Uranium ore is a natural mineral formation that contains uranium in such quantity, concentration and combination that its extraction becomes economically profitable and expedient. There is a lot of uranium in the bowels of the earth. For example in nature:

• uranium is 1000 times more than gold;
• 50 times more than silver;
• uranium reserves are almost equal to those of zinc and lead.

Particles of uranium are found in soil, rock, sea water. A very small part of it is concentrated in the deposits. Known, explored uranium deposits are estimated at 5.4 million tons.

Characteristics and types

The main types of uranium-bearing ores: oxides (uranites, uranium resins, uranium blacks), silicates (coffinites), titanates (brannerites), uranyl silicates (uranophanes, betauranotyls), uranyl-vanadates (carnotites), tyuyamunites, uranyl phosphates (otenites, torbenites). Containing Zr, TR, Th, Ti, P minerals (fluorapatites, monazites, zircons, orthites…) often also include uranium. There is also adsorbed uranium in carbonaceous rock.

Field and production

The three leading countries in terms of uranium ore reserves are Australia, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Almost 10% of the world's uranium reserves are concentrated in Russia, and in our country, two-thirds of the reserves are localized in Yakutia (Republic of Sakha). The largest Russian deposits of uranium are in such deposits: Streltsovskoye, Oktyabrskoye, Anteyskoye, Malo-Tulukuevsky, Argunskoye, Dalmatovskoye, Khiagdinskoye ... There are still a great number of smaller deposits and deposits.

Application of uranium ores

• The most important application is nuclear fuel. The most used isotope is U235, which can be the basis for a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. It is used in nuclear reactors, weapons. The isotope U238 fission increases the power of thermonuclear weapons. U233 is the most promising fuel for a gas-phase nuclear rocket engine.

• Uranium is able to actively release heat. Its heat generating capacity is a thousand times more powerful than oil or natural gas.
• Geologists use uranium to determine the age of rocks and minerals. There is even such a science - geochronology.
• It is sometimes used in the construction of aircraft, photography, painting (it has a beautiful yellow-green tint).
• Iron + U238 = magnetostrictive material.
• Depleted uranium is used to manufacture radiation protection equipment.
• There are many more functions that uranium performs.

Symbol for uranium ore on a physical map

In this article, we will get acquainted with the image (picture) "Symbol of uranium ore on a physical map."

Symbol for uranium ore on a physical map. Uranium ore is the main nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants.

This mineral is indicated on the physical map (contour map) by the following symbol.

Useful information on the topic "Symbol of uranium ore on a physical map":

1. Fact 1.
2. Fact 2.

Tags on the topic "Uranium ore and uranium".

• How uranium ore and uranium are indicated on a geographical map (symbol).
• Uranium ore and uranium: a symbol for a mineral.
• Uranium ore and uranium on physical map and contour map.
• Conditional images of minerals and symbols.
• Symbols for minerals: uranium ore and uranium on the map.
• Vector images of natural (mineral) minerals.
• Uranium ore and uranium as a mineral in the form of an icon.
• Uranium ore and uranium (sign on a geographical map, symbol).

Uranium ore and uranium (image for classes and lessons).

Uranium ore is a natural mineral formation in which uranium contains such an amount that it is economically profitable to extract it.

According to the amount of uranium, mineral ores are:

• the super rich.

  Such ores contain 0.3% U, and the ore itself in such deposits is over 50 thousand tons.

• rich, containing from 0.1 to 0.3%.
• ordinary, have in their composition 0.05-0.10%
• miserable.

  Uranium mining

  In such ores there is 0.03-0.05% uranium

• off-balance sheet, in which only 0.01-0.03% is present.

Most uranium is present in acidic rocks, which contain a lot of silicon.

The most important uranium ores include uranium pitch (uraninite) and carnotite.

Table 1. List of uranium minerals

Uranium mining

Uranium is mined in three ways:

• the open method is suitable in cases where the ore lies in close proximity to the surface of the earth.

  For mining, it is necessary to dig a deep and wide hole with the help of bulldozers, and then load the mined ore into dump trucks with excavators, which will deliver the rock to the processing complex

• underground mining is used if the ore lies at a considerable depth.

  This method is significantly more expensive than the previous one. It is used only in cases where a high concentration of uranium in the rock has been proven. To implement this method, it is necessary to drill a vertical shaft, from which horizontal workings should be diverted. Uranium mines can be located at a depth of two kilometers. Miners extract ore, use freight elevators to deliver it to the top, after which it is sent for processing

• borehole in-situ leaching (ISL).

