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Processing Uranium Ore

Total technology solutions across the mining value chain

TENOVA is a worldwide supplier of advanced technologies, products and engineering services for
the iron & steel and mining industries.

PROJECT SERVICES

PROJECT FINANCE

Consulting: ore-body, production and market evaluation to assess project viability.


Test work supervision: Tenova Mining & Minerals
engineers arrange and oversee laboratory, pilot plant
and on-site test work.
In-house laboratory for cost-effective and prompt
scoping work, as a basis for structuring project
definitions.
Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.
Technology supply packages: incorporating basic
engineering design, process guarantees, proprietary
equipment definition and supply, and commissioning
support.
Process plant design and project management: all
phases of the project, from inception through design
and construction to commissioning, maximising the
success and profitability of the venture.
Comprehensive spares and after-sales back-up.
Process audits to Best Practice guidelines.

Tenova Mining & Minerals assists clients to structure,


negotiate and secure optimal and cost-effective financial
packages for projects of all sizes.

FLEXIBLE CONTRACT STRUCTURING


Reimbursable, fixed price or any combination to suit
client needs.
Joint ventures on projects.

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES
For beneficiation of uranium ore, Tenova Mining &
Minerals liaises with suppliers and evaluates equipment
to make unbiased selections of the best equipment for
the job.
For stockpiling, materials handling, environmental
protection and waste disposal, Tenova Mining &
Minerals draws upon its comprehensive in-house and
licensed range of engineered technologies, or selects
the most appropriate equipment from other suppliers.

Tenova Mining & Minerals is a total integrated solutions provider to the global mining, bulk materials handling and
minerals beneficiation and processing sectors, offering innovative technological solutions and full process and
commodity knowledge across the mining industry value chain.

Tenova Mining & Minerals provides the full range of capabilities to convert run-of-mine (ROM) uranium-bearing ore into
saleable products, to integrate engineering and process know-how in the development and optimisation of plant designs,
and to deliver processing facilities that meet global environmental standards.

ORE HANDLING AND PREPARATION


Materials Handling
Tenova Mining & Minerals designs and supplies materials
handling systems to transport uranium-bearing ores and
tailings.
All types of conveyor systems to move ore and tailings
to, from and within the processing plant.
Stockpile systems for efficient, effective and
economic stacking and reclaiming of stockpiled ore
and safe disposal of tailings.
Plants to process tailings and extract coarse material
for use as backfill.

Comminution
The most energy efficient and cost effective systems are
selected and designed for mechanical liberation and
exposure of uranium minerals, in all types of ores.
Conventional crushing and milling.
Autogenous and semi-autogenous milling.
Fine milling.
Computer modelling maximises use of available data to
assess and select the most appropriate comminution
circuit, to achieve the required size reduction of the ore
needed for efficient uranium extraction.

Feed Preparation
Suitably sized material can be
Thickened and density controlled.
Agglomerated for heap-leach applications.

Pre-concentration
Tenova Mining & Minerals applies its experience in
processing many different ore types to the effective preconcentration of ore, significantly reducing the size of the
uranium recovery plant that will be required.
Flotation conventional mechanical and column flotation cells.
Radiometric sorting.
Gravity concentration.

LEACHING URANIUM ORE


Tenova Mining & Minerals provides effective leaching
circuits for all types of uranium-containing ores, with the
leach operation selected according to the ore type.
Leach Liqour
Generally an acidic sulphate or alkaline carbonate solution
containing an appropriate oxidant.
Slurry Leaching
Slurry leaching is conducted either under atmospheric
conditions in tanks, or at elevated pressures in autoclaves.
Ambient or elevated temperatures.
Atmospheric-leach circuits usually utilise cascading
tanks.

Pressure-leach circuits equipped with multistage


flash-splash heat recovery and letdown units.
A pre-leach circuit using pregnant liquor may be
introduced to initiate leaching and facilitate heat and
acid recovery.
A combination of the above processes.
Heap Leaching
Leach liquor is percolated liquor through a bed of crushed
ore and collected for processing.
In-situ Leaching
Permeating liquor through permeable sandstone ores
without moving the host ore.

