The selective leaching of uranium, vanadium and phosphorus from phosphate ore with hydrochloric acid

Abstract

The selective leaching of uranium, vanadium, and phosphorus from phosphate ore may be useful in by-product recovery. Experimental results have shown that it is possible to preferentially remove uranium from phosphate ore using dilute HCl (0.05 M). 93 pct of the uranium is leached within 90 min, leaving 94 pct of the phosphorus and 82 pct of the vanadium unattacked. Phosphorus may then be removed by increasing the pH. The apparent activation energies and orders for the leaching reactions were found. For uranium, the apparent order with respect to H⁺ is 1.05 and the apparent activation energy is 7750 J. The apparent order for the leaching of the vanadium minerals with respect to H⁺ is 1.93 and the apparent activation energy is 12800 J. The phosphorus reaction has an apparent order, with respect to H⁺, of 1.98 and an apparent activation energy of 10200 J. The uranium readsorbs at longer times. The readsorption reaction is a function of temperature, particle size, and H⁺ concentration. Two methods of selectivity analysis were used in the analysis of the data-end point analysis and initial rate analysis.