The recovery of uranium from acid leached ore using resin-in-pulp technology

Ion exchange resins have been used extensively in the past to extract uranium from aqueous solutions. This was done by contacting relatively clean solutions with resin beads in a conventional resin column. An expensive liquid-solid separation step ahead of the ion exchange circuit is required to provide the clean solutions. When dealing with uranium ores that are difficult to filter or settle, it has been found that resin-in-pulp (RIP) provides a more economical treatment path. Aker Metals, a division of Aker Solutions Canada Inc. has been involved in the design of two such plants and, in each case, has found RIP to be an acceptable low cost solution to these difficult ores. This paper will compare the Capital and Operating costs of a 3500 tonne per day acid leach uranium plant using the more conventional CCD-SX route with those for a RIP circuit. Treatment options designed to mitigate resin loss by breakage and fouling will be discussed. An overview of current projects using this approach will be given. (author)