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Leaching uranium ore

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usaman65

Sun Mar 15 2009, 01:30AM

Registered Member #1364 Joined: Thu Feb 28 2008, 09:09PM
Location:
Posts: 55

hi-

i took around 15 grams of crushed uranium ore (lower grade, not high quality pitchblende) and soaked it in acetic acid (around 20% or so...boiled down vinegar) and let it soak for around a week, stirring the mix once a day. The solution began crystal clear and was now after filtering a yellowish green like that of the "uranium" marbles. It was slightly radioactive, but with such a small scale not much. I added the same valume of 3% hydrogen peroxide and a thick yellow/orange percipitate fell. I filtered the solution, and had the crystal clear liquid, and the solid uranium peroxide powder on the filter paper. It is possible to leach uranium ore at home and i will be doing it on a larger scale with more concentrated acetic acid soon.

kev

Hon1nbo

Sun Mar 15 2009, 04:01AM

Registered Member #902 Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042

US law prohibits the processing of Uranium Ore by unlicensed individuals...

Download

Sun Mar 15 2009, 09:03AM

Registered Member #561 Joined: Sat Mar 03 2007, 02:46AM
Location: Adelaide Australia
Posts: 230

He could be outside the US

Bored Chemist

Sun Mar 15 2009, 09:57AM

Registered Member #193 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 07:04AM
Location: sheffield
Posts: 1022

"He could be outside the US"
Not according to his "location ".
I doubt the authorities are going to bother with someone extracting uranium from half an ounce of rock, but it's still a valid warning.

usaman65

Tue Mar 17 2009, 01:05AM

Registered Member #1364 Joined: Thu Feb 28 2008, 09:09PM
Location:
Posts: 55

I dont believe it is illegal. Look at united nuclears page on u extraction and the many other web sites that leached many pounds of ore. Im going to process a better batch soon for a nice sample of Uranium peroxide powder.

kev

rp181

Tue Mar 17 2009, 02:48AM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

lol, hes going to be outside the US with a name usaman =p
I think this is one of those rules that are technically illegal, but really won't do harm. Its like shooting coins (as discussed on spudfiles). Defacing money is illegal, but cops are not going to arrest you for finding a dented penny. This is a different matter though, especially due to the paranoia. I say you just ask your local police. Make sure you make it sound like you want to do it, and have not done it already.

Proud Mary

Tue Mar 17 2009, 03:23AM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

It would certainly be a criminal offence in the United Kingdom under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

Bored Chemist

Tue Mar 17 2009, 06:45PM

Registered Member #193 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 07:04AM
Location: sheffield
Posts: 1022

Harry wrote ...

It would certainly be a criminal offence in the United Kingdom under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

Sure about that?
I think the pertinant bits of the regs are
"No person shall, on any premises which are used for the purposes of an undertaking carried on by him, keep or use, or cause or permit to be kept or used, radioactive material of any description, knowing or having reasonable grounds for believing it to be radioactive material, unless eitherâ€”
(a) he is registered under section 7 in respect of those premises and in respect of the keeping and use on those premises of radioactive material of that description, or
(b) he is exempted from registration under that section in respect of those premises and in respect of the keeping and use on those premises of radioactive material of that description, or
(c) the radioactive material in question consists of mobile radioactive apparatus in respect of which a person is registered under section 10 or is exempted from registration under that section.
"

And (from section 47)
"undertakingâ€ includes any trade, business or profession andâ€”
(a)in relation to a public or local authority, includes any of the powers or duties of that authority, and
(b)in relation to any other body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate, includes any of the activities of that body, and
â€œwasteâ€ includes any substance which constitutes scrap material or an effluent or other unwanted surplus substance arising from the application of any process, and also includes any substance or article which requires to be disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoilt.
"

So if I were to do this at home, since my home is not the location of my professional undertaking, I'm not covered by this act.
As far as I can tell, the regulations only apply to "work" rather than "home".

Proud Mary

Tue Mar 17 2009, 07:34PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Bored Chemist wrote ...

Harry wrote ...

It would certainly be a criminal offence in the United Kingdom under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

Sure about that?

The Act contains a Schedule of Specified Elements, defining the activity in bq/gm required for a substance to be deemed 'a radioactive substance' for the purposes of the Act.

The schedule lists, amongst other things, uranium, polonium, radium and radon - together responsible for the great majority of the radioactivity of uraninite/pitchblende,

It is not difficult to see how legally significant bq/gm concentrations of 'specified elements' could arise in rich pitchblende leachate, and its concentrates.

"Radioactive waste" defined under the 1993 Act might also result from such experiments.

I'm not a nuclear or legal chap, so I may have misunderstood the badly drafted legislation, and its technical provisions, but I will stand by my view until shewn otherwise.

In the politics of the Terror Factory, even a speck of pitchblende found outside a Pakistani restaurant can be claimed sufficient to build a megaton bomb, so I would advise anyone in the United Kingdom, at least, to avoid the kind of experiments which could be misunderstood or wilfully misrepresented should the source of authentic 'terror' dry up.

Where I live, there are public posters urging you to call a confidential hotline if you see any unusual activity connected with the purchase and ownership of chemicals. How much more so, then, for radioactive materials, when the search for the would-be makers of so-called 'dirty bombs' occupies the full-time attention of ghostly office blocks full of secret police?

Thus, I would advise others to do as I have done, and lodge copies of all serious chemical inventory with a solicitor (attorney), the family doctor, community leaders, and local police officers, so that everything one does is seen to be respectable and above board whichever way you look at it.

It is a pity it has come to this in England, but Peace and honest politicians will surely return one day, God willing.

big5824

Tue Mar 17 2009, 11:22PM

Registered Member #1687 Joined: Tue Sept 09 2008, 08:47PM
Location: UK, Darlington
Posts: 240

As long as you are smart you aren't going to get caught, just make sure you dont do it too obviously and keep it well shielded incase of the rare chance that someone with a geiger counter walks by :)

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