SOLID / LIQUID SEPARATION


Tenova Mining & Minerals designs and supplies unit
processes to separate pregnant liquor from leached solids
following slurry leaching. Bench-scale tests and scale-up
experience ensure correct sizing of the following
equipment
High-rate thickening, optionally with Delkor Ultraseps,
is used for mill-circuit thickening, counter-current
decantation (CCD), preparation of backfill and tailings,
dewatering and water recovery.
Multi-stage CCD circuits.
Filtration systems (belt, drum or disk).
Large diameter traction-drive thickeners.
When the uranium-extraction circuit precedes gold
extraction, further CCD circuits may be installed to remove
iron and base metals that increase cyanide consumption
in the gold plant.

URANIUM RECOVERY
Ion Exchange (IX) and Solvent Extraction (SX) are used
for concentration and recovery of uranium from pregnant
leach liquors.
Direct access to laboratories and test facilities is available
to obtain data required to select and design processes
most suited to each application.
Solution Clarification
Clarified leach liquors minimise crud formation in SX
circuits.
Pinned Bed Clarifiers can be combined with sand filters
to offer very low suspended-solids counts in overflows,
with designed outflow clarities of less than 30 ppm solids
and even as low as 20 ppm. Their benefits include
Lower capital and operating cost than pressure filters
alone.
Operationally robust and stable.
Within the design range, clarity of the product is not
affected by the amount of solids in the feed or
fluctuations in the feed flow rate.

Ion Exchange (IX)


Ion Exchange (IX) circuits can be used independently, or
as a first step to extract uranium, after which further
concentration occurs in an SX circuit. IX is ideally suited
to treat leach liquors with lower uranium concentrations.
Tenova Mining & Minerals offers a number of IX
technologies to suit a wide range of applications.
Fixed Bed Ion Exchange (FBIX) to treat clarified
liquors in either series, parallel or carousel
configurations.
Semi-continuous ion exchange using NIMCIX
columns, treating liquors containing up to 500 ppm
solids.
Resin-in-Pulp (RIP) IX to treat leached slurries
directly without solid-liquid separation.

Solvent Extraction (SX)


A typical SX circuit may comprise a mix of pulsed columns
and mixer settlers to extract uranium into the organic
phase, scrub out impurities, strip uranium into an aqueous
phase and regenerate organic solvent.
Tenova Mining & Minerals SX Technologies
Patented Pulsed Columns provide continuous
extraction and offer
Mechanical simplicity with no agitators or internal
moving parts.
Easy installation and automation.
Floor space 10 % of alternative systems.
Low operating and maintenance cost.
Quick start-up times after shutdowns.
Lower operator requirements than for competitive
systems.
No shutdown for crud removal and draining of
interfacial material.
Closed system, which reduces risk of fire and loss
of volatile solvents.
Reduced environmental pollution.
Patented Mixer Settlers feature an integral mixing
channel that enables positioning of mixers at the same
end of a bank of settlers and offer
Compact and simplified settler layouts.
High process efficiencies.
Ease of operation.
Low organic loss.
Floor space 80 % of competitive units.
Low capital cost and construction time.

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URANIUM PRECIPITATION

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Recovery of uranium from strip liquor emerging from IX


and / or SX circuits can be achieved using a base (e.g.
ammonium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide), or other
complexing chemicals. The resulting product can be
thickened, washed and dewatered, or dissolved and reprecipitated. The final product may be dried or calcined
before dispatching for further processing.

Tenova Mining & Minerals ensures that its uranium


processing facilities are environmentally friendly with
minimal environmental impact, in compliance with local
regulations and guided by ISO 14000.
Dust and air pollution control systems are installed
where required on the plant, including conveyor
systems, crushers and mills.
Toxic-emission monitoring and control are employed
at leaching and scrubbing circuits.
Closed-circuit processing ensures that harmful
substances are not released to the environment and
that acid and alkali reagents are contained within the
plant.
Waste slurry is treated to adjust the pH and
precipitate all major impurities before being pumped
to secure tailings storage areas.

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Tenova Mining & Minerals


Emerald Boulevard
Greenstone Hill 1609
PO Box 7737
Johannesburg 2000
South Africa
Phone +27 11 899 9111
Fax +27 11 899 2302
enquiries.TMM@za.tenovagroup.com

www.tenovagroup.com
TECHINT GROUP
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