Determination of uranium content in phosphate ores using different measurement techniques

Abstract

The most important unconventional source of uranium is found in phosphate deposits; unfortunately, nowadays its exploitation is limited by economic constraints. The uranium concentrations in phosphate ores in the world vary regionally and most countries with large phosphate deposits have either plant in operation to extract uranium or are at the stage of pilot extraction plants. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate uranium content in the Saudi phosphate ores for, at least, two reasons: firstly, upgrading the phosphate quality by removing the uranium content in order to reduce the radioactivity in the fertilizer products. Secondly, getting benefit from the extracted uranium for its domestic use as a fuel in nuclear power and desalination plants. The results of this study show that the uranium concentration in Saudi phosphate rocks is relatively low (less than 100 ppm), which is not economically encouraging for its direct extraction. However, its extraction as a byproduct from the phosphoric acid, which will have higher concentration could be quite promising and worth exploiting.

Keywords

• XRF
• LIBS
• LBC
• Phosphate analysis
• Uranium concentration