Summary
An ion-exchange process for the selective separation and enrichment of uranium from the main elements Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, K as well as from Mo and V, which are present in uraniferous coaly clays, has been developed. After a selective carbonate leaching of the roasted ore, a 0.5 mol/l Na2CO3/0.5 mol/l NaHCO3 solution was passed through the macroporous ion-exchanger AG MP-1, which at pH10 absorbed uranium quantitatively in form of a carbonato complex. Remaining absorbed amounts of Mo and V were eluted with 0.1 mol/l EDTA in 0.5 mol/l Na2CO3/0.5 mol/l NaHCO3, while U was quantitatively separated by a second elution step with 0.5 mol/l HNO3 and was afterwards precipitated with NH4OH as a high-grade yellow cake. Differential pulse polarography (DPP), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) had been used to determine the uranium content in the raw materials and to investigate the effectivity of the different steps of the developed process.
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Ochsenkühn-Petropulu, M., Parissakis, G. Separation of uranium from uraniferous coaly clays using a selective ion-exchange two-step elution system. Fresenius J Anal Chem 345, 43–47 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00323324
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00323324