Nikita Markin, Sergey Ivannikov, Evgenii Shamraj, Anna Matskevich, Eduard Tokar', Andrei Egorin, Larisa Zemskova
{"title":"Searching ways to safely dispose of stale monazite enrichment tailings.","authors":"Nikita Markin, Sergey Ivannikov, Evgenii Shamraj, Anna Matskevich, Eduard Tokar', Andrei Egorin, Larisa Zemskova","doi":"10.1007/s11356-025-36301-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Majority enterprises for the extraction of uranium and thorium-containing minerals have inherent problem of increased background radiation level at production sites, in particular, tailings dumps. The Baley town of Russian Federation is a typical example of an area with unfavorable radioecological indicators due to the activities of an enterprise for thorium-containing monazite extraction. Based on dosimetry and gamma spectrometry data the paper presents the results of an assessment of the current radiation situation at the enterprise's tailings dump including the results of field and laboratory cases. The composition of the samples was investigated by granulometric, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray phase analytical methods. Possible ways of tailings processing were considered. It was shown that using simple enrichment methods (sieving, magnetic, and gravitational separation), it is possible not only to reduce the radioactive waste volume by four to five times, but to obtain economic benefits by recovery concentrates of monazite, rutile, and ilmenite.</p>","PeriodicalId":545,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-025-36301-x","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Majority enterprises for the extraction of uranium and thorium-containing minerals have inherent problem of increased background radiation level at production sites, in particular, tailings dumps. The Baley town of Russian Federation is a typical example of an area with unfavorable radioecological indicators due to the activities of an enterprise for thorium-containing monazite extraction. Based on dosimetry and gamma spectrometry data the paper presents the results of an assessment of the current radiation situation at the enterprise's tailings dump including the results of field and laboratory cases. The composition of the samples was investigated by granulometric, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray phase analytical methods. Possible ways of tailings processing were considered. It was shown that using simple enrichment methods (sieving, magnetic, and gravitational separation), it is possible not only to reduce the radioactive waste volume by four to five times, but to obtain economic benefits by recovery concentrates of monazite, rutile, and ilmenite.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR) serves the international community in all areas of Environmental Science and related subjects with emphasis on chemical compounds. This includes:
- Terrestrial Biology and Ecology
- Aquatic Biology and Ecology
- Atmospheric Chemistry
- Environmental Microbiology/Biobased Energy Sources
- Phytoremediation and Ecosystem Restoration
- Environmental Analyses and Monitoring
- Assessment of Risks and Interactions of Pollutants in the Environment
- Conservation Biology and Sustainable Agriculture
- Impact of Chemicals/Pollutants on Human and Animal Health
It reports from a broad interdisciplinary outlook.