Separation and Determination of Thorium in Uranium Mineralizations Using a Mixed Ion Exchange Column by Ion Chromatography

Abstract

An ion chromatographic method for the separation and determination of thorium in uranium mineralizations has been developed using a mixed ion-exchange column; IonPac CS5A containing both cation and anion exchange sites. Selective separation of U(VI) and Th(IV) was performed by online gradient elution using two mobile phases of composition 0.1 M (NH 4) 2 SO 4 / 0.1M HCl and 0.2 M (NH 4) 2 SO 4 / 0.1 M HCl, respectively. Post-column spectrophotometric detection with 3 mM arsenazo III was then coupled at 655 nm. The separation factors between U and Th ions were found to be dependent on (NH 4) 2 SO 4 and HCl concentrations of the eluent constituents and to a much more extent on its flow rate. The optimized developed method has been validated by its application for the analysis of both uranium and thorium in a sample from Abu Rusheid mineralization that is considered as a reference material and has then been used for the analysis of a mineralized sample from Abu Zeneima area.

Studying the Effect of Potassium Amyl Xanthate Surfactant on Fe, Cu and U Ions for the Pretreatment of Abu Zeneima Sulphate Leach Liquor

“…Uranium analyses all over the study were carried out using a developed analytical method [19] by DX-500 Ion Chromatograph (Dionex Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, USA). The used DX-500 Ion Chromatograph is equipped with AD20 UV-Visible wavelength detector and GP40 gradient pump.…”

“…A representative sample of the provided Abu Zeneima uraniferrous ore material and the prepared sulfate leach liquor were analyzed for the major oxides, as well as for uranium and heavy metals (Table 1). For the former, the rapid analysis procedure of the silicate of Shapiro and Brannock [21] was used while for uranium and heavy metals, developed ion chromatography methods (which was found necessary to overcome the interference of the complex matrix) by Ahmed [19,22] were utilized using Dionex (DX-500) Ion Chromatograph.…”

Ion Chromatographic Determination of Yttrium After Separation From Dysprosium Simultaneously With Individual Quantification of Rare Earth Elements

“…Separator ion-exchange columns; Dionex IonPac CG5A guard column (4.6 × 50 mm) and IonPac CS5A analytical column (4.6 x 250 mm), including mixed anion and cation beds with sulfonic acid and alkanol quaternary ammonium functional groups, were used to separate the ions under considerations which were then detected utilizing 4-(2pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR) as a post column reagent at 530 nm. Finally, data was collected by Advanced Computer Interface System [19].…”