Ion flotation of uranium contained in industrial phosphoric acid with collector recycling

Uranium has been recovered from wet-process phosphoric acid (30% P2O5) by ion flotation with an anionic organophosphorous collector. Recoveries greater than 90% were obtained even at temperatures of about 60 C, the uranium concentrate, which was collected in the froth as a precipitate, containing 7 to 10% U. Collector consumption without recycling of the surface-active reagent was about 12 kg/kg U. Much of the reagent, however, can be recovered for recycling by attack with sodium hydroxide on the floated phase after filtration. This enables a precipitate containing about 30% U to be produced and decreases collector consumption to about 3 kg/kg U. The results were obtained in laboratory-scale experiments on industrial wet-process acid. (author)