Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada As Represented by the Minister of Natural Resources Canada

Nicolas Reynier

Magella Bilodeau

Rolando Lastra

Mark Chapman

André Demers

Nabil Bouzoubaa

Disclosed is an apparatus that is an attrition mill for grinding or comminuting ores, mine wastes, and radioactive wastes some of which may comprise metals, which may include uranium and/or cesium and/or mercury and/or thorium and/or rare earth elements. Also disclosed are processes that employ the apparatus for combined grinding and optionally leaching metals from ores and wastes. Some such methods comprise an optional step of grinding and mixing the ore or waste with a solid inorganic base with water addition or with an aqueous inorganic base, follow by a step of grinding and mixing the ore or waste with an aqueous inorganic acid with or without leaching salt addition, to solubilize the metals present in the ore or the waste. The disclosed apparatus and methods, in some embodiments, enable efficient grinding and attrition of ores substrates and mine wastes even without need for grinding media.

Combined grinding and leaching apparatus for ores and wastes and methods of use thereof

Provided is a process for recovering metals from solid radioactive waste, preferably uranium, cesium, mercury, thorium, rare earths or combinations thereof. The process comprises a leaching step and a separation step. The leaching step comprises contacting the solid radioactive waste with an aqueous inorganic acid and a leaching salt to produce a mixture of a metal-rich leachate and a metal-poor waste, which are separated in the separation step. Also provided is a process for recovering metals from solid radioactive waste comprising an attrition step, a leaching step, a washing step, a combination step and a recovery step.

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Gatineau, Canada

Nicolas Reynier