The Role of Medium Condition for Uranium Separation from Central Kyzylkum’s Low-grade Phosphorite after Sulfuric Acid Treatment

Abstract

This article presents the results of separating radioactive elements, particularly uranium, from low-grade phosphorites of the Central Kyzylkum by low concentrated sulfuric acid solution, which is practically feasible at the Kyzylkum phosphorite combine (KPC). In world practice, uranium was extracted from phosphorite ore in the countries of the Middle East (Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt) at the final stages of obtaining phosphorus fertilizers at metallurgical and chemical plants. The extraction of uranium from phosphorite ore is not practiced in Uzbekistan. The proposed method is fundamentally different from the above and is recommended to be applied at the initial stage of enrichment phosphorite ores in the enrichment plants. Studies have shown that the uranium completely passed into solution by treating phosphorite ore with weak concentrated sulfuric acid solution. Analyses of solution and sediment composition showed that the useful component, P2O5, remained in the sediment, increasing from 8.69% to 10.3%, while uranium passed into the solution with alkaline salts alkaline-earth elements. To obtain a finished product, the resulting enriched solution was added to the richer phosphorite ore. When performing the above processes, the pH of the medium was kept at the neutral level, which is of great practical importance for the implementation of this method with minimal economic costs using conventional inventory, corrosion resistance, and environmentally friendly phosphorus fertilizer.