Uranium in Situ Leaching
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IAEA-TECDOC-720 Uranium in situ leaching Proceedings Technicala of Committee Meeting held in Vienna, 5-8 October 1992 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENC\ /A Y The IAEA doe t normallsno y maintain stock f reportso thin si s series. However, microfiche copies of these reports can be obtained from IIMIS Clearinghouse International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria Orders shoul accompaniee db prepaymeny db f Austriao t n Schillings 100,- in the form of a cheque or in the form of IAEA microfiche service coupons which may be ordered separately from the INIS Clearinghouse. Copies of this IAEA-TECDOC may be obtained from: Nuclear Material Fued san l Cycle Technology Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria URANIU SITMN I U LEACHING IAEA, VIENNA, 1993 IAEA-TECDOC-720 ISSN 1011-4289 Printe IAEe th AustriAn y i d b a September 1993 FOREWORD The IAEA's latest published estimates show that nuclear power production worldwide will maintain modest growth well into the next century. These estimates indicate that nuclear energy production will gro averagn wo 1.5y eb % 2.5o t year %pe r worldwide ove nex e decadeso rth tw t s i t I . for this reason that despite the continuing depressed uranium market, the question of uranium supply demand an d remain issun sa e that needaddressee b o st monitoredd dan developmentsw Ne . e du , to the recent entry of the Commonwealth of Independent States and China into the uranium market, increase such a need. Despit limites eit d applicabilit specifio yt c type f uraniuso m deposits sitn i ue leachinth , g (ISL) method of uranium production has grown in importance for its competitive cost and has proven to be an environmentally sound technology with very little disturbance to the environment. It was also recognized that there are two distinct approaches of ISL uranium production being practised in eastern Europe, in particular, and in the USA. Therefore, the IAEA convened a Technical Committee meeting wit purpose hth f bringineo g together expert thin si s particular field fro l regionmal shareo st , exchange disseminatd an e informatio discuso t d makd nan san e recommendation thosn so e topic whicn so h additional wor neededs ki . The Technical Committee Meeting on Uranium In Situ Leaching was held in Vienna from 5 to 8 October 1992 and was attended by 38 participants from 15 countries. Seventeen papers covering differene th t method sitn i uf s o leachin g uranium production environmenteffece s it ,th n o t , groundwater restoration and related regulations were presented. Contributions from Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Germany, the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan represent new information in this field. The IAEA is grateful to those participants who contributed papers and took part in the discussion. Special thanks are extended to W.M. Mays (USA), S.D. Simov (Bulgaria) and D.H. Underhill (USA) chaireo wh ,sessions e dth . The IAEA staff member responsible for the organization and implementation of the meeting . Tauchi M Divisio e s th f wa do f Nucleano r Fuel Cycl Wastd ean e Management. EDITORIAL NOTE In preparing this document for press, staff of the IAEA have made up the pages from the original manuscripts submittedas authors.the viewsby The expressed necessarilynot do reflect those governmentsofthe nominatingthe of Member States nominating ofthe or organizations. Throughout the text names of Member States are retained as they were when the text was compiled. Theof use particular designations countriesof territoriesor does imply judgementnot any by publisher,the legalthe IAEA, to statusthe as of such countries territories,or of their authoritiesand institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does implyintentionnot any infringeto proprietary rights, should construednor be it an as endorsement recommendationor partthe IAEA. ofon the The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights. CONTENTS Summary of the Technical Committee Meeting ............................... 7 World uranium production and demand: A review ............................. 9 Tauchid,M. Müller-KahleE. In-situ leach uranium mining in the United States of America: Past, present and future .... 19 D.H. Underhiil Principles and results of twenty years of block-leaching of uranium ores by Wismut GmbH, Germany ........................................3 4 . R. Hähne, AltmannG. In situ leaching of uranium in North Bohemia ................................ 55 V. Benes In-situ leaching of uranium in Bulgaria: Geological, technological and ecological considerations ........................................... 65 L Kuzmanov, S.D. Simov, T. Va/kov, D. Vasi/ev Underground leachin f uraniugo Commonwealte th mn i f Independenho t States ........5 7 . J.I. Skorovarov, M.I. Fazlullin The Crow Butte ISL project - A case history ................................ 