Amenability studies for the extraction of uranium from Rohil-Ghateswar ore

Uranium in albitites and albitised meta sedimentary rocks of Rohil, Sikar district, Rajasthan, India is occurring mainly as uraninite assaying about U3O8 0.06%. The ore also contains appreciable quantities of Cu and Mo as sulfides. The uranium values in the ore are extracted using sulfuric acid by following conventional agitation leaching technique. Extensive laboratory studies indicated the scope of leaching 98% of uranium values at optimum process conditions. The optimal conditions necessary for maximal dissolution were found to be: mesh-of-grind -250 mm, H2SO4 61 kg/t, ambient temperature and contact time of 6h. The paper discusses the effect of key process parameters on leachability of uranium. (author)