Non-conventional recovery of uranium and associated valuable metals from Rosetta monazite mineral concentrate

ABSTRACT

Citric acid has a very important role in the extraction process of uranium from the matrix such as hydrous oxide cake formed after alkali breakdown of Egyptian Rosetta monazite mineral concentrate. This manner involved leaching of uranium selectively (94%) using 150 g L⁻¹ citric acid concentration at solid liquid (S/L) ratio of 1:5 at room temperature for 120 min. The kinetics of the concerning leaching process and the reaction mechanism between citric acid and uranium have been discussed in detail. From the latter, it was found that the reaction was diffusion controlled and the calculated apparent activation energy value was 12.724 KJ mole⁻¹. The work then explained the separation of Th and REEs from hydrous oxide as conventional techniques in published data.

KEYWORDS:

• Citric
• monazite
• leaching
• uranium
• thorium

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publishing of this manuscript.