  For production by this method, it is necessary to drill 6 wells at the corners of the hexagon. These wells pump sulfuric acid into uranium deposits. In the center of the entire structure, another well is being drilled, through which a solution saturated with uranium salts is pumped out.

uranium mines

According to the latest data, there are 440 commercial reactors on our planet, which require 67 thousand tons of uranium annually.
Uranium mining in the world is concentrated in the three states of Australia, Kazakhstan and Russia. 31% of the world's uranium is located in Australia, 12% in Kazakhstan, 9% each in Russia and Canada.

Uranium mining in Russia is carried out mainly on the territory of the Republic of Sakha in Yakutia. In total, the Russian Federation has 550 thousand tons of uranium deposits. In addition to Yakutia, there are uranium deposits in Transbaikalia and Buryatia.
Interestingly, the world's reserves are located in countries that have nothing to do with nuclear energy. For example, French companies mine uranium in Niger for their own needs.

But in the USA, China, India, France, Japan, South Korea, there is an acute shortage of uranium. Therefore, today there are hostilities between countries for control over deposits of uranium ore. The toughest situation is in Africa. There, because of uranium, civil wars are ignited, and many people die.

uranium ore, uranium mines, uranium, uranium mines

URANIUM ORES (a. uranium ores; n.

How uranium is mined (13 photos)

Uranerze; f. minerais uraniferes, minerais d'uranium; and. minerales de urania, minerales uraniсos) - natural mineral formations containing uranium in such concentrations, quantities and compounds, in which its industrial production is economically feasible.

The main ore minerals: oxides - uraninite, uranium pitch, uranium black; silicates - coffinite; titanates - brannerite; uranyl silicates - uranophane, betauranotyl; uranyl-vanadates - carnotite, tyuyamunite; uranyl phosphates - otenitis, torbernitis.

In addition, uranium in ores is often included in the composition of minerals containing P, Zr, Ti, Th, and TR (fluorapatite, leucoxene, monazite, zircon, orthite, thorianite, davidite, etc.), or is in a sorbed state in carbonaceous matter.

Uranium ores are usually distinguished: super-rich (more than 0.3% U), rich (0.1-0.3%), ordinary (0.05-0.10%), poor (0.03-0.05%) and off-balance sheet (0.01-0.03%). Very large are uranium deposits with reserves (thousand tons) of more than 50, large - from 10 to 50, medium - from 1 to 10, small - 0.2-1.0 and very small - less than 0.2 .

Uranium ores are diverse in terms of formation conditions, the nature of occurrence, mineral composition, the presence of associated components, and mining methods.

Sedimentary uranium ores (exogenous syngenetic) include bedded Paleogene deposits of the organogenic-phosphate type in the CCCP (deposits of fish bone detritus enriched in U and TR) and Early Proterozoic quartz-pebble uranium-bearing conglomerates of the Elliot Lake region in Canada (with Th, Zr, Ti) , Witwatersrand in South Africa (with Au) and Jacobina in Brazil (with Au).

Ores are usually ordinary and wretched. Among the infiltration deposits (exogenous epigenetic), soil-, reservoir- and fissure-infiltration are distinguished. Leading among them are coffinite-chernium deposits of the infiltration type, where uranium ores occur in permeable rocks of artesian basins and are controlled by the boundaries of the zones of in-situ oxidation. Ore deposits are in the form of rolls (elongated sickle-shaped bodies) or lenses. Ores are predominantly ordinary and poor, sometimes complex with Se, Re, Mo, V, Sc (deposits in arid regions of the CCCP, Wyoming in the USA, Niger).

Among soil-infiltration deposits, industrial interest is mainly uranium-coal deposits, where uranium and associated mineralization is localized in the roof of seam brown coal, at contact with oxidized sands, as well as near-surface deposits of carnotite ores in "calcretes" and "hypcretes" (carbonate and gypsum soil formations river paleovalleys) in Australia (the Yilirri deposit) and Namibia.

This group is adjoined by stratiform uranium-bitumen deposits in terrigenous and carbonate rocks, where the ore substance is represented by pitchblende-bearing kerites and anthraxolites (deposits of the Grante belt in the USA, Banata in Romania). These ore objects, together with infiltration ones, are sometimes combined into deposits of the “sandstone” type (ordinary and poor ores).

