Determination of the elemental concentration of uranium and thorium in the products and by-products of amang tin tailings process

Abstract

Amang or tin tailing is processed into concentrated ores and other economical valuable minerals such as monazite, zircon, xenotime, ilmenite etc. Besides that, the tailings from these ores may have a significant potential source of radiation exposure to amang plants’ workers. This study was conducted to determine the elemental concentration of uranium and thorium in mineral samples collected from five amang tailing factories. The concentration of uranium and thorium was carried out by using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) relative technique. The concentration of uranium and thorium in ppm obtained in this study are as follows: raw (189−1064) and (622−4965); monazite (1076−1988) and (3467−33578); xenotime 4053 and 5540; zircon (309−3090) and (387−6339); ilmenite (104−583) and (88−1205); rutile (212−889) and (44−1119); pyrite (7−43) and (9−132); and waste (5−338) and (9−1218) respectively. The analysis results shows that the monazite, xenotime and zircon have high content of uranium and thorium, whereas ilmenite, rutile, pyrite and waste have lower concentration compare with raw materials after tailing process. The highest values of uranium and thorium concentrations (4053 ± 428 ppm and 33578 ± 873 ppm, respectively) were observed in xenotime and monazite; whereas the lowest value was 5.48 ± 0.86 ppm of uranium recorded in waste (sand) and 9 ± 0.32 ppm of thorium for waste (sand) and pyrite.