Natural Occurrence and Processing

Uranium is widely distributed in its ores but is not found uncombined in nature. It is a fairly abundant element in the earth's crust, being about 40 times as abundant as silver. Several hundred uranium-containing minerals have been found but only a few are commercially significant. The most important is pitchblende, mined in the Congo River basin and NW Canada. Coffinite (a uranium silicate) and carnotite (a potassium uranate-vanadate) are important minerals found in Colorado and Utah. Ores with as little as 0.1% uranium are mined and processed. Most ores are processed by chemical methods including leaching and solvent extraction. The uranium is obtained as pure uranyl nitrate, UO₂(NO₃)₂·6H₂O, which is typically decomposed to the trioxide, UO₃, by heating and reduced to the dioxide, UO₂, with hydrogen. The dioxide is chemically and physically stable at high temperatures, and is the form most often used as nuclear reactor fuel. The dioxide may be converted to the tetrafluoride, UF₄, by treatment with hydrogen fluoride gas, HF. The pure metal is obtained by electrolysis or chemical reduction of the tetrafluoride, or by chemical reduction of the dioxide.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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