MANAGING THE HORIZON-ORIENTED IN-SITU LEACHING FOR THE URANIUM DEPOSITS OF MONGOLIA

Abstract

This paper summarizes the results of evaluating uranium in-situ leaching (ISL) parameters for hydrogenous deposits in eastern Mongolia. This method, also known as in-situ recovery (ISR) or solution mining was proposed for mining used to extract uranium from underground deposits without physically removing the ore. The studies included drilling, geophysical surveying, evaluations of rock properties and chemical composition of rocks and groundwater, as well as modelling coupled flow and transport for the “Ul’zit” deposit as a case study. The proposed horizon-oriented approach to process separate ore bodies at different depths allows for the mining process to be adapted to layered heterogeneity and allows successive leaching by wells of varying diameter and special design. This approach may reduce drilling costs and shorten the time for mining uranium deposits in Mongolia by 2 times on average. It was proven that this method is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to traditional underground or open-pit mining for uranium ore bodies. The economic evaluation confirms the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

Keywords

• uranium
• hydrogenous deposits
• in-situ leaching
• wells
• managing horizon-oriented ISL