Leaching of 226Ra from components of uranium mill tailings

A sequential extraction procedure was used to characterize the geochemical forms of 226Ra retained by mixtures of quartz sand and a variety of fine-grained rock and mineral species. These mixtures had previously been exposed to the sulfuric acid milling liquor of a simulated acid-leach uranium milling circuit. For most test cases, the major fraction of the 226Ra was extracted with 1 mol/1 NH4Cl and was deemed to be exchangeable. However, 226Ra retained by the barite-containing mixture was resistant to both 1 mol/1 NH4Cl and 1 mol/HCHCl extraction. ?? 1991.