Uranium leaching from mining wastes: effects of contact time, pH and particle size

Dynamic short term leaching tests were carried out for mining wastes generated from the uranium mining industry over a period of 0-80 hrs under different leaching conditions. Leaching was fast in the initial stage being followed by a slow stage before attaining a near equilibrium condition. Leaching intensity was observed to be high in acidic pH and for lower particle sizes. The leaching intensity in all the cases was in general weak, indicating slow uranium leaching in the simulated environmental conditions. (author)