Morphological Comparison of U3O8 Ore Concentrates from Canada Key Lake and Namibia Sources
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Uranium ore concentrates from two different sources were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The ore powders are referred to as Namibia (id. no. 90036, LIMS id. no. 18775) and Canada Key Lake (id. no. 90019, LIMS id. no. 18774). Earlier work identified the ores as the U₃O₈ phase of uranium oxide using x-ray diffraction. Both sets of powders were in the form of dark brown to black powder fines. However, the Canada Key Lake concentrates contained larger chunks of material on the millimeter scale that were easily visible to the unaided eye. The powders were mounted for SEM examination by hand dispersing a small amount onto conductive sticky tape. Two types of applicators were used and compared: a fine-tipped spatula and a foam-tipped applicator. The sticky tape was on a standard SEM “tee” mount, which was tapped to remove loose contamination before being inserted into the SEM.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security; USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1241641
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-16-21613; TRN: US1600699
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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