GEOLOGIC ASPECTS OF THORIUM RECOVERY FROM COMMON ROCKS. Final Report. June 1, 1961 through May 31, 1962

Technical Report · Wed Oct 31 04:00:00 EST 1962

OSTI ID:4817326

Field laboratory determinations of the thorium content of the Conway granite were made. The results indicate that the accessible Conway granite contains 56 plus or minus 6 ppm thorium as an average, with few samples having less than 40 or more than 100 ppm. Much of this thorium is contained in accessory mineral grains, which are commonly enclosed within biotite and more rarely in feldspar. The thorium is primary and is uniformly distributed through the fresh rock. The main mass of the Conway granite underlies an area of at least 300 square miles, and the present surfuce of the Conway has over 2000 feet of relief. Based on the assumption that the Conway granite at depth is not markedly different from the rock exposed, calculations show a thorium metal content of 3+ x 10/sup 6/ metric tons per 100 feet of depth in the main mass alone. Experiments indicate that over 2/3 of the contained thorium and associated uranium can be recovered by acid leaching followed by solvent extraction. In terms of nuclear energy uses, the Conway granite represents a major low-grade thorium resource. (auth)

• Research Organization: Rice Univ., Houston, Tex.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-16-027422
• OSTI ID: 4817326
• Report Number(s): TID-16370
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ACIDS
ALUMINUM SILICATES
BIOTITE
DISTRIBUTION
GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, AND METEOROLOGY
GRANITES
IRON SILICATES
LEACHING
MAGNESIUM SILICATES
MINERALS
ORE PROCESSING
POTASSIUM SILICATES
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
QUANTITY RATIO
RECOVERY
ROCKS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
THORIUM
THORIUM ORES