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D evelopm ent of Projects for the Production of Uranium C oncentrates PROCEEDINGS OF A TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING, VIENNA, 25-28 NOVEMBER 1985 W / INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, 1987 /¡Г DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF URANIUM CONCENTRATES The following States are Members o f the International Atom ic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GUATEMALA PARAGUAY ALBANIA HAITI PERU ALGERIA H O L Y S E E PHILIPPINES ARGENTINA HUNGARY POLAND AUSTRALIA ICELAND PORTUGAL AUSTRIA INDIA QATAR BANGLADESH INDONESIA ROMANIA BELGIUM IRAN, ISLAM IC REPUBLIC OF SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA IRAQ SENEGAL BRAZIL IRELAND SIERRA LEONE BULGARIA ISRAEL SINGAPORE BURMA ITALY SOUTH AFRICA BYELORUSSIAN SOVIET JAMAICA SPAIN SOCIALIST REPUBLIC JAPAN S R I L A N K A C A M E R O O N JORDAN SUDAN C A N A D A KENYA SWEDEN C H I L E KOREA. REPUBLIC OF SWITZERLAND C H IN A K U W A I T SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC C O L O M B IA L E B A N O N THAILAND COSTA RICA LIBERIA TUNISIA COTE D'IVOIRE LIBYAN ARAB JAM AHIRIYA TURKEY C U B A LIECHTENSTEIN UGANDA CYPRUS LUXEMBOURG UKRAINIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST CZECHOSLOVAKIA MADAGASCAR R E P U B L I C DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA MALAYSIA UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S MALI R E P U B L I C S REPUBLIC OF KOREA MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DENMARK MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONACO BRITAIN AND NORTHERN ECUADOR MONGOLIA I R E L A N D EGYPT MOROCCO UNITED REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR NAMIBIA T A N Z A N I A ETHIOPIA NETHERLANDS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FINLAND NEW ZEALAND U R U G U A Y FRANCE NICARAGUA V E N E Z U E L A GABON NIGER V I E T N A M GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC NIGERIA YUGOSLAVIA GERMANY, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NORWAY Z A I R E G H A N A PAKISTAN Z A M B I A GREECE PANAMA ZIMBABWE The Agency’ s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IA E A held at United Nations Headquarters, New Y o rk; 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 o f atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world” . © IA E A , 1987 Permission to reproduce 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 IA E A in Austria October 1987 PANEL PROCEEDINGS SEMES DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF URANIUM CONCENTRATES PROCEEDINGS OF A TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING ON DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF URANIUM CONCENTRATES ORGANIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AND HELD IN VIENNA, 25-28 NOVEMBER 1985 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 1987 DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF URANIUM CONCENTRATES IAEA, VIENNA, 1987 STI/PUB/738 ISBN 92-0-141187-1 FOREWORD Nuclear energy will continue to play an important role in meeting the world’s energy demand for the foreseeable future. To guarantee an adequate supply of uranium many new production centres will have to be opened, both in the industrial ized and in the developing countries. Many of the latter are interested in exploiting their uranium resources, either in connection with their own nuclear power programmes or for export. However, the industrial exploitation of uranium resources requires not only a good knowledge of current uranium extraction technology but also, and just as importantly, a good knowledge of standard industrial practice for the evaluation, planning and implementation of mining and metallurgical projects. Although the IAEA has. organized many technical meetings on the geology of uranium, exploration techniques, uranium resource evaluation, mining techniques, uranium ore processing, safety aspects of uranium mining and milling and manage ment of uranium tailings, this Technical Committee Meeting has been the first to address the problem of planning and implementing complete projects. The meeting was held in Vienna from 25 to 28 November 1985. A total of 35 participants from 21 countries took part and 18 papers were presented, including two papers which review the development of projects. The present volume includes 15 of these papers and status reports from five countries. The six technical sessions covered various aspects of the evaluation, planning and implementation of projects, special topics such as testing and optimization of processes and case histories of projects in Member States. The IAEA wishes to thank all the metallurgists and engineers who participated in the meeting, not only for the papers but also for their contributions to the discus sions, which in this case were very lively and shed much light on the topics being considered. Special thanks are due to the Chairman of the meeting, W. Flôter (Federal Republic of Germany). EDITORIAL NOTE The Proceedings have been edited by the editorial staff of the IAEA to the extent considered neces sary for the reader’s assistance. The views expressed remain, however, the responsibility of the named authors or participants. In addition, the views are not necessarily those of the governments of the nominating Member States or of the nominating organizations. Although great care has been taken to maintain the accuracy of information contained in this pub lication, neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from its use. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institu tions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. 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. Material prepared by authors who are in contractual relation with governments is copyrighted by the IAEA, as publisher; only to the extent permitted by the appropriate national regulations. CONTENTS Development of projects for the production of uranium concentrates: An overview (IAEA-TC-453.5/3).......................;.................................. 1 S. Ajuria Discussion............................................................................................ 15 International co-operation in radiation protection practices in the mining and milling of uranium (IAEA-TC-453.5/18)................................................ 17 J.U. Ahmed, A.B. Dory A milling and conversion pilot plant at Ningyo Toge, Japan (IAEA-TC-453.5/7).............................................................................. 33 S. Hirono, I. Yasuda Discussion............................................................................................ 42 Construction of a new plant in Gabon by the Compagnie des Mines d’Uranium de Franceville: Three years’ experience of operation (IAEA-TC-453.5/14)............................................................................. 43 V. Jug Discussion............................................................................................ 53 A new unit for purification of uranium solution in the Lodève mill (IAEA-TC-453.5/13)............................................................................. 55 G. Lyaudet, P. Michel, J. Moret, J.M. Winter Discussion................................................... ........................................ 67 Development status of projects for uranium production (IAEA-TC-453.5/1)... 69 W. Flôter The Key Lake project (IAEA-TC-453.5/16)......... ..................................... 79 W. Flôter Discussion.................................................. ......................................... 91 Development of a system for the automation of a grinding circuit (IAEA-TC-453.5/19)................................... ........................................ 93 F.-K. Feldmann Test procedures for the metallurgical evaluation of uranium ores (IAEA-TC-453.5/4)............................................................................. 101 K. Landsiedel, K. Schroer Discussion...................................... .................................................. I l l The uranium mill of the Compagnie Minière Dong-Trieu; Project preparation and implementation (IAEA-TC-453.5/15)................................ 113 C. Duchamp, C. Danigo, C. Gilo, J.-L, Polgaire, B. Savin Discussion......................................... ............. ...,,............................... 123 Development of uranium operations in Saskatchewan (IAEA-TC-453.5/12).... 125 M.C. Campbell Discussion............................................................................................ 137 Computer system for optimizing a uranium extraction process (IAEA-TC-453.5/5).............................................................................. 139 B. Schneider In-place leaching of uranium at Denison Mines Limited (IAEA-TC-453.5/11) 151 M.C. Campbell, D. Wadden, A. Marchbank, R.G.L. McCready, G. Ferroni Discussion............................................................................................ 165 Techniques for heap and in situ leach simulation on uranium ores (IAEA-TC-453.5/17)............................................................................