Coextraction of uranium and radium from ore with ferric chloride

Ferric chloride leaching, at temperatures around 74°C, is found to remove up to remove up to 97% of the uranium from ores occurring in the Elliot Lake area of Canada. Radium removal is poor due to the formation of sulphates from the sulphides present in the ore. However, if the sulphides are removed initially by flotation, then ferric chloride can extract as much as 92% of the radium, giving tailings which are sulphide-free and with radium levels approaching 24 pCi/g. The main steps in a ferric chloride leaching process have been tested at the bench scale. Radium may be removed by adsorption on manganese dioxide and uranium is removed by liquid extraction with D2EHPA (DAPEX process). The ferric chloride may be recirculated for further leaching and the net usage is expected to be in the order of 5 kg/Mg of solids treated. Because of the recycle, it is possible to keep chloride ion levels in the effluent below the prescribed level of 750 mg/L.