Abstrait

Liquid – liquid extraction of uranium from sulfate leach liquor of RamletHemeyir, ferruginous sandstone orematerial, Southwestern, Sinai, Egypt

A.Abdelfattah, S.M.Mahmoud, H.M.Salman

The Ferruginous sandstone ore was obtained from Ramlet Hemeyir area, Southwestern Sinai, Egypt. It was found to contain 0.26 % U and 10 % REE (rare earth elements). A representative sample has been subjected to acid agitation leaching using H2SO4 by which 89% U and 93% REE were released by mixing the sample with concentrated H2SO4 at solid/ liquid (S/L) ratio of 1/2 for 5h at a temperature range (250 - 300oC). After precipitation of rare earth elements and lead. Uranium was separated from the filtrate by liquid – liquid extraction using a synergistic system of D2EHPA/TBP in kerosene as a diluent under the following conditions: a solvent concentration of 0.5 M at pH 1, anA/O ratio of 1:1 and a contact time 10 min. The loaded organic solvent was stripped with 10%sodiumcarbonate at ratio 3:1. Then NaOH was added to the stripped solution to precipitate U-cake at pH 12.0.