Reactive Transport Modeling during Uranium In Situ Leaching (ISL): The Effects of Ore Composition on Mining Recovery
Kurmanseiit M.B. Tungatarova M.S. Kaltayev A. Royer J.-J.
November 2022MDPI
Minerals
2022#12Issue 11
Unconsolidated sandstone uranium deposits exploited by the in situ leaching (ISL) method, contain complex tetravalent and hexavalent uranium compounds, mostly as UO2 and UO3 oxides that have different dissolution rates in sulfuric acid solutions. This work investigates a reactive transport model that takes into account the dissolution of both UO2 and UO3 in sulfuric acid solution together with possible interactions with rock minerals during the ISL uranium extraction. Several empirical reaction rate constants were determined during lab experiments on uranium extraction assays, including dissolution rates of tetravalent and hexavalent uranium oxides, and the dissolution rate of rock components by sulfuric acid solution. Effects on the recovery of solution flow rates and ratios between tetravalent and hexavalent uranium compounds are also investigated. The experimental dissolution constants were then used in the proposed reactive transport model to be applied to a real case study in Kazakhstan for comparing the 16 months history matching of an exploitation block consisting of 18 well injectors and 4 producers. The obtained numerical results show good agreement with empirical data gathered during exploitation.
in situ leaching , reactive transport model , recovery , uranium
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Department of Mechanics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Satbayev University, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan
Laboratoire GeoRessources, Université de Lorraine/CNRS, Nancy, 54000, France
Department of Mechanics
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Laboratoire GeoRessources
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
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