The use of chlorine-containing agents in the processing of spent blocks of uranium deposits

Abstract

The work is aimed at diversifying existing mines for the extraction and processing of natural uranium through additional processing of spent blocks of uranium deposits with chemical solutions using the method of in-situ well leaching (ISL) in order to extract associated useful components. A feature of this technology is the use of the existing production infrastructure for the extraction of associated useful components in existing uranium mines, without significant capital investments in production infrastructure and mining operations. The technology of underground borehole leaching has been reliably developed in uranium deposits for decades. The fundamental similarity of the technology for the extraction of uranium and a number of associated useful components (APC) - by the ISR method, allows the use of spent ore fields of uranium deposits for the extraction of PPC. The use of ready-made technological infrastructure (wells, pipeline network, pumping equipment, control units, etc.) allows, due to savings on infrastructure costs, to obtain profitability when mining ore-bearing blocks with a content of recoverable components from ≤ 1 g/t, up to 0.1 g/t. Taking into account the indirect savings of significant costs for the reclamation of spent blocks, it will be profitable to mine blocks with a content of recoverable components up to 0.01 g/t. In view of the foregoing, this technology has a good prospect for implementation in production.