Extracting Vanadium and Uranium from Low-Grade and Mill-Grade Ores from the Colorado Plateau

摘要

The Bureau of Mines is investigating vanadium recovery from various domestic resources. A low-grade carnotite ore sample containing 0.34 pct V2O5 and 0.04 pct U3O8 was leached, and the results were compared with those of similar leach tests using a mill-grade sample containing 1.26 pct V2O5 and 0.19 pct U3O8. Experiments on the two ore samples included agitation leaching, pugging, salt-roast leaching, and autoclave leaching. None of the leaching methods investigated showed any significant advantage over another except autoclaving, which reduced the leach time but at the expense of greater acid consumption.