Recovery of uranium from phosphate rock with EDTA-mediated dissolution and cation exchange
Date
2019ISSN
0304-386XSource
HydrometallurgyVolume
189Google Scholar check
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Show full item recordAbstract
The present study describes an alternative, environmentally friendly, simple, and material- and cost-effective process for the selective separation and recovery of uranium from phosphate rocks by cation-exchange using an iminodiacetic resin after EDTA-mediated sample dissolution. The process was successfully completed at laboratory scale and is very attractive for large/industrial-scale applications because all of its steps are performed under mild conditions, such as ambient conditions, no organic solvents, and aqueous solutions with pH values between 2 and 7. In addition, recycling and reuse of the main reactants (e.g., EDTA and cation-exchange resin) and recovery of the phosphate in the form of calcium phosphates and apatites are simple and almost quantitative.