Uranium-REE Keynote Address: “Uranium IX - Past, Present and Future” Download paper from ALTA Free Library: https://www.altamet.com.au/free-libra... The presentation briefly reviewed resin chemistry, early IX fixed bed processes, and still relevant past innovations including improved resins, CIX and RIP systems for unclarified solutions and slurries, the Eluex/Bufflex IX/SX system for dilute solutions, and U-tube elution.
Recent and future innovations include IX/nanofiltration (NF) for reagent recycle in elution, SX/IX to reduce reagent costs when using strong acid SX strip, IX to remove impurities from NF feed to prevent fouling and scaling, IX/IX using different resins for by-product uranium recovery from phosphoric acid, resins for saline leach solutions, and novel elution systems to reduce opex.
The Uranium-REE Sessions, organised in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), were opened by Dr Brett Moldovan, Team Leader, Uranium Resources and Production, IAEA (Austria) with a presentation on “What will Future Uranium Mining Projects Look Like?”. The presentation concluded that lower grade deposits will dominate future global resources and will be sandstone and unconformity types. Geology, mineralogy and geochemistry will guide future mine and process flowsheet design which will be dominated by ISR. Innovation opportunities to reduce costs include application of ISL to unconformity type deposits, stope (block) leaching, physical and chemical preconcentration, advances in heap leaching for low grade ores, and innovation in full life cycle issues, such as mine closure.
Session topics were heap leaching including development of a geometallurgical uranium leaching predictive tool for the Olympic Dam operation, progress review of the Central Jordan Uranium Project, and the research of cladding for radon exhalation control for acidic uranium heap leaching tailings in China; review of Dubbo Rare Metal and REE and Nolans NdPr project developments; by-product uranium recovery from phosphates and copper concentrates; process developments for REE extraction and fluid bed precipitation of uranium oxide concentrates; and a Developments in IX Forum including developments in selective resins for REE and actinides and the positioning of IX in the uranium industry.
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