Their possible metamorphosed counterparts are the deposits of the Franceville ore region in Gabon, among them the unique Oklo deposit. Hydrothermal deposits (endogenous epigenetic medium-low temperature deposits) are mainly veined and vein-stockwork, less often sheetlike. They are divided into uranium proper (including uranium carbonate veins), molybdenum-uranium (often with Pb, As, Zn and other chalcophiles), titanium-uranium, phosphorus-uranium (with Zr, Th). The main ore minerals: pitchblende, coffinite, brannerite (in uranium-thorium ores), uranium-containing fluorapatite (in phosphorus-uranium ores).

Secondary uranyl silicates, uranyl phosphates, and uranyl arsenates are developed in the oxidation zones. The ores are ordinary and rich. This group includes deposits in volcano-tectonic structures and basement rocks in a number of areas of the CCCP, the Ore Mountains, the Central French Massif, the Beaverlodge and Great Bear Lake areas in Canada, the USA (Marysvale), Australia (Mount Isa and Westmoreland regions).

The metasomatic deposits of the "unconformity" type, identified in Canada (ore areas of Rabbit Lake, Key Lake, etc.) and Northern Australia (the Alligator River region) adjoin this group. They are characterized by the control of mineralization by surfaces of stratigraphic unconformity, sheet-like or sheet-like-vein morphology, unusually high uranium contents in ores (0, n - n%).

The main ore minerals are pitchblende, uraninite, coffinite, brannerite. In Australia, a unique stratiform deposit of complex ores Olympic Dam (the Roxby Downs ore district) has been discovered, the total reserves of which are estimated at 1200 thousand tons of U, 32 million tons of Cu and 1200 tons of Au. Magmatogenic and postmagmatic uranium ores (endogenous high-temperature) include deposits associated with pegmatoid granites or alaskites (intra-intrusive "porphyry" deposits of the Rossing region in Namibia), alkaline metasomatites (Itataya, Lagoa Real deposits in Brazil), and alkaline igneous rock massifs (deposit Ilimoussak in Greenland), skarns (Mary-Katlin deposit in Australia), carbonatites.

The ores are mostly ordinary and poor, often off-balance (in terms of uranium), complex with uranium-containing minerals Ti, Th, Zr, Nb, Ta, TR.

On the extraction and enrichment of uranium ores, see Art. uranium industry.

In the 80s. profitable for mining were uranium ores worth less than 80 dollars / kg of uranium.

The total reserves and resources of uranium, including potential ones, in industrially developed capitalist and developing countries are estimated at 14 million tons (excluding associated uranium). The main reserves of uranium ores (thousand tons) in these countries are concentrated in Australia (465), Canada (180), South Africa, Niger, Brazil, USA (133) and Namibia.

Approximately 31% of the total reserves are in deposits of the "unconformity" type, 25% - of the "sandstone" type, 16% - of uranium-bearing conglomerates, 14% - of the "porphyry" type, etc.

The world annual production of uranium concentrates in these countries in 1988 was 37.4 thousand tons of uranium at an average cost of $30 per kg (beginning of 1989).

Exposure from uranium mining

User Rating: /9
Details Parent Category: Radiation Safety Category: Irradiation

It is known that uranium ore is mined in underground mines and by open pit mining.

In the latter case, the working conditions are much better, since the dust content of the air is less, which means that the dose loads are lower.

Radiation exposure to personnel in uranium mines is mainly due to internal exposure to the radioactive gas radon and its decay daughter products. Air concentration radioactive aerosols is under constant, systematic control in the development of relatively rich deposits with an average uranium content in the ore of more than 0.2%.

In the ore, uranium and its decay products are in radioactive equilibrium.

The total activity is approximately 4 mCi (1.5 x 108 Bq) per 1 kg of U3O8. To reduce the concentration of radioactive aerosols in the air, effective ventilation of the mines is used: at least 6 m3/min of fresh air is supplied to each worker.

uranium ores

The radiation dose to the lungs of underground workers usually does not exceed 1-2 cSv per year. In open pits, internal exposure of workers is about 3 times less than underground.

In addition to radon and its daughter decay products, uranium mine personnel are exposed to external gamma and beta radiation.

During the extraction of rich ores, the protection of personnel from external radiation is carried out by limiting the duration of work, the periodic movement of miners from rich areas to poor ones, and other organizational measures. The average dose due to external radiation is 1 cSv per year underground and about 0.5 cSv per year on the surface.

