URANIUM ORE PROCESSING

in sodium carbonate solutions or in dilute sulfuric acid in the absence

of an oxidant.

(b) Secondary or Oxidized Uranium Minerals (Supergene)

These are hydrated oxides, phosphates, vanadates, sulfates, and

carbonates, and they are readily soluble in sodium carbonate solution or

in dilute sulfuric acid. They are formed from primary minerals by

natural weathering processes. Typical ores are carnotite (a hydrous

potassium uranyl vanadate) found in the Colorado Plateau, and tor-

bernite (a cupric uranyl phosphate), uranophane (a calcium uranyl

silicate), and becquerelite and gummite (hydrated oxides), which occur

in the Congo.

(c) Refracfory Minerals

These are uranium-bearing refractory oxides of iron, niobium, tantalum,

and/or titanium, and various amounts of rare earths and thorium.

Typical of this group are davidite, brannerite, betafite, pyrochlore, samar-

skite, and euxenite. Davidite, from Radium Hill, South Australia,

and brannerite, from Blind River, Ontario, are the principal refractory

ores processed. Vigorous chemical treatment is required to leach the

uranium out of these minerals.

These include thucholite (named after the constituents thorium,

uranium, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen), uraniferous hydrocarbons,

and minerals related to coal (such as kolm). Thucholite consists of

submicroscopic inclusions of uraninite in a matrix of solid hydrocarbon.

Thucholite is acid-insoluble, and satisfactory extraction of South African

ore depends on fine grinding. Uraniferous hydrocarbons from the

Temple Mountain district of the Colorado Plateau are organouranium

complexes associated with asphaltic material. No more than 40% of

the uranium in these minerals ordinarily can be extracted by sulfuric

acid leaching without prior roasting.

In coals, pitchblende occurs mostly in the form of small veinlets, ac-

cumulations of irregular form and fine impregnations.5 It is often

found in fusain cells and in small open fissures, penetrating no more

than 1 mm into the wall of a fissure. The protective effect of the oc-

cluding organic matter enables pitchblende boorxist in coals occurring

in the oxidation zones of the earth, as well as at deeper levels. Pitch-

Uranium and Carbon Associations

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