Behaviour of organic matters in uranium ore processing

The oxidation-reduction behaviour of organic matters in the course of oxidation roasting, acid leaching and alkali leaching, the regeneration of humic acid and the consumption of reagents are described. The mineralogical characteristics of the organic matter samples were studied. The results show that its organic matter rich in volatile carbon and with the shorter evolutionary process and lower association is easily oxidized with higher consumption of oxidant during its acid leaching; it is easily oxidized with forming humic acid during alkali leaching; and pretreating it by oxidation roasting is beneficial to the oxidation of uranium. On the contrary, the organic matter rich in fixed carbon, and with longer evolutionary process and higher association is difficultly oxidized with lower consumption of oxidant during its acid leaching; it is difficult to regenerate humic acid for it during alkali leaching; and the uranium can be easily reduced and the leaching performance of uranium can be lowered