Thus, the radiation technological principles of ore mining, ventilation of mine workings and technical means of dust suppression provide quite satisfactory working conditions for miners.

The main source of radioactive contamination environment in uranium mines waste formed during ore processing and accumulated in tailings. With a uranium content in the ore of 0.2% for every 200 tons of uranium mined (approximately the annual need for a nuclear power plant with a thermal neutron reactor with an electric power of 1 GW), 105 tons of waste.

The impact of a mine on the environment depends on its capacity, the uranium content in the ore, the method of its extraction, the number of people living near the enterprise and other factors. However, in general, it can be noted that the individual annual exposure doses of the population living near uranium mines are extremely low and amount to hundredths of a microsievert.

Explored Russian uranium reserves are estimated at 615 thousand tons, and predicted resources - at 830 thousand tons (2005). Unfortunately, many of them are located in hard-to-reach regions. The largest among them is the Elkon deposit in the south of Yakutia, its reserves are estimated at 344 thousand tons. About 150 thousand tons are the reserves of another deposit, known as the Streltsovskoye ore field in the Chita region.

70 thousand tons
As of 1999, the state balance of uranium reserves of Russia included the reserves of 16 deposits, of which 15 are concentrated in one area - Streltsovsky in Transbaikalia (Chita region) and are suitable for mining.

The open (quarry) method is not currently used in Russia. The mine method is used in uranium deposits in the Chita region. In-situ leaching technology is more widely used.

Mined uranium-containing ores and solutions are processed to obtain uranium concentrates on site. The resulting product is sent for further processing to JSC "Chepetsky Mechanical Plant".

In 2007, uranium ore was mined in Russia by the TVEL Corporation, which includes three subsidiaries: the Priargunsky Mining and Chemical Association in the city of Krasnokamensk, Chita Region (3 thousand tons).

t/y), ZAO Dalur in the Kurgan region and OAO Khiagda in Buryatia (capacity of each 1,000 tons of uranium per year).

The uranium deposits Argunskoye, Zherlovoye and Beryozovoe were discovered in the Chita region. Reserves: C2 category - 3.05 million tons of ore and 3481 tons of uranium with an average uranium content in ore of 0.114%, predicted uranium resources of the Gornoye deposit in category C1 are 394 thousand tons of ore and 1087 tons of uranium, for C2 - 1.77 million tons of ore and 4226 tons of uranium. The predicted resources of the P1 category deposit are 4800 tons of uranium.

The reserves of the Olovskoye deposit in B+C1 category are 14.61 million tons of ore and 11,898 tons of uranium.

The Streltsovskoye ore field, located in the Chita region (Transbaikalia), includes more than a dozen uranium (and molybdenum) deposits suitable for mine and quarry mining. Of these, the largest - Streltsovskoye and Tulendevskoye - have reserves of 60 and 35 thousand tons each.

tons, respectively. Currently, mining is carried out by the mine method at five deposits using two mines, which provides 93% of Russian uranium production (2005). So, not far from the city of Krasnokamensk (460 km southeast of Chita), 93% of Russian uranium is mined. Mining is carried out by the mine method (the quarry method was also used earlier) by the Priargunsky Production Mining and Chemical Association (PIMCU).

The rest of the uranium in Russia is mined using the in-situ leaching method of CJSC Dalur and JSC Khiagda, located in the Kurgan region and Buryatia, respectively.

The resulting uranium concentrate and uranium-containing ores are processed at the Chepetsk Mechanical Plant.

Trans-Urals - an area that includes 3 deposits: Dolmatovskoye, Dobrovolskoye and Khokhlovskoye with total reserves of about 17 thousand tons. The uranium content in the ore is 0.06%. All deposits are concentrated in paleovalleys, with a depth of 350-560 m and rather average geotechnological parameters.

Mining is carried out by CJSC Dalur (Kurgan region) with a productivity of 1000 t / year, the method of extraction is borehole in-situ leaching.

At the Khiagdinsky uranium deposit in Buryatia, underground well leaching of uranium is used. Mining is carried out by JSC Khiagda.

The volume of production is 1.5 thousand tons of uranium concentrate per year. The probable reserves of the deposit are estimated at 100 thousand tons, explored reserves - at 40 thousand tons (the estimated life of the mine is 50 years). The content of uranium in 1 cubic meter of enriched ore reaches 100 mg.

