Experimental study on the application of Eluex process in acid ISL

AbstractAn applicable Eluex process was developed for acid in situ leaching (ISL) uranium mine in Bayanwula. In this process, uranium was adsorbed with strong base anion resin from the pregnant solution, then the loaded resin was eluted by sulfuric acid, after Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) extraction, the concentrated eluate was enriched and the loaded organic phase was stripped by sodium carbonate, and the yellow cake was obtained by sodium hydroxide precipitation at last. The uranium concentration in loaded strip solution was 52.8  g L−1. Parameters of the process were determined, and the impact of Eluex process in underground leaching was also investigated. In industrial design, 95% of raffinate went back to elution and 5% back to ISL. No significant effect on uranium leaching or resin adsorption has been found.
Source: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Category: Nuclear Medicine Source Type: research