The influence of surfactants on the acid leaching process of a uranium mine in Inner Mongolia

The permeability of ore is a key factor affecting the leaching effect of uranium ore, and the addition of surfactants can significantly improve the permeability of ore, thereby strengthening uranium ore leaching. This article simulates two infiltration leaching processes, atmospheric heap leaching and pressurized in-situ leaching, and explores the effect of surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide on uranium leaching rate and ore permeability coefficient in both processes. The results showed that in the atmospheric heap leaching test, adding surfactants increased the ore leaching rate by 30.31% during the same 13 day test cycle, and the leaching process was mainly controlled by surface chemical reactions. In the pressurized in-situ leaching test, based on the results of a leaching cycle of 13 days, the average permeability coefficient increased by 72.89% and 64.07% after adding surfactants to the drained and water containing uranium deposits, respectively. In addition, the peak uranium concentration in the leaching solution appeared 2 days earlier, indicating that the addition of surfactants has a significant promoting effect on in-situ leaching of uranium, improving the leaching efficiency of uranium, and can improve the leaching rate of uranium within the same leaching cycle.