Uranium by country

The cost of 1 kg of enriched ore ranges from $20. This is 2 times lower than at the main uranium mine in Russia in the city of Krasnokamensk, Chita region.

The total reserves of uranium deposits in the Elkon region of Yakutia amount to 346 thousand tons, which makes them one of the largest in the world. Quantitatively, this exceeds all balance reserves in the country, but due to the ordinary quality of ores, they can become profitable only at a high price for uranium.

Since 2006, a project for the development of these deposits has been prepared. The expected productivity of the mine in 2020 is 15 thousand tons of uranium per year.

The largest of the known potential sources of uranium raw materials, the Aldan deposit, is suitable for development only by mining. According to geologists, the development of the Vitim uranium ore region is more promising.

Vitimsky region (Siberia) with explored reserves of 60 thousand tons at a uranium concentration of 0.054% in ore with accompanying scandium, rare earth elements and lanthanides;). Vitimsky ore district - includes 5 deposits, the total reserves of which are estimated at 75 thousand tons.

t. The largest are: Khiagda and Tetrakh. Both objects are localized in paleovalleys, suitable for underground leaching, their feature is the location in the permafrost zone under a thick (100-150 m) basalt cover.

Since in Russia this is the most difficult area for the development of deposits, production here is 100 tons / year. The cost category of uranium from these objects is 34-52 dollars.

West Siberian region (Malinovskoye deposit with reserves of 200 thousand tons of uranium). The West Siberian region includes 8 small deposits suitable for the IW method, also localized in paleovalleys, with total reserves of about 10 thousand tons.

t. The most studied of them is the Malinovskoye deposit, where a 2-hole test for uranium IW is currently being carried out. The area of ​​deposits is somewhat easier to develop than Vitim, but until 2010 the real production will be 100-150 tons/year. The cost category of uranium from these objects is 13-20 dollars.

US per pound U3O8. The Far East ore-bearing region, located in the coastal zone of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, has not yet been explored enough.

Promising regions include the Onega region (Karelia), where reserves of vanadium ore containing uranium, gold and platinum have been discovered.

Nevskgeologia conducted exploration of a uranium deposit (Srednyaya Padma) in the area of ​​Lake Ladoga near the village of Salmi (Medvezhyegorsk region). The reserves of uranium ore here may reach 40 thousand tons. The deposit is not developed, mainly due to the lack of technology for processing this type of ores.

By 2005, the existing shortage of uranium for own needs in Russia amounted to 5 thousand tons per year and is constantly growing. The situation worsened with the start of the nuclear reform, when a decision was made to actively build new nuclear power plants in Russia in order to increase the share of nuclear energy in electricity generation to 25-30%.

In 2004, it produced 32,000 tons of uranium with a demand of 9,900 tons (the rest was provided by supplies from warehouses - depletion of military uranium).

Realizing the threat of the fuel crisis, in 2006 Rosatom established JSC Uranium Mining Company, UGRK, designed to provide long-term and reliable uranium raw materials for old Russian nuclear power plants (taking into account the fact that their operation time has been extended to 60 years), Russian nuclear power plants under construction, and as well as nuclear power plants built and under construction by Russia abroad (in 2006, one sixth of the world's nuclear power plants operated on Russian fuel).

The new company was created by two entities controlled by Minatom: TVEL Corporation and OAO Techsnabexport. UGRK expects to increase the volume of uranium production to 28.63 thousand tons by 2020. At the same time, production in Russia itself will amount to 18 thousand tons: at the Priargunsky Mining and Chemical Association - 5 thousand tons, at JSC Khiagda - 2 thousand tons.

tons, CJSC Dalur - 1 thousand tons, at the Elkonskoye field in Yakutia - 5 thousand tons, at a number of new deposits in the Chita region and in Buryatia - 2 thousand tons. Another 3 thousand tons are planned to be mined at new enterprises, for which only predicted uranium reserves are known so far. In addition, the company expects by 2020 to produce about 5 thousand tons of uranium at two already established joint ventures in Kazakhstan. The possibility of creating a joint venture for uranium mining in Ukraine and Mongolia is also being discussed.

We are talking about the Ukrainian field Novokonstantinovskoye and the Mongolian field Erdes. The company also expects to create two more joint ventures for uranium mining in Northern Kazakhstan - at the Semizbay and Kasachinnoye deposits. The uranium mined by joint ventures abroad will, after being enriched at Russian separation plants, for example, at the International Enrichment Center established in Angarsk, be exported.

is the managing company of the Mining Division of Rosatom State Corporation, consolidating Russian uranium mining assets. The mineral resource base of the holding itself at the end of 2017 is 523.9 thousand tons (2nd place among the largest uranium mining companies in the world).

