Uranium Bioleaching from Low Grade Ore

The goal of the present work was to perform bioleaching of uranium from low grade ore from Vostok deposit (Republic of Kazakhstan), which was previously subjected to long-term acid leaching. The ore initially contained from 0.15 to 0.20% of uranium in the form of uraninite, but ore samples used in the study contained about 0.05% of uranium, as it was exhausted during acid leaching, and uranium was partially leached. Representative samples of ore were processed in 1 m columns, leach solutions containing 5, 10, 20 g/L of sulfuric acid and bacterial cells (about 104) were percolated through the ore. Leaching was performed at ambient temperature for 70 days. In one of the percolators, the leaching was performed with leaching solution containing 10 g/L of H2SO4, cells of A. ferrooxidans, and 0.5 g/L of formaldehyde. Leaching with the solution containing 5, 10, and 20 g/L of sulfuric acid made it possible to extract 50, 53, and 58% of uranium. Addition of formaldehyde in leach solution led to the decrease in uranium extraction extent down to 37%. Thus, the results of the present work demonstrated that uranium ore exhausted during long-term acid leaching may be successfully subjected to bioleaching, that allows extracting residual quantities of uranium. Leaching rate of uranium from exhausted ore depended on both sulfuric acid concentration and microbial activity of bacteria isolated from acid mine drainage, formed on uranium deposit. In the same time, acid mine drainage may be used as a source of inoculate, to start bioleaching process.