A suggested eco-friendly procedure for the recovery of uranium from Egyptian Abu Tartur phosphorites before industrial processing

Abstract

The manufacture of phosphate fertilizers without prior uranium extraction leads to widespread dispersal of uranium compounds across agricultural fields, posing significant cumulative environmental and health risks. Furthermore, this represents a wasteful loss of a critical global energy resource. Against this backdrop, we propose an environmentally friendly method for extracting uranium from Egyptian Abu Tartur phosphate rocks using humic acid (HA). Almost complete dissolution of uranium with a 3% HA concentration, solid-to-liquid ratio of 1/2, and a leaching temperature of 60°C. The uranium was then effectively adsorbed from the HA solution, with a concentration of 0.026 g/L, onto activated carbon, influenced by variables such as: pH, contact time, and adsorbent amount per leach solution volume. Subsequent uranium regeneration from the activated carbon was accomplished using 0.5 M ammonium bicarbonate, achieving a desorption efficiency of 98.7%. This process culminated in the production of a sodium diuranate concentrate following uranium precipitation with NaOH solution.