The unique competencies concentrated in the company make it possible to carry out the entire range of industrial work - from geological exploration to the extraction and processing of natural uranium. This is important because Russian uranium mining assets are at different stages of their life cycle: from exploration (the Elkon project) to intensive industrial exploitation of deposits. The largest enterprise that is part of the control loop of the ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. is the Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Association (PIMCU, Zabaikalsky Krai) founded in 1968. It has been mining underground for many decades.

Two other enterprises are effectively developing - JSC Khiagda in the Republic of Buryatia and JSC Dalur in the Kurgan region, which extract uranium using a more environmentally friendly method of borehole in-situ leaching (SIL).

In contrast to the traditional mining method, which consists in extracting ore from the subsoil, crushing it and hydrometallurgical processing, with FLT, uranium ore remains in place. Through a system of wells, a leaching agent is pumped through the ore deposit, followed by pumping the uranium-containing solution to the surface, where it is sequentially processed to obtain the final product - yellow cake or uranium oxide. During the SST, the soil cover is almost not disturbed, no waste rock dumps and waste are formed, and the state of the aquifer containing the ore after mining is restored to its initial state. This technology is much more economical and environmentally preferable than open pit or mine methods of uranium mining.

JSC Khiagda is estimated as the most promising asset of the holding. The expansion of its production base in the near future will allow reaching the design capacity of 1000 tons of uranium per year.

Other subsidiaries of JSC Atomredmetzoloto include the service center of JSC RUSBURMASH, which carries out exploration of natural resources both in Russia and abroad, and the engineering center of JSC VNIPIprotekhnologii, which specializes in the design and construction of turnkey industrial facilities.

In addition to uranium mining, ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. also implements a number of projects related to the extraction of rare, rare earth and precious metals. One of the key projects is the development of the Pavlovskoye lead-zinc silver-bearing deposit on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, the mineral resource base of which will make it possible to organize one of the largest processing enterprises in Russia. The basis for this activity is many years of experience in the development of deposits in a wide variety of geoclimatic conditions. JSC Dalur plans to organize associated production of concentrate (up to 10 tons per year) and concentrate of rare earth metals (up to 450 tons per year). PIMCU mines coal at the Urtuysky open pit.

Thanks to investments and optimization of activities, labor productivity at ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. is growing, while production costs are decreasing. The introduction of advanced technologies also contributes to improved results. In particular, in 2015 JSC Dalur installed a yellow cake drying line with a design capacity of 120 kg of product per hour. The moisture content of the suspension of uranium compounds decreased from 30% to 2% due to the introduction of the line. In turn, this not only reduces logistics costs, but also provides convenience for further processing to obtain high-purity uranium compounds.

The foreign uranium mining assets of Rosatom State Corporation are united by the Uranium One holding. He has a diversified portfolio of international assets in Kazakhstan, the US and Tanzania. The mineral resource base of Uranium One, according to international reporting standards, amounted to 216 thousand tons of uranium at the end of 2018 (the value did not change compared to 2017). The volume of uranium production in 2018 amounted to 4.4 thousand tons of uranium.

Extraction is carried out using environmentally friendly downhole in-situ leaching technology. Uranium One is a supporter of clean energy, maintains the highest standards in the field of environmental protection, ensuring the safety of life and health of employees, and actively participates in programs for the development of local communities in the areas where the company operates.

At present, nuclear energy is used on a fairly large scale. If in the last century radioactive materials were used mainly for the production of nuclear weapons, which have the greatest destructive power, then in our time the situation has changed. Nuclear energy at nuclear power plants is converted into electrical energy and used for completely peaceful purposes. Nuclear engines are also being created, which are used, for example, in submarines.

The main radioactive material used for the production of nuclear energy is Uranus. This chemical element belongs to the actinide family. Uranium was discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth while studying pitchblende, which is now also called "tar pitch". The new chemical element was named after a recently discovered planet in the solar system. The radioactive properties of uranium were discovered only at the end of the 19th century.

