International Symposium on Advanced Engineering Technologies (ISADET), Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, 16 - 18 Haziran 2022, ss.41
The Republic of Kazakhstan ranks first in the world in uranium mining by in-situ leaching (ISL). A significant part of uranium
deposits contains noble (gold, silver, palladium) and rare earth metals (rhenium, germanium, scandium). The task was set for
the complex extraction of noble and rare earth metals from technological solutions of a uranium mine. At the first stage, work
was carried out to select and study samples of productive solutions and sorption mother liquors at one of the uranium mines in
Kazakhstan. At the second stage, an experimental stand assembly was manufactured and installed in a 40-foot container
(Stand), consisting of six sorption columns and two flow channel extractors (Channel extractors). Channel extractors make it
possible to reduce the hydrodynamic resistance of the equipment to the solution flow, which is a fundamental technical
advantage compared to sorption columns. The flow rate in the Channel extractors was more than 0.85 m/sec, which is much
higher than the flow rate in the sorption columns (0.01 m/sec). On the stand unit, enlarged tests were carried out with various
types of ion-exchange resins, activated carbon, and zeolite. In Channel extractors CYANEX extractants and others were used.
As a result of the research, the potential for extracting associated valuable metals from technological solutions was shown:
gold, scandium, germanium and other rare earth metals. Integrated mining of precious and rare earth metals at the explored
uranium mine of Kazakhstan will provide an economic benefit of up to $350 million.