Research on Uranium Mining

【Abstract】Uranium is a chemical element with symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a naturally occurring element averagely concentrated in the Earths crust， which is a silvery white metal in the series the periodic table. This paper will study uranium mining distribution， methods， cost and cooperation.

【Key words】Uranium Mining; Distribution; Cost; Cooperation

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】孫雪珂，哈爾濱工程大學(xué)外語(yǔ)系。

1. Uranium Mining Distribution

Uranium mining is the process of uranium ore extraction from ground. Uranium resources are mainly distributed in the USA， Canada， South Africa， West Africa， Australia and other countries. Uranium mines operate in many countries， while in 2017， ten mines distribute in four countries including Canada， Australia， Kazakhstan and Niger， which provide 71% of the worlds mined uranium and take the world productions 53%. The worlds uranium deposits are chiefly distributed in two giant uranium metallogenic belts across continents， namely the near-East-European giant uranium metallogenic belt and the Pacific Rim giant uranium metallogenic belt.

2. Uranium Mining Method

Uranium mining methods mainly include open mining， underground mining， in-situ leaching and heap leaching.

Open-pit mining is the process of stripping the topsoil and covering the rock in order to expose the ore and then mining. This method is used for burying shallow ore bodies.

Underground mining is ore mining from a series of wells that connect the surface with ore body. This method is used when the deposit is deeper than the surface.

In-situ leaching of uranium is carried out by injecting chemical reactants into the ore body， selectively dissolving the useful component of the ore by chemical reaction， and extracting leachate out of surface. This method has low labor intensity and low production cost， but it is only applicable to deposits with certain geological and hydrogeological conditions.

Heap leaching is an extraction process by which chemicals （usually sulfuric acid） are used to extract the economic element from ore which has been mined and placed in piles on surface. It is generally economically feasible only for oxide ore deposits.? It is cheaper but will potentially bring about the pollution problems and should be placed properly not to influence surrounding ground water.

In short， all of these methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Governments should take useful， effective and strong measures to protect the ecological environment under their maximum conditions.

3. Uranium Mining Cost

The economics of mining uranium may contain many aspects， such as the location of the ore body， its nature， depth， infrastructure conditions and so on. They can be classified into three categories， capital cost， operating cost and indirect cost.

Capital costs contains preparation， construction， plant manufacture and commission. It takes many components to run a large mine， including buying raw materials such as concrete and steel， hiring many workers， using super electricity system and so on.

Operating costs contains the cost of removing， concentrating of the mine， energy using， skilled labor hiring， environmental management， freight， marketing， and the final process of waste disposal.

Indirect costs contains assets amortization and depreciation， loans interests， expensive sustaining costs including mine development and exploration. Indirect costs are hard to define because they are intangible， most of which are related to servicing capital and non-cash items during the mines existing. It is a life-long and permanent non-cash way.

Considering so many factors， different countries can take different measures to save exploration cost and reduce unnecessary cost accordingly.

4. Uranium Mining Cooperation

Central Asias rich uranium resources are characterized by abundant uranium resources， concentrated distribution and good mining conditions. Central Asia s uranium mining amount ranked first in the world since 2009， accounting for 43.5% of the worlds total extraction and 91% of which are distributed in Kazakhstan.

The uranium mining cooperation between China and Central Asia began in 2005 and has developed rapidly since 2010. It has played a more and more important role since the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward. The cooperation and development of uranium mines between China and Central Asia are important to the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” and will surely develop better and better.

5. Conclusion

Uranium mining distributes widely and costs expensively. Uranium mining cooperation is not only beneficial to the cooperative countries themselves but also significant to world uranium or other resources development and human civilization. Research on uranium mining is conducive to do more uranium studies.

References：

[1]Uranium Mining Overview - World Nuclear Association： http：//www.world-nuclear[J].