Abstracto

Sulphuric acid leaching of uranium ore using MnO2 as an oxidizing agent

S.H.Ahmed, M.E.Sheta, G.M.Saleh, M.G.Mahfouz, S.A.Mohammed2, M.M.Abdelaal

The processing of uranium ore (Abu-Rusheid area) in a sulfuric acid solution using manganese dioxide as an oxidant has been investigated. The mineralogical composition of the ore sample under study was characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analyses. The particle size, sulphuric acid concentration, solid to liquid ratio, shaking time, temperature and manganese dioxide concentration all have significant effects on the process. The process operating parameters including particle size, sulphuric acid concentration, solid to liquid ratio, shaking time, temperature and MnO2 concentration have been studied. Under the optimum experimental conditions of the latter, the extraction efficiency of uraniumfromtheworking ore was about 87.3%. Shrinking Core-Shrinking Particle was considered as the base kinetic model.