ARMZ Publishes Monograph “Geotechnology of Uranium (Russian Experience)”

Publication of the monograph “Geotechnology of Uranium (Russian Experience)” marks the 10th anniversary of the Mining Division of Rosatom State Corporation. The editorial board was headed by I.N. Solodov, director of programs for innovative and technological development of Atomredmetzo, JSC, doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Among the authors of the monograph are I.D. Akimova, A.S. Babkin, O.M. Vorontsova, A.V. Gladyshev, I.K. Dushina, A.G. Ivanov, E.N. Kamnev, V.P. Karamushka, Ye.V. Latyshev, A.A. Morozov, M.D. Noskov, V.N.Rychkov, A.P. Smagin, I.N. Solodov et al. The monograph contains data on the resource base of uranium mining enterprises in Russia, suitable for mining using geotechnological methods. It provides an in-depth analysis of two uranium mining methods, borehole in-situ leaching (borehole ISL) and block in-situ leaching (block ISL), gives a detailed description of the information support and computer modeling system at all stages of the life cycle of mines is described, a methodology for economic valuation and many other aspects related to the development and operation of uranium mines. According to I.N. Solodov, the editor-in-chief, the following main reasons gave rise to the idea of writing the monograph. Reason one. For the entire historical period of the development of the Soviet and Russian uranium mining industry, since 1945, the share of geotechnological methods in the overall uranium production has seen a steady increase. In the last decade in Russia it has grown from 5% to 34% and is well on the way to hit the 50% by 2020. This exact same trend is observed in the world production of natural uranium. The year 2015 has already seen the share of geotechnological methods grow to 51%. Interest in these technologies is manifested not only in the development of ore deposits of radioactive elements, but also in the extraction of non-ferrous, noble and rare metals. The main reason for the intensive development of geotechnological methods of mining and processing of ores of solid minerals is the depletion of high-grade ore reserves and an increase in the depth of their occurrence. Reason two. Over the fifty-year period of using geotechnological methods of mining and processing uranium ores, a large volume of scientific works has been published, including more than two dozen monographs and reference books. However, most of them have generalized the experience of mining uranium deposits using borehole in-situ leaching (borehole ISL) and block in-situ leaching (block ISL) methods in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Germany. The Russian experience of using these methods of extraction and processing of pregnant solutions has hardly received any coverage at all, since these technologies have only been developing in Russia for the last 10 to 15 years. There are only a few scattered publications contained in the reports of domestic and foreign scientific and practical conferences. But in the relatively short period, a significant amount of research, development and technological work has been carried out, which has enabled the domestic uranium mining industry to be brought to the level of advanced foreign companies. Time has come to summarize these results. Reason three. Conservation and transfer of knowledge on uranium geotechnology. This monograph summarizes not only the positive but negative experience of testing various technologies, which in future will allow scientists and engineers to avoid mistakes when choosing the areas of research. The monograph is intended for well-drilling experts, geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists, geotechnologists, environmental geologists and economists.