Question

Tom’s company has been contracted to excavate uranium ore with minimal ground disruption. What process should his company use?

Answer 1

In-Situ leaching

Step-by-step explanation:

There are five ways by which Uranium is mined.

In-situ leach - 44.9%

Underground mining - 26.2%

Open pit - 19.9%

Heap leaching - 1.7%

7.3% was derived from processing of by products of other minerals

In-Situ leaching involves dissolving the minerals of the ore by pumping lixivant through boreholes made by drilling or Explosive or hydraulic fracturing. So, here not a lot of excavation is done just a hole is drilled or bored to the location of the ore, the ore is then made porous then lixivant is pumped. Then the solution is pumped out and further chemical processes are carried out to extract uranium from the solution.

Answer 2

In-situ leaching or solution mining offers the least ground disruptive type of mining and waste.  This type of mining only dissolves the uranium where it is under the ground then pump up to the ground and further processed through milling.