Abstract:Address to the complex characteristics of a low-grade uranium-molybdenum associated ore, the pressure alkali leaching experiment was conducted to analyze the main reaction principles and mechanisms of pressure alkali leaching of refractory uranium-molybdenum associated ore. The main difficulties in leaching were identified as the effective leaching of molybdenum in sulfide inclusions, as well as the effective dissolution and oxidation of colloidal sulfur molybdenum ore. The experimental results show that the grades of uranium and molybdenum in the tailings drop to 0.009% and 0.125% below respectively, and the leaching rate is 89.77% and 84.62% respectively, under the conditions of ore particle size of —0.147 mm, total pressure of 0.7 MPa (oxygen partial pressure of 0.5 MPa), total alkali dosage of 16% (sodium bicarbonate 4%, sodium carbonate 12%), ratio of liquid to solid of 1.5, reaction temperature of 110 ℃, and reaction time of 3 h. It solves the problem of high efficiency decomposition of refractory molybdenum sulfide, realizes the high efficiency recovery of uranium and molybdenum metals, and provides the basis for the selection of technical route for the treatment of this type of ore.