Beneficiation of low-grade Uranium ore from the Atomic Energy Commission

Abstract

A low-grade uranium ore received from the Atomic Energy Commission of India for beneficiation assayed 51.41 percent SiO2, 1.02 percent P2O5 and 0.029 percent U3O8 (equivalent).The ore was muscovite-biotite schist and no uranium-bearing mineral could be identified under the ordinary petrological microscope, though a few feebly radioactive black and yellowish minerals could be seen on a nuclear track plate. The uranium-bearing mineral was very intimately associated with the gangue. The best magnetic concentrate obtained assayed.0.048 percent U3O8 (equivalent) with a recovery of 22.0 percent in this product flotation of the non-magnetic fraction gave a concentrate assaying 0.040 percent U3O8 (equivalent) with a further recovery of 14.3 percent. The best concentrate obtained was a smile which assayed 0.142 percent U3O8 (equivalent) but with a recovery of only 5.8 percent .Controlled desliming to improve recovery yielded a slime assaying 0.082 percent by weight of slime was collected. The concentrates obtainable from the ore by Ore-Dressing methods are of too low by a grade to justify a reaction of a plant for beneficiation.