METHOD FOR RECOVERING AN ARSENIC-ENRICHED CONCENTRATE FROM RADIOLOGICALLY CONTAMINATED ORE
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- FR · FR
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- ORANO MINING
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-18
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-22
Smart Images
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Abstract
Claims
Oxidative leaching A of an ore comprising uranium, radium, arsenic, cobalt, nickel and copper by sulfuric acid; Separation B of the uranium-enriched leachate L1 and a radium- and arsenic-enriched leaching residue RI and possibly comprising valuable metallic elements, such as cobalt, nickel and / or copper; Solvent extraction of said leachate L1, leading to a uranium-rich organic phase; Washing C by countercurrent decantation comprising 6 successive cycles of the residue RI leading to a residue R2;The treatment of residue R2 by desliming D by hydrocyclone leading to a fraction Fl of fine particles of diameter D90 (by number) less than or equal to 20 pm enriched in radium and a fraction F2 of coarse particles of diameter D10 greater than 20 pm enriched in arsenic, and possibly including valuable metallic elements, such as cobalt, nickel and / or copper and possibly including radium; The neutralization H of fraction Fl and said lower phase with ferric sulfate (Fe2(SO4)3) in excess relative to arsenic; The collection E of fraction F2; The flotation treatment F comprising 3 flotation cycles of fraction F2 in the presence of a foaming agent and a collecting agent; and The collection G of the resulting flotated product enriched in arsenic, nickel, copper and cobalt.
17. Product obtainable by the process according to any one of the preceding claims, said product comprising (by mass relative to the total mass of floated product): - 10 to 30% arsenic; - 20 Bq / g to 800 Bq / g radium; - 0.01 to 0.05% uranium; - 0 to 15% nickel; - 0 to 20% copper; and - Less than 5% cobalt. ig- 3] Recovery efficiency (%) Mass yield (%)