbonate systems.
 LEACHING

After selection of the reagent the next major decision is the choice of the
leaching system. The following five techniques are available:
(1) Agitation leaching at atmospheric pressure (acid and alkaline),
(2) Pressure leaching (acid and alkaline),
(3) Strong acid pugging and curing (acid),
(4) Heap leaching (acid),
(5) In situ leaching (mainly alkaline).
 LEACHING

• Heap Leaching And Insitu Leaching

• The ore grade and tonnage will usually determine the selection.
In situ leaching is at present limited in application to confined sandstone
formations (high permeability) containing comparatively small deposits of
low grade ore at a relatively shallow depth.
 LEACHING

Where low grade ore is involved, the more modest capital and operating
requirements of a heap leaching operation give it an economic advantage
over conventional leaching routes, in particular where bacterial action and
in situ sulphide minerals can be used to provide a degree of autolixiviation.
 LEACHING

Agitation leaching ,Pressure leaching, Strong acid pugging

and curing
• The choice between these leaching systems is mainly determined by
the mineralogy of the uranium and the gangue.
 LEACHING

Selection Of Leaching Process

 LEACHING

Agitation Leaching
 LEACHING

Pressure Leaching
Acid pressure leaching is applied to refractory complex ore types that
cannot
be economically treated under standard atmospheric agitation leaching
conditions..
 LEACHING

STRONG ACID PUGGING AND CURING

They are attractive for refractory ores which require a high residual acid
concentration (up to 100 g/L) because the excess acid present in the slurry
is considerably reduced.
LEACHING
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION

Thickening
Thickening, as applied in uranium processing, can be defined as removing a
portion of the liquid from a slurry by allowing the solids to settle under the
influence of gravity in some form of sedimentation vessel
SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION
SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION
 SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION

Filtration
The process of separating solids from liquids by a porous medium that
retains the solids but allows the liquid to pass.
SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION
 SOLID LIQUID SEPARATION

Flocculation
• The first effective flocculants used in uranium milling operations were
guar gum products, replaced by the polyacrylamide flocculants
(Separan Aerofloc, etc.), wh.ich have since become standard in the
industry
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 SOLUTION PURIFICATION

• Ion exchange or solvent extraction technology is used for the recovery

and purification of uranium and by-product metals from clarified
solutions as well as from leaching slurries.
 SOLUTION PURIFICATION

Ion Exchange
 SOLUTION PURIFICATION

uranyl bisulphate
uranyl trisulphate
uranyl bicarbonate
uranyl tricarbonate
• Ion exchange resins function both to concentrate and purify the uranyl
anionic complexes. Ideally, a resin will absorb these complexes
selectively from leach solutions containing many other anionic
complexes.
ION EXCHANGE RESIN
SOLUTION PURIFICATION

Solvent Extraction
 SOLUTION PURIFICATION

• Aqueous feed is mixed with an organic extraction solvent consisting of:

• kerosene (91%)
• isodecanol (3%)
• tertiary amine (6%)
• Uranium is selectively transferred to the organic phase.
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 PRODUCT RECOVERY

Precipitation
The most commonly used method has been the use of
ammoniumhydroxide, and in recent years the adoption of MgO
precipitation, where environmental constraints may not permit the use of
ammonia
 PRODUCT RECOVERY

• After precipitation the product is dewatered by thickening or by

centrifugation.
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 DRYING AND CALCINING

• The ammonium diuranate product is often dried or spray dried at 150-

250°C, whereas sodium diuranate is commonly calcined at about
400°C.
• Multiple hearth dryers, drum dryers, belt dryers, screw dryers and
radiant heat dryers.
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 YELLOW CAKE

• The compositions were variable and depended upon the leachant and
subsequent precipitating conditions.
• Among the compounds identified in yellowcakes include: uranyl
hydroxide, uranyl sulfate, sodium para-uranate, and uranyl peroxide,
along with various uranium oxides.
• Modern yellowcake typically contains 70 to 90 percent triuranium
octoxide (U3O8) by weight.
• Other oxides such as uranium dioxide (UO2) and uranium trioxide
(UO3) exist.
YELLOW CAKE
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 ENRICHMENT

• Uranium-235 needs to be raised from the natural level of 0.7% to about

3.5% to 5%.
• The enrichment process needs to have the uranium in gaseous form, so
on the way from the mine it goes through a conversion plant which turns
the uranium oxide into uranium hexafluoride (UF6).
 ENRICHMENT

• Enrichment plants use the centrifuge process to separate U-235 to U-

238.
ENRICHMENT
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
 FABRICATION

• Enriched UF6 is transported to a fuel fabrication plant where it is

converted to uranium dioxide (UO2) powder.
• This powder is then pressed to form small fuel pellets, which are then
heated to make a hard ceramic material.
 Mine Drying/Calcining

Uranium ore
Yellow cake

Crushing & Grinding

Benefication Enrichment

Leaching

Solid liquid separation Fabrication

Solution purification
Ion Exchange/Solvent extraction

Nuclear
Product recovery power plant
Precipitation
NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Direct radiation
• Dust particles
 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Tailings from uranium ore treatment mills

dust dispersion by the wind, soluble radionuclides leached by the rainwater
and pollution due to a dam failure.
 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Gaseous and liquid effluents from underground mining

Gaseous effluents from mine exhaust fans may be the origin of local
sources of radon
 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Effluents from open pits

• Airborne and liquid mill effluents
 CONCLUSION

• Nuclear reactors emerging energy source

• New uranium deposits
• More efficient recovery for maximum recovery
QUESTIONS