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  • Yize HAO, Liwen XU, Tao ZHAO
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(4): 20-24.

    In order to improve the production efficiency of mining enterprises and reduce production costs, choose west of Mengqiguer uranium P0 prospecting line as the pilot to study the layout principle and construction technology application of exploration and mining combined engineering. The practice shows that compared with the traditional construction process, the combination of exploration with mining not only achieves the purpose of geological exploration, but also meets the needs of mining and metallurgy production, and achieves the optimization of time benefit, economic benefit and environmental benefit.

  • Lili ZHANG, Kaipei ZHAO, Shiwei XIAO, Chenchen HUO
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(4): 52-59.

    In order to promote the full utilization of in-situ leaching uranium resources, statistical analysis was conducted on the thickness of ore bodies, filter length, and effective thickness of ore layers in a research area of an in-situ leaching uranium mine in Inner Mongolia. The three-dimensional mining software was used to construct a geological model and mining model of the ore body. Through visual comparison of three-dimensional entities, the location of the "residual difficult ore body" outside the leaching range was accurately grasped, and the remaining resource amount was estimated. The results show that the remaining resource amount was considerable and needed further research. Using the price method to calculate the economic indicators of the deposit, conducting a technical and economic evaluation of the deposit, using the calculated economic uranium per square meter as a threshold to constrain the resource model of the "residual difficult ore body" outside the leaching range, and generating an economic block model. Using the inverse distance power method to estimate the resource quantity of the economic block model, the resource quantity of the uranium per square meter above the economic indicators is estimated. Through research, the precise location, remaining resources, and economic viability of "residual difficult ore bodies" outside the vertical leaching range within the research area have been mastered, achieving economic evaluation of the remaining resources of in-situ leaching mines.

  • Youpeng ZHANG, Lixin ZHAO, Yanu WANG, Jiandang HUO, Lizhi YANG, Chunru HOU
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 1-8.

    Bayinqinggeli uranium deposit in the northern of the Ordos Basin is hosted in the lower sub-member,lower member of Zhiluo Formation,with an average uranium grade of 0.057 1% and an average uranium mass per square meter of 6.69 kg/m2,but its permeability coefficient is only 0.065 m/d,which is a typical low-permeable sandstone uranium deposit. For this deposit,the well Z5,which has poor injection capacity,is selected to carry out the high energy gas fracturing experiments. The uranium deposit aquifer of the well is located at 619~639 m,and the depth of the propellant is placed at 632.5~637.4 m,626.6~631.6 m,620.6~625.6 m. The amount of the propellant is 40 kg for each time. At the same time of fracturing,microseismic monitoring is carried out around well Z5. There are 59,61 and 49 events generated by the fracturing of three times,and the event profiles show that the fractures formed in the reservoir are trending at 46.8°NW,31.0°NW and 72.3°N,respectively. After fracturing,the injection volume of well Z5 is significantly improved,with an increasement of 126.34%. The high energy gas fracturing can improve the permeability of the near-well area. It is easy to implement and the cost is low.

  • Yalan WANG, Lechang XU, Hui ZHANG, Lei ZHOU
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 93-99.

    Investigation on release characteristics of radon concentration, radon release amount, migration and diffusion trend of radon of an acid in-situ leaching uranium mine was carried out on the basis of data collection and field investigation. This study monitored radon concentration of source items and surrounding environment on uranium milling plant vents, leaching tanks, evaporation ponds and recovery wells with adoption of E-Perm electret detector, solid track detector and RAD7 radon detector. The results show radon concentration level is highest at top opening of leaching tanks, nevertheless affected area is no more than 500 m. Lowest radon concentration appeare at point of recovery wells. The annual total radon release of the acid in-situ leaching uranium mine is about 1.75 TBq/a, milling plant and leaching tanks are important radon release source items, which accounte for 58% and 39% of the total radon release respectively, additionally radon release of recovery wells and evaporation ponds account for 3% of the total radon release. In summary, the normalized annual radon release amount of the acid leaching uranium mine is much smaller than that of underground mine exhaust shaft.

  • Qiang CHEN, Yanxia DONG, Huiyan ZHANG, Yang WANG, Fuping CHEN
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 56-62.

    Acid concentration and uranium concentration in raffinate phase generally need to be measured separately, which is cumbersome and requires a large amount of work. A new method for continuous measurement of acid concentration and uranium concentration in raffinate phase was developed. A strong base was used as titration agent, the color change of the indicator was selected to indicate the titration endpoint. After completing the acid concentration detection, the sulfuric acid and arsenazo III solutions with a certain amount and concentration were added to the above solution to make the solution color, and the absorbance of the color solution was measured at 650 nm. The results show that the precision of measuring acid concentration and uranium concentration is 1.53% and 1.13% respectively, the indication error for measuring acid concentration and uranium concentration is 1.69% and 1.52% respectively. For the measurement of actual water samples, the measurement data of this method is basically consistent with that of the laboratory current methods, the recovery rate of acid concentration measurement is between 97.0% and 102.5%, and the recovery rate of uranium concentration measurement is between 97.0% and 102.0%. The method is suitable for continuous monitoring of acid concentration and uranium concentration in raffinate phase and has accurate and fast characteristics.

