See more from this Division: General Discipline Sessions
See more from this Session: Hydrogeology III - Uranium, Metals, and Other Contaminants in Groundwater
Abstract:
Leaching solutions not only dissolve uranium but many other unwanted components from minerals in the host formation, many of which typically remain dissolved in the aquifer being mined at levels above baseline after the leachate no longer carries enough uranium to be economically recovered. Moreover, many of the dissolved major elements are at concentrations sufficiently high to exceed the solubilities of various minerals which then precipitate, plugging the formation and operational plumbing, and reducing the effectiveness of extraction and subsequent remediation. Remediation techniques include flushing, reverse osmosis to clean waters used for flushing, introduction of reductants, and introduction of agents to reduce undesirable solute species or to control plugging. Bioremediation has been studied experimentally.
See more from this Division: General Discipline Sessions
See more from this Session: Hydrogeology III - Uranium, Metals, and Other Contaminants in Groundwater