Researchers discover way to boost uranium extraction from waste ore

A mineral long viewed as a waste product of uranium mining could now be used, due to an extraction method discovered by Perth researchers. Miners have not been able to extract uranium from the mineral brannerite because it was thought it could not be processed, but Murdoch University metallurgical engineering lecturer and research team head Aleks Nikoloski said he believed he had found a way.

"The challenge has been to effectively extract uranium from the mineral, because it holds onto the uranium element quite strongly," he said. "So we have identified conditions under which you can achieve this extraction quite efficiently."

Australia is the world's third-largest uranium producer and the finding is expected to benefit producers and explorers in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, potentially boosting the industry's value by more than $100 million per annum.

"Brannerite accounts for approximately 15% of the total uranium being unrecovered but the value associated with that uranium is lost," said Nikoloski. "So by adapting the technology and extracting uranium from the mineral brannerite as well, we could potentially increase the extraction by 15%."

Source: ABC