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Dewatering Behaviour of a Uranium Ore Slurry Containing Clays

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Abstract

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the dewatering behaviour of a clayey uranium ore slurry. The slurry (containing 28% clay size) exhibited moderate water adsorption (w l  = 83% and w p  = 30%). Primarily composed of muscovite (46%) and quartz (30%), the clay minerals included illite (8%), chlorite (5%) and kaolinite (2%) alongside a CEC of 41 (cmol(+)/kg) with Ca2+ and Mg2+ as the dominant cations. Likewise, the high EC (17,600 μS/cm) and ionic strength (1.15 mol/L) indicated a flocculated microstructure due to the presence of SO4 2− (22,600 mg/L) and Mg2+ (1340 mg/L) in the slurry water. Settling included sedimentation and consolidation at low initial solids condition (25–35%) whereas only consolidation was observed at high initial solids contents (40–50%). The average k reduced from 1.2 × 10−6 m/s (initial s = 25%) to 5.3 × 10−8 m/s (initial s = 50%) along with a void ratio reduction from 7.4 to 2.6. Due to thixotropic strength, volume compressibility during consolidation showed apparent pre-consolidation at low effective stress (0.3–2 kPa) with a reduction in void ratio from 2.6 to 2.5. The e s was found to be 2.46 at σ′ = 2 kPa and was followed by a steeper slope with the void ratio reducing to 2.1 at σ′ = 31 kPa. Likewise, the hydraulic conductivity during consolidation decreased from 2.6 × 10−9 m/s (at e = 2.6) to 2.0 × 10−10 m/s (at e = 2.1).

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Ackowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Thanks to Cameco Corporation for providing financial and material support and the University of Regina for providing laboratory space.

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  1. Environmental Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada

    Maki Ito & Shahid Azam

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Ito, M., Azam, S. Dewatering Behaviour of a Uranium Ore Slurry Containing Clays. Geotech Geol Eng 35, 2549–2569 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-017-0260-6

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