Significance of Mineralogy in the Development of Flowsheets for Processing Uranium Ores
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JfipwK LEACHING TIME REAGENTS TEMPERATURE FLOCCULANT CLARITY AREA COUNTER CURRENT DECANTATION It 21 21 J^^LJt TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No.19 6 Significance of Mineralogy in the Development of Flowsheets for Processing Uranium Ores \W# INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 1980 SIGNIFICANCE OF MINERALOGY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLOWSHEETS FOR PROCESSING URANIUM ORES The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN HOLY SEE PHILIPPINES ALBANIA HUNGARY POLAND ALGERIA ICELAND PORTUGAL ARGENTINA INDIA QATAR AUSTRALIA INDONESIA ROMANIA AUSTRIA IRAN SAUDI ARABIA BANGLADESH IRAQ SENEGAL BELGIUM IRELAND SIERRA LEONE BOLIVIA ISRAEL SINGAPORE BRAZIL ITALY SOUTH AFRICA BULGARIA IVORY COAST SPAIN BURMA JAMAICA SRI LANKA BYELORUSSIAN SOVIET JAPAN SUDAN SOCIALIST REPUBLIC JORDAN SWEDEN CANADA KENYA SWITZERLAND CHILE KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA KUWAIT THAILAND COSTA RICA LEBANON TUNISIA CUBA LIBERIA TURKEY CYPRUS LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA UGANDA CZECHOSLOVAKIA LIECHTENSTEIN UKRAINIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA LUXEMBOURG REPUBLIC DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S MADAGASCAR UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF KOREA MALAYSIA REPUBLICS DENMARK MALI UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT ECUADOR MEXICO BRITAIN AND NORTHERN EGYPT MONACO IRELAND EL SALVADOR MONGOLIA UNITED REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA MOROCCO CAMEROON FINLAND NETHERLANDS UNITED REPUBLIC OF FRANCE NEW ZEALAND TANZANIA GABON NICARAGUA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC NIGER URUGUAY GERMANY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA VENEZUELA GHANA NORWAY VIET NAM GREECE PAKISTAN YUGOSLAVIA GUATEMALA PANAMA ZAIRE HAITI PARAGUAY ZAMBIA PERU The Agency's Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is "to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world". @ IAEA,1980 Permission to repfoduce or translate the information contained in this publication may be obtained by writing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramerstrasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Printed by the IAEA in Austria January 1980 TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 196 SIGNIFICANCE OF MINERALOGY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLOWSHEETS FOR PROCESSING URANIUM ORES INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 1980 SIGNIFICANCE OF MINERALOGY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLOWSHEETS FOR PROCESSING URANIUM ORES IAEA, VIENNA, 1980 STI/DOC/10/196 ISBN 92-0- 145080-X FOREWORD This report has been prepared from material developed at and subsequent to a consultants' meeting held in Vienna in January 1978. The main purpose of the meeting was to prepare a document in the form of a guide for planning and developing treatment flowsheets for uranium ore processing. It was apparent that ore mineralogy, analysed, described and interpreted in ways most meaningful to the metallurgist, is the most essential information required for forming the basis of such planning. This topic, here termed metallurgical mineralogy, is therefore a major theme of this publication. In preparing the report the Agency has borne in mind the important need to impart the experience and knowledge gained in the more developed countries to those who are in the early stages of exploiting their uranium resources. The contents may be criticized as lacking, in some respects, the requisite depth and detail of treatment. The Agency and the consultants are conscious of the need to expand the information in a number of ways. However, the report is presented in its present form in the belief that, as the first attempt to correlate, on a world-wide basis, ore type with processing, it will be considered as a useful basis for future development of these themes. The IAEA wishes to express its thanks to the consultants who took part in the formulation of this report. Particular gratitude is due to the chairman, Mr. H.E. James, of the Atomic Energy Board, South Africa, who made a notable contribution to the work. The final compilation was the responsibility of Mr. F.R. Hartley of the Agency's Division of Nuclear Power and Reactors. CONTENTS PART I: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF URANIUM MINERALOGY AND ORE-PROCESSING METALLURGY Introduction 1 1. Uranium occurrence and geochemistry 2 1.1. Distribution of geochemical cycle 2 1.2. Uranium ore deposites 5 1.3. Other uranium occurrences 6 2. Metallurgical mineralogy 6 2.1. Introduction 6 2.2. Uranium minerals 7 2.3. Mineralogical source data .„... 