Cameco is investigating the potential for development of the Kintyre uraniumdeposit located in central Western Australia, approximately 1600 km northeastof Perth. Indicated mineral resources are 55 Mlb of uranium (as U_3O_8equivalent) at an average grade of 0.58 per cent. On average, the ore contains6 per cent carbonate in the form of dolomite and calcite. In addition to extensive leaching, neutralisation and settling/filtrationwork, two fully integrated uranium solvent extraction mixer-settler minipilotplants were successfully operated, each for three days at a time, toobtain process data and compare the strong acid and ammonium sulfateoptions for uranium stripping from a conventional tertiary amine extractant.Approximately 1000 L of pregnant leach solution was treated throughout thetwo campaigns, achieving very high recoveries of uranium (>99.5 per cent)from feed to loaded strip liquor and U concentrations of <10 mg/L in theraffinate for both stripping processes. This presentation will provide an overview of the key results from thebatch laboratory and mini-pilot plant solvent extraction trials undertaken.It will highlight the differences in operation and performance betweenthe conventional ammonium sulfate strip process and the more recentlyfavoured conventional strong acid strip option.
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