Recovery of uranium from carbonate solutions using Lewatit TP 107 resin

Uranium is extracted from ore bodies by leaching with either sulfuric acid or sodium carbonate/bicarbonate (alkaline) solutions. Alkaline leaching is usually preferred for ores with gangue compositions that would otherwise result in excessive acid consumption. After leaching, ion exchange is then commonly used to recover uranium from the liquor. Strong-base anion-exchange resins are generally used for both liquor types. In this work, a recently released high capacity strong-base anion-exchange resin resin (Lewatit TP 107) was examined for the extraction of uranium from alkaline leach liquor simulants. The effect of solution composition on uranium adsorption was studied, including pH, carbonate, sulfate, chloride and nitrate ion concentrations. The results were then used to develop a competitive ion exchange model. The elution of uranium by a variety of industrially relevant eluents was also examined, and the loading and elution data was benchmarked against a conventional resin. The results showed that uranium loading for TP 107 was two to three times greater than for the conventional resin, particularly at lower uranium tenors. However, the elution process was more difficult, requiring about twice the amount of eluent for a given resin volume. This suggests that TP 107 could be used for uranium recovery from alkaline liquors, and would be particularly attractive for lower grade deposits.