Formerly,uranium exploration at the Husab Uranium Project was based on sample chemical uranium assays with little uranium equivalent data( e U) obtained from γ probing. The high cost of performing chemical assays has...Formerly,uranium exploration at the Husab Uranium Project was based on sample chemical uranium assays with little uranium equivalent data( e U) obtained from γ probing. The high cost of performing chemical assays has a significant impact on the overall cost of uranium exploration. Between 2015 and 2016,the Resource Upgrade Project Zone 2 was undertaken at the Husab Project,which identified the reliability and feasibility of γ probing through comparison of chemical uranium assays with uranium equivalent grades. This project analyzed the sources of errors and proposed a method to correct them. Uranium equivalent data from gamma probing can be used to replace the chemical assays to reduce the cost and time,therefore increasing the efficiency for uranium exploration at the Husab Uranium Project.展开更多
CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching(ISL)of sandstonetype uranium ore represents the third generation of solution mining in China.In this study,reactive transport modeling of the interaction between hydrodynamic and geochemi...CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching(ISL)of sandstonetype uranium ore represents the third generation of solution mining in China.In this study,reactive transport modeling of the interaction between hydrodynamic and geochemical reactions is performed to enable better prediction and regulation of the CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching process of uranium.Geochemical reactions between mining solutions and rock,and the kinetic uranium dissolution controlled by O_(2)(aq)and bicarbonate(HCO_(3)-)are considered in the CO_(2)+O_(2) ISL reactive transport model of a typical sandstone-hosted uranium ore deposit in northern China.The reactive leaching of uranium is most sensitive to the spatial distribution of the mineralogical properties of the uranium deposit.Stochastic geostatistical models are used to represent the uncertainty on the spatial distribution of mineral grades.A Monte Carlo analysis was also performed to simulate the uranium production variability over an entire set of geostatistical realizations.The ISL stochastic simulation performed with the selected geostatistical realizations approximates the uranium production variability well.The simulation results of the ISL reactive transport model show that the extent of the uranium plume is highly dependent on mineralogical heterogeneity.The uncertainty analysis suggests the effect of uranium grade heterogeneity was found to be important to improve the accurate capture of the uncertainty.This study provides guidance for the accurate simulation and dynamic regulation of the CO_(2)+O_(2) leaching process of uranium at the scale of large mining areas.展开更多
基金Supported by Husab Uranium Project,Resource Upgrade Project Zone 2,Namibia
文摘Formerly,uranium exploration at the Husab Uranium Project was based on sample chemical uranium assays with little uranium equivalent data( e U) obtained from γ probing. The high cost of performing chemical assays has a significant impact on the overall cost of uranium exploration. Between 2015 and 2016,the Resource Upgrade Project Zone 2 was undertaken at the Husab Project,which identified the reliability and feasibility of γ probing through comparison of chemical uranium assays with uranium equivalent grades. This project analyzed the sources of errors and proposed a method to correct them. Uranium equivalent data from gamma probing can be used to replace the chemical assays to reduce the cost and time,therefore increasing the efficiency for uranium exploration at the Husab Uranium Project.
基金jointly supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2019YFC1804304)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.2167212,41772254)。
文摘CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching(ISL)of sandstonetype uranium ore represents the third generation of solution mining in China.In this study,reactive transport modeling of the interaction between hydrodynamic and geochemical reactions is performed to enable better prediction and regulation of the CO_(2)+O_(2) in-situ leaching process of uranium.Geochemical reactions between mining solutions and rock,and the kinetic uranium dissolution controlled by O_(2)(aq)and bicarbonate(HCO_(3)-)are considered in the CO_(2)+O_(2) ISL reactive transport model of a typical sandstone-hosted uranium ore deposit in northern China.The reactive leaching of uranium is most sensitive to the spatial distribution of the mineralogical properties of the uranium deposit.Stochastic geostatistical models are used to represent the uncertainty on the spatial distribution of mineral grades.A Monte Carlo analysis was also performed to simulate the uranium production variability over an entire set of geostatistical realizations.The ISL stochastic simulation performed with the selected geostatistical realizations approximates the uranium production variability well.The simulation results of the ISL reactive transport model show that the extent of the uranium plume is highly dependent on mineralogical heterogeneity.The uncertainty analysis suggests the effect of uranium grade heterogeneity was found to be important to improve the accurate capture of the uncertainty.This study provides guidance for the accurate simulation and dynamic regulation of the CO_(2)+O_(2) leaching process of uranium at the scale of large mining areas.