Uranium is contained in the sedimentary shell and in the granite layer. This is a rather rare chemical element: its content in the earth's crust is 0.002%. In addition, uranium is found in insignificant amounts in sea water (10 −9 g/L). Due to its chemical activity, uranium is found only in compounds and does not occur in free form on Earth.

uranium ores called natural mineral formations containing uranium or its compounds in quantities in which it is possible and economically feasible to use it. Uranium ores also serve as raw materials for the production of other radioactive elements, such as radium and polonium.

Nowadays, about 100 different uranium minerals are known, 12 of which are actively used in industry to obtain radioactive materials. The most important minerals are uranium oxides (uranite and its varieties - pitchblende and uranium black), its silicates (coffinite), titanites (davidite and brannerite), as well as hydrous phosphates and uranium mica.

Uranium ores are classified according to various criteria. In particular, they are distinguished by the conditions of education. One of the types is the so-called endogenous ores, which were deposited under the influence of high temperatures and from pegmatite melts and aqueous solutions. Endogenous ores are characteristic of folded areas and activated platforms. Exogenous ores are formed in near-surface conditions and even on the Earth's surface in the process of accumulation (syngenetic ores) or as a result (epigenetic ores). Occur mainly on the surface of young platforms. Metamorphogenic ores that arose during the redistribution of primary dispersed uranium in the process of metamorphism of sedimentary strata. Metamorphogenic ores are characteristic of ancient platforms.

In addition, uranium ores are divided into natural types and technological grades. By the nature of uranium mineralization, they distinguish: primary uranium ores - (U 4 + content is not less than 75% of the total), oxidized uranium ores (mainly contain U 6 +) and mixed uranium ores, in which U 4 + and U 6 + are in roughly equal proportions. The technology of their processing depends on the degree of oxidation of uranium. According to the degree of uneven content of U in the lumpy fraction of the mountain (“contrast”), very contrasting, contrasting, weakly contrasting and non-contrasting uranium ores are distinguished. This parameter determines the possibility and expediency of enrichment of uranium ores.

According to the size of aggregates and grains of uranium minerals, the following are distinguished: coarse-grained (over 25 mm in diameter), medium-grained (3–25 mm), fine-grained (0.1–3 mm), fine-grained (0.015–0.1 mm) and dispersed (less than 0.015 mm) uranium ores. The size of grains of uranium minerals also determines the possibility of enrichment of ores. According to the content of useful impurities, uranium ores are divided into: uranium, uranium-molybdenum, uranium-vanadium, uranium-cobalt-bismuth-silver and others.

According to the chemical composition of impurities, uranium ores are divided into: silicate (consist mainly of silicate minerals), carbonate (more than 10–15% of carbonate minerals), iron oxide (iron-uranium ores), sulfide (more than 8–10% of sulfide minerals) and caustobiolitic composed mainly of organic matter.

The chemical composition of ores often determines the way they are processed. From silicate ores, uranium is separated by acids, from carbonate ores by soda solutions. Iron oxide ores are subjected to blast-furnace smelting. Caustobiolitic uranium ores are sometimes enriched by incineration.

As mentioned above, the content of uranium in the earth's crust is quite low. There are several uranium ore deposits in Russia:

Zherlovoye and Argunskoye deposits. They are located in the Krasnokamensky district of the Chita region. The reserves of the Zherlovoye deposit are 4,137 thousand tons of ore, which contain only 3,485 tons of uranium (average content 0.082%), as well as 4,137 tons of molybdenum (content 0.227%). The reserves of uranium at the Argunskoye deposit in category C1 are 13,025 thousand tons of ore, 27,957 tons of uranium (average grade 0.215%) and 3,598 tons of molybdenum (average grade 0.048%). C2 category reserves are: 7990 thousand tons of ore, 9481 tons of uranium (with an average grade of 0.12%) and 3191 tons of molybdenum (average grade of 0.0489%). Approximately 93% of all Russian uranium is mined here.

5 uranium deposits ( Istochnoe, Kolichkanskoe, Dybrynskoe, Namarusskoe, Koretkondinskoe) are located on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia. The total explored reserves of the deposits amount to 17.7 thousand tons of uranium, the predicted resources are estimated at another 12.2 thousand tons.

Khiagdinsky uranium deposit. Extraction is carried out by the method of borehole underground leaching. The explored reserves of this field in category C1 + C2 are estimated at 11.3 thousand tons. The deposit is located on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia.

Radioactive materials are used not only to create nuclear weapons and fuel. For example, uranium is added in small amounts to glass to give it color. Uranium is a constituent of various metal alloys and is used in photography and other fields.