Aluminum chloride restoration of in situ leached uranium ores
During in situ uranium mining using ammonium bicarbonate lixiviant, the ammonium exchanges with cations on the ore's clay. After mining is complete, the ammonium may desorb into post-leach ground water. For the particular ore studied, other chemicals (i.e., uranium and selenium) which are mobilized during the leach process, have also been found in the post-leach ground water. Laboratory column tests, used to simulate the leaching process, have shown that aluminum chloride can rapidly remove ammonium from the ore and thus greatly reduce the subsequent ammonium leakage level into ground water. The aluminum chloride has also been found to reduce the leakage levels of uranium and selenium. In addition, the aluminum chloride treatment produces a rapid improvement in permeability.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Research and Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- OSTI ID:
- 7079602
- Journal Information:
- Prepr., Soc. Min. Eng. AIME; (United States), Vol. 82-302
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALUMINIUM CHLORIDES
ROCK-FLUID INTERACTIONS
GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION
SELENIUM
LEACHING
URANIUM
URANIUM ORES
AMMONIA
AMMONIUM CARBONATES
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CATIONS
CLAYS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
ION EXCHANGE
PERMEABILITY
PROCESS SOLUTIONS
SOLUTION MINING
ACTINIDES
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DISPERSIONS
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IONS
METALS
MINING
MIXTURES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
ORES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
SEMIMETALS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLUTIONS
WATER
050300* - Nuclear Fuels- Mining- (-1987)