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LEACH TANKS


LEACH TANKS

Photograph courtesy of Kennecott Uranium Company

The flow to the leach circuit is shown in the *.dwf image in the AutoDesk ExpressViewer in the pop-up flowsheet window. The flow to the leach circuit consists of ground ore from the sagmill. At the Sweetwater Mill the slurry is treated in rubber lined steel leach tanks with steam, sodium chlorate, and sulfuric acid to dissolve the uranium. The dissolving of the uranium is a slow process and the design of the ten (10) leach tanks is such that the slurry will be agitated in the tanks for 12 to 16 hours before being pumped to the counter-current decantation circuit . Each of these ten (10) steel tanks is rubber lined and measures 22 feet 9 inches in diameter and 22 feet high. Not all uranium mills use rubber lined steel leach tanks. The Shootaring Canyon (Tickaboo) Mill, for example, uses wood stave leach tanks.

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