Uranium Mining and Milling - hdbk1113cn10059

DOE-HDBK-1113-98

Module 102 The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Lesson Plan

Instructor's Notes

mining and millin g,

conversion,

enrichment,

fabrication,

use,

waste disposal/storage, and

decontaminat ion and decommiss ioning.

Uranium Mining and Milling

Show OT-17

After removal from the mine, the uranium ore is

milled to extract the yellowcake. This involves the

following process:

The ore is crushed, ground, and mixed with

water to prep are for chemic al processi ng.

The crushed ore and water mixture is

mixed with chemicals to separate the

yellowcake from the ore. This separation

process is called "leaching." The resultant

products inc lude a slurry o f yellowcake

ready for additional processing and a

mixture of low-grade crushed rock and

sand called "mill tailings."

Only about 3 percent of the actual material

removed from the mine ends up as

yellowcake, which means that millions of

tons of mill tailings are leftover.