Зависимость извлечения урана в раствор при кучном выщелачивании от петрографического состава руд

Abstract

The widespread introduction of physical and chemical geotechnologies in the production of mineral raw materials makes it possible to involve ores that are poor in the content of the useful component, which are unprofitable to work out using traditional physical and technical methods. One of these new geotechnologies is the heap leaching of rocky uranium ores. When planning the volume of output of finished products, it is necessary to have an analytical apparatus that would make it possible, using the acquired knowledge, to calculate the required volume of mineral raw material production and its varietal composition. Based on their task, studies were conducted on the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of ores that affect the indicators of extraction of useful components from them. As a result of the research, the dependence of the index of uranium extraction into a productive solution during infiltration of sulfuric acid leaching on the material composition of ores was established. Ores localized in various lithological differences of acidic, medium and basic rocks were tested: granites, felsites, trachydacites, andesites and conglomerates. The ores were classified according to the size of the piece with the allocation of fineness classes +200 mm, -200 +150 mm, -150 + 100 mm, -100+70 mm, -70+ 30 mm, -30 mm. The tests were carried out in laboratory and semi-industrial conditions. The maximum extraction was obtained for the class – 30 mm in columns. When leaching in stacks, the maximum extraction of uranium into the solution was obtained for the size class -70+30 mm. The reason for the lower extraction from the -30 mm class during leaching in semi-industrial conditions was the processes of mechanical colmatation, due to the large number of fine fractions. The criterion characterizing the material composition of ores is the content of silica (SiO2). During the tests, the dependence of the uranium extraction coefficient in the productive solution on the content of silica in the ores was established. The higher the concentration of silica, the more uranium passes into the productive solution during leaching with a stable composition of uranium mineralization. The dependence is described by a mathematical formula, which allows us to use it to calculate the extraction of uranium into a productive solution, knowing the material composition of ores