8 2.4. Techniques of metallurgical mineralogy 9 2.5. Suggested modus operandi 17 2.6. Conclusions 21 3. Uranium ore-processing metallurgy 22 3.1. Introduction 22 3.2. Processing chemistry 23 3.3. The metallurgical investigation 29 3.4. Preliminary assessment 47 3.5. Pilot plant 49 4. Industrial ore-processing practice 50 4.1. Uranium ore-processing technology 50 4.2. Environmental aspects of uranium ore processing 71 4.3. Energy requirements and processing costs 74 5. New developments in processing technology 82 5.1. Introduction 82 5.2. Preconcentration and sorting 82 5.3. Crushing and grinding 83 5.4. Leaching 83 5.5. Solids/liquid separation in high-rate thickeners 89 5.6. Concentration/purification by CIX 90 5.7. Concentration/purification by SX 100 5.8. Precipitation 102 5.9. Flowsheet innovation 103 References to Part I 105 PART II: SELECTED EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC URANIUM DEPOSITS AND OPERATIONS Case Studies Illustrating the Characteristics of the Various Ore Types 109 1. Sandstone deposits 109 1.1. United States of America Ill 1.2. Niger — Agades basin 119 1.3. Argentina — Sierra Pintala 122 2. Quartz-pebble conglomerates 123 2.1. Canada: Elliot Lake — Agnew Lake District 124 2.2. South Africa: Witwatersrand. Orange Free State Goldfields 127 3. Vein-type deposits 134 3.1. Canada — northern Saskatchewan 135 3.2. Australia — Alligator Rivers uranium province 140 4. Granitic deposits 146 4.1. Namibia (South West Africa): Rossing 146 4.2. Australia - Crocker Well 148 5. Pegmatites, carbonatites and syenites 149 5.1. Canada - Pegmatites Bancroft 149 5.2. South Africa - Carbonatites - Phalaborwa 150 5.3. Greenland — Syenites - Ilimaussaq 152 6. Uraniferous shales 152 6.1. Egypt - Quatrani 153 6.2. Sweden — Ranstad 153 6.3. USA - Chattanooga 154 7. Uraniferous lignites 155 7.1. USA: Dakota, Montana, Wyoming 156 8. Calcretes 158 8.1. Australia - Yeelirrie 158 9. Uranium recovery from unconventional sources 160 9.1. Copper leach liquors 160 9.2. Phosphoric acid 160 9.3. Sea-water s 161 References to Part II 162 PART III: SUMMARY TABLES ON SPECIFIC URANIUM DEPOSITS AND PROCESSING PLANTS 1. Explanation of numbering system 163 2. Explanation of details under each heading 171 Bibliography to Parts II and III 181 Summary Tables 189 List of Consultants 267 PARTI PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF URANIUM MINERALOGY AND ORE-PROCESSING METALLURGY INTRODUCTION The amount of uranium which can be mined and recovered as a marketable product, and the costs of mining and processing, are the two key factors that determine whether a uranium deposit can be exploited economically. The mineralogy of a uranium ore fundamentally influences the technology and economics of its exploitation and determines the ultimate quantitative uranium recovery that can be achieved by any particular process. Therefore, in planning a programme of investigation into the extraction of uranium from any ore, a knowledge of its mineralogy and the behaviour of the ores in particular process environments is important. Although it is not infrequent that the mineralogist is brought in to explain treatment difficulties that have been encountered by the extractive metallurgist during the course of an investigation, the adequate application of mineralogical data is seldom practised in the initial planning of an investigation into a treatment process. The metallurgist experienced in the technology of uranium ore processing will use his knowledge of mineralogy subconsciously in defining a treatment problem. Indeed, the nature of his experience is an intuitive understanding of the type of treatment flowsheet most likely to pertain to the particular ore mineralogy. Perhaps for this reason, the significance of mineralogy in the develop ment of flowsheets for the processing of uranium ores is often understated. Rocks are complex assemblages of minerals and differ widely in detail of composition and texture so that no single ore is exactly similar to another. Samples from one orebody vary, often significantly. These differences mean that at no time can a flowsheet be realistically optimized for all likely variations, nor can the treatment flowsheet be transferred in detail from one ore to another. A flowsheet is always a compromise of many factors and its development remains dynamic throughout the life of the mine. A knowledge of the mineralogy of the ore, the variations of that mineralogy and an appreciation of the behaviour of minerals and mineral assemblages form a sound basis for deciding on the best compromise. The objective of this report is to introduce the basic concepts relating mineralogy to the behaviour of an ore and to indicate the value of information, which can be obtained from a correctly oriented mineralogical analysis, in the 1 development of the initial concepts for the general treatment flowsheet. These can then form the basis for testing by experiment and economic study, leading ultimately to the selection of a specific flowsheet and the design of the ore processing plant. Sections 1, 2 and 3 are therefore devoted to this theme and are directed more particularly to the less experienced professional to give guidance in setting about a work plan. However, the experienced person should also find these sections useful in putting some of the basic concepts in perspective. Section 4 is a brief review of the unit operations applied to the typical uranium treatment flowsheets. It includes a summary of the relative energy and cost relationships of the operations.