Determination of Uranium and Associated Impurities in the Yellow Cake Product of El-Atshan Uranium Ore

Yellow cake product of El-Atshan ore was analyzed for the determination of uranium and associated impurities. The procedure was based on the use of solvent extraction technique for the selective separation of uranium matrix from the yellow cake solution. Therefore, several extraction procedures were comparatively investigated using tributyl phosphate (Tbp)/ carbon tetrachloride, trioctyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) / cyclohexane, trioctyl hexyl phosphine oxide (TOHPO) / cyclohexane and tris (2-Ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) /cyclohexane system . The latter exhibited the best extraction selectivity towards uranium. Concentration of uranium in the yellow cake solution was determined spectrophotometrically by direct measurement in the organic phase using dibenzoyl methane ( λ416nm) after extraction with TEHP at proper extraction conditions. On the other hand, associated impurities were measured in the raffinate solution using atomic absorption spectrometry for Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mo, Pb, Sr and Zn and spectrophotometry for Al, REs, Th, Ti and V