ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF PROCESS MINERALOGY OF SANDSTONE-TYPE URANIUM DEPOSITS IN NORTHERN CHINA
In-situ leaching(ISL)of uranium offers significant advantages in terms of safety,environmen-tal protection,and high efficiency,making it a pivotal uranium development technology globally,especial-ly in China.Unlike conventional mining methods,ISL integrates mining,beneficiation,and metallurgy as an underground in-situ mining and metallurgy approach.Real-time process mineralogy characterization during mining is challenging.Therefore,research on the process mineralogy related to ISL is crucial for unveiling and predicting internal patterns in the underground ISL of uranium,comprehensively explaining and resolving various leaching-related phenomena and issues in ISL production,and subsequently enhan-cing the efficiency of uranium leaching.Drawing on prior studies,this paper consolidates recent achieve-ments in the process mineralogy of typical in-situ leachable sandstone-type uranium deposits in northern China.The findings indicate similarities in the main mineral compositions among the ore-bearing strata of these deposits.Qianjiadian,Nalinggou,and Mengqiguer sandstone-type uranium deposits exhibit charac-teristics such as high carbonate content,low pyrite content,and a high proportion of clay minerals in their mineral association.The occurrence state of uranium in many sandstone-type uranium deposits follows a common pattern,involving independent uranium minerals(mainly pitchblende,coffinite,and a small a-mount of titanium-containing uranium minerals),adsorbed uranium(primarily on the surface of organic matter and clay minerals),and uranium-containing minerals(such as zircon,monazite,etc.).Factors like particle size,shape,dissociation degree,and intergrowth relationship with other minerals play a crucial role in determining the efficiency of ISL of uranium.In typical deposits,uranium wrapped in insoluble or poorly soluble gangue minerals like feldspar and quartz poses challenges in terms of recovery through leac-hing reactions.Targeted measures,such as increasing leaching solutions to alter the diffusion performance of uranium ore,are recommended to improve overall uranium leaching efficiency.The establishment of a process mineralogy database for sandstone-type uranium deposits,encompassing raw ore and process min-eralogy parameters under various leaching conditions,provides a scientific basis and technical support for the exploration,site selection,mining,and processing of sandstone-type uranium deposits.
Sandstone-type uranium depositsin-situ leaching of uraniumprocess mineralogydatabase
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