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Geological and radioactivity studies accompanied by uranium recovery: Um Bogma Formation, southwestern Sinai, Egypt

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Abstract

High radioactive anomalies were recorded in the variegated claystones at the middle member of Um Bogma Formation, the eU-content reaches 1030 ppm, while eU/eTh ratio was equivalent to 11.7 times of Clark value. Associated elements with economic values as rare earth elements, vanadium and molybdenum were detected. Beside this, work focusing on uranium recovery from collected samples was investigated using different reagents and leaching techniques. Pug-leaching process using sulfuric acid at 100 °C is the most efficient leaching condition. Selective separation of uranium with high grade (38%) was obtained using synthetic quaternary ammonium sorbent grafted on silica particles.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Egyptian Nuclear Materials Authority. Yuezhou WEI thanks the support of NSFC Projects (Nos. 11675102, 11975082).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, People’s Republic of China

    Mohammed F. Hamza & Yuezhou Wei

  2. Nuclear Materials Authority, POB 530, El-Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohammed F. Hamza, Osama R. Sallam, Mahmoud S. Khalafalla & Abd Elhadi A. Abbas

  3. School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Yuezhou Wei

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  1. Mohammed F. Hamza
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  2. Osama R. Sallam
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  4. Abd Elhadi A. Abbas
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Correspondence to Mohammed F. Hamza or Yuezhou Wei.

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Hamza, M.F., Sallam, O.R., Khalafalla, M.S. et al. Geological and radioactivity studies accompanied by uranium recovery: Um Bogma Formation, southwestern Sinai, Egypt. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 324, 1039–1051 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07149-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07149-x

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