DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC COLLECTORS FOR THE FLOTATION OF URANIUM MINERALS

摘要

A series of organic reagents for the collection and flotation of several secondary uranium minerals has been developed, this being the mono-alkyl nitrogen substitutions of the dithiocarbamate grouping with a chain length of at least eight carbon atoms. In flotation tests, using the potassium salt of n-decyl dithiocarbamate as collector, high recoveries of autunite have been obtained from mixtures of finely-ground synthetic autunite and silica sand. Certain base-metal salts added as conditioning agents have increased the collecting properties and selectivity of the dithiocarbamates in the flotation of both autunite and carnotite. In single batch and locked tests, using lead as the base metal ion, recoveries of over 95 percent of the uranium have been obtained, with ratios of concentration as high as 13:1. Preliminary tests on natural ores show encouraging results; the problems of liberation and conditioning must be solved for each ore. (auth)