Study of mining-geological characteristics of uranium deposits of Kazakhstan for development by underground well leaching

Existing traditional uranium mining technologies have major drawbacks, do not meet the requirements of a market economy, are ineffective, require the use of a large number of expensive injection and pumping wells, low leaching rates, require a large consumption of chemical reagent, sulfuric acid (to produce 1 ton of uranium concentrate requires a flow of 100 tons sulfuric acid). Here, a productive solution refers to a chemical solution containing the concentration of the leached therein of various useful components (metals), including uranium, dissolved therein. In the practice of exploitation of hydrogenous uranium deposits, the arrangement of technological wells has been adopted: linear (or in-line), areal (or cellular) and combined. Our proposed innovative technology for the exploitation of hydrogenous uranium deposits will be developed on the principle of piston wells using the effect of activation of a chemical solution supplied to the array of a hydrogenated uranium layer for leaching and other useful components. In the process of activation, the chemical solution is heated to t = 70 ° C, the water in the solution becomes a good solvent. Pumping wells are used as piston wells without changing the design, i.e. pumping wells are also used as injection wells. This article presents the mining and geological characteristics of technogenic uranium deposits in Kazakhstan. The basis of the raw material base of Kazakhstan's uranium is exogenous type deposits, combined into a subgroup called “infiltration”. Uranium infiltration deposits are formed by groundwater associated with regional formation zones and zones of soil-layer oxidation. The development and implementation of the method of underground well leaching of uranium (UWL) is one of the most important scientific and technical achievements of the mining industry. The main advantages of the underground leaching method compared to traditional mining methods of developing deposits are as follows: the possibility of involving poor and off-balance ores in deposits with complex geological and hydrogeological conditions, but with large reserves of uranium; Significant reduction in capital investments and terms of commissioning deposits; improving working conditions, reducing the number of miners and increasing labor productivity by 2.5-3.5 times; reducing the negative impact of uranium mining on the environment. © 2020, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. All rights reserved.