81 G. Catchpole, G. Kirchner geotechnicaStude th f yo l condition f uraniuso m deposit Uzbekistan si n during exploration work ................................................. 95 . VenatovskijV . / Complete mining of uranium deposits in Bulgaria by in-situ leaching mining systems used after conventional mining ......................................5 10 . B. Tabakov Experience with the coexistence of classical deep mining and in-situ leaching of uraniu northermn i n Bohemia ........................................5 11 . Fiedler,J. SiezakJ. In-situ leaching of uranium in China ....................................... 129 Wang Jian, Dai Yuan Ning Pilot testing of uranium in-situ leaching at the Smith Ranch Project ................. 133 D.E. Stover, D.A. Lewis Comparative study of leaching behaviour of various leachants in ISL test on Qubul Khel uraniu bode mor y .......................................1 16 . Haq Nawaz Khan, Anwar All Abidi Environmental aspects of the operation and sanation of the ISL uranium mining at Straz pod Ralskem, Czechoslovakia .................................. 181 P. Kühn Restoration of groundwater at three in-situ uranium mines in Texas ................. 191 W.M. Mays Regulatory requirement r developmensfo sitn i uf o tleac h mining in the United States of America ....................................... 217 C. Miller-Corbett, G.R. Konwinski, J.P. Grimm Potentialities of in-situ leaching of uranium and copper ore material in West Central Sinai, Egypt ............................................... 223 M.A. Mahdy, N.T. Hazek,El T.E. Amer List of Participants .................................................. 243 SUMMAR TECHNICAE TH F YO L COMMITTEE MEETING Despit depressee eth d situation thaaffectes ha t uraniue dth m industry durin pase gth t years, the second Technical Committee Meeting on Uranium In Situ Leaching, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and held in Vienna from 5 to 8 October 1992, has attracted a relatively large numbe f participantso r notablA . e development sinc firse eth t meeting thas majorite e th t1wa th f yo contributions came fro actuae mth l operator sitn i uf s o leachin g uranium production. More importantly, the first meeting was mainly devoted to the experience and observations from operations in the USA, where the only commercial uranium production by this method is known. At the present meeting, presentations on operations in the USA were balanced by those of the eastern European and Asian countries. Contributions from Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Germany (fro operatioe mth e th n i former German Democratic Republic) e Russiath , n Federatio d Uzbekistaan n n represenw ne t information not commonly available. In situ leach mining is defined in one of the paper presented as a "mining method where the ore mineral is preferentially leached from the host rock in place, or in situ, by the use of leach solutions minerae th d an l, valu recovered"s ei t thiA . s meetin shows wa gt i n that ther cleaa s ei r division between practice sitn i uf s o leaching (ISL) uraniu those d th m an n e i A productio US e th n i eastern European countries (which include operatio formee th n i r German Democratic Republic), Central AsiChinad aan . In situ leachin basicalle ar gA a operationno-entryUS e th y n i ssyste m using alkaline (carbonate) solution as lixiviant and oxygen as oxidant. This system can be applied only to a rather specific type of sandstone uranium deposit, in particular of the roll-front type. In the eastern European countries, both no-entr underground yan d entry methods (undergroune b do t preparatio e or e th f no leached normae th e ar )l practice. Various method f undergrounso d entry syste wele mar l illustrated papere . i. AltmanHähnnth G R f d so ean n (Germany f B.To d . Tabakoan ) v (Bulgaria). Almosf o l al t the latter operations use sulphuric acid as lixiviant and nitric acid or hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. Stringent regulator ybode restoro t requirement or A ye eaquifeth US e th r n si qualit preminino t y g conditione morth f eo aggressive s us limit e th s e aci s leachina d g agent s demonstrateA . y b d operations in Bulgaria, Germany and China, the advantage of the entry approach of in situ leaching of uranium productio possibilite th s ni f applyinyo g this techniqu non-sandstono et e type f uraniuso m maie depositsth f no questione On . uraniuL maximuIS e s th e face ms th i y productioA db m US e th n i dept whicn hi h suc methoha f commerciado l mining remains feasible. Paspresend an t t pilod an t commercial productions have been limited to deposits of less than 300 m deep. As noted in some of papere th s presented, ther basicalls ei depto yn h limitatio undergroune th o nt d entry approach. There was unanimous agreement that the main advantage of the ISL method of uranium production, as compared to conventional, open pit and/or underground mining, is financial.