  • Fengju WANG, Shusen CHEN, Yan SONG, Ziming LI, Haotian WU, Hao LI, He LI
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 40-44.

    For the salicylic acid chelating resin, the specific surface area and pore size were determined using low temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption method; and its thermodynamic stability was examined. The effects of solution pH and ρ(Cl-) on its uranium adsorption performance were studied, and its adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, and desorption performance were also investigated. The results show that the specific surface area of salicylic acid chelating resin is 32.34 m2/g, and the pore size is 32.08 nm, The salicylic acid chelated resin has good thermal stability when the temperature is below 180 ℃. When the pH is in the range of 7~9, the resin has good adsorption performance, and the uranium adsorption capacity can reach 14.1 mg/g dry resin. The presence of Cl- can reduce the adsorption capacity for uranium. When the ρ(Cl-) is 3.0 g/L, the uranium adsorption capacity decrease by about 9.2%. When the equilibrium ρ(U) in solution is 400 mg/L, the uranium adsorption capacity of the resin reach its maximum, at 153 mg/g dry resin. After 20 h adsorption, the adsorption process reach equilibrium. Both acidic and alkaline desorption agents show good desorption performance for resins, with desorption rates both above 94%. For the real uranium leaching solution with ρ(U) of 21.2 mg/L and ρ(Cl-) of 3.36 g/L, the uranium adsorption capacity of the salicylic acid chelating resin can reach 14.7 mg/g dry resin after 24 h adsorption, indicating good uranium adsorption performance.

  • Xiaobin WANG, Yulu CUI, Zhiru WANG, Baishan DUAN
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 9-16.

    Based on the efficiency of uranium extraction drilling, a new type of cut-window drilling was developed. The advantages and disadvantages of two different drilling structures were analyzed by comparing the site construction and leaching effect of gravel filling drilling and cut-window drilling. The results show that the construction quality of cut-window drilling is controllable, the drilling operation stability is long, the leaching effect is good, the uranium concentration in the leachate rises quickly, and the recovery rate is high. The comparative use of the two structures provides important theoretical basis and practical application experience for the mining of uranium mine, and the cut-window drilling is helpful to improve the exploitation and utilization of uranium resources.

  • Fa ZHAO, Wendu CHEN, Jiaohong ZENG
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 100-105.

    The main causes of tailings dam failure include seepage damage, slope instability, seismic liquefaction, and ultra-high dam height. The high seepage line inside the tailings dam may cause seepage damage, and in severe cases, it may lead to slope instability, damage, and even dam failure. The common methods for reducing the seepage line of dam bodies have problems such as high construction difficulty, high manual maintenance cost, and complex equipment maintenance management. The horizontal drainage method is used to install horizontal filter pipes in the drainage blind ditch close to the horizontal level to reduce the seepage line. This project adopts the method of drilling horizontal holes inside the dam body and installing seepage pipes inside the holes to form a horizontal drainage body. The seepage pipes form a drainage network through the main collection pipe outside the dam body. The water inside the dam seeps into the drainage pipes, then converges to the main water collection pipe, and finally flows out of the dam by gravity. This method has the advantages of low cost, low energy consumption, and easy management, and is a practical and feasible method to reduce the seepage line of tailings pond。

  • Cheng WANG, Haichao LI
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 68-73.

    Spectinomycin is an alkaline water-soluble aminoglycoside antibiotic, produced by the fermentation of actinospectacin. The prewashing process of D152 resin with EDTA-2Na was studied, by selecting the proper concentration, pH and flow rate of the prewashing solution, the extraction of high purity macromycin hydrochloride was realized, and the recovery process of EDTA-2Na was determined. The optimal prewashing parameters were obtained: the concentration of EDTA-2Na solution is 0.015 mol/L, the pH of prewashing solution is 7.5~8.0, and the flow rate is 1.0~2.0 BV/h. The prewashing process is simple, low cost and high recovery, which ensures the adsorption yield of D152 resin and realizes the green extraction.

  • Yuqi HUANG, Chunming ZHONG, Xin ZHANG
    Uranium Mining and Metallurgy. 2024, 43(3): 63-67.

    The detection method of 210Po in the surface water around the decommissioned uranium mine was studied, and the activity level of 210Po in the surface water around the uranium mine was investigated. Using iron(III) hydroxide as the carrier, 210Po in the water sample was adsorbed and allowed to self-deposit on a copper plate in a hydrochloric acid-sodium chloride system, and then measured on an alpha spectrograph. The detection limit of the method is 0.001 Bq/L,the precision is better than 10%, and the recovery is between 93.4% and 106.6%. The results show that the activity concentration of 210Po in the surface water around the decommissioned uranium mine is between 0.001 and 0.223 Bq/L, indicating a certain level of pollution. There is a risk of transferring to humans through drinking water and food chain, resulting in an increase in internal exposure dose to residents. It is necessary to strengthen monitoring of surface water around the uranium mine and evaluation of public exposure.