Uranium Chemistry of Raw Materials Section, Progress Report for July 1, 1952, to September 30, 1952. Part I: Uranium from Lignites

摘要

The studies of uraniferous lignites which have been made during the last quarter may be included in the following categories: (1) chemical processing of raw lignite, (2) chemical processing of lignite ash formed at low and intermediate temperatures, (3) chemical processing of lignite ash formed at high temperatures, (4) uranium content of the mineral and organic constituents of lignite and (5) concentration of uranium from raw and roasted lignite by physical methods. Work on the extraction of uranium from chars as formed during low and high temperature retorting operations has been started. Further tests with 500 degrees C ash from sample ND-1 have confirmed previous work, showing extractions up to 75 percent of the uranium by water leaching. Examination of hand-picked, organic-rich lignite samples has again demonstrated the association of uranium with the organic material. Within the limit of the accuracy of the method used, correlation was not detected between the uranium concentration and that of any of the trace elements. Encouraging results were obtained from a flotation test in which the gangue constituents were floated from the carbonaceous material.