Uranium has become one of the most valuable minerals on the planet over the last half-century. This revolutionary substance has applications in a wide range of industries, from energy to healthcare. As a result, let us take a moment to consider the uranium mining and extraction process, as well as its enormous global value.
How Is Uranium Extracted?
5 Surprising Facts About the Uranium Mining Industry General Kinematics of Uranium Core
Though it's traditionally mined through open-pit or tunnel mining, uranium is also being recovered from sand, gravel, ocean waters, and through heap leaching. The most common recovery process is known as in-situ recovery (ISR) or in-situ leach mining (ISL) in which solutions are pumped into the ground, uranium deposits are broken up, and the resulting uranium is removed and processed.
Uranium ore is recovered from a traditional mine, ground in a mill, and then leached with a sulfuric acid mixture. The term "electronic commerce" refers to the sale of electronic goods.
The resulting product is then sifted for pure uranium, washed, dried, pressed into yellowcake, and packaged for use.
Uranium Facts and Uranium Mining
If you’ve never stopped to think about where this multi-purpose mineral comes from, here are a few facts about uranium mining.
1. Uranium is more common than gold, silver, and mercury, but in lower concentrations, typically.1 to.2%.
2. Up until 2014, Canada mined more uranium than any other country in the world, accounting for roughly 15% of the global total. Some mines have potencies of up to 20%.
3. Kazakhstan now supplies more than 20% of the world's uranium.
4. In addition to being a near-limitless source of energy, uranium is used to propel maritime vessels and to create healing medical isotopes.
5. Despite the fact that more than 20 countries are actively extracting uranium, ten mines in six countries currently supply 85 percent of the world's uranium.
Uranium's popularity has declined in recent years. However, as the United States moves toward energy independence, the US uranium industry believes that good things could be on the horizon.
International uranium suppliers are currently cutting production in an OPEC-style cut to alleviate a global supply glut. As technology improves, it’s believed that the popularity of uranium will improve again too.