Improved anion-exchange process for uranium recovery

In the recovery of uranium from aqueous solutions, there is employed an anion exchange medium consisting of an inert polymeric material to whose surface are bonded particles of anionexchange resin which are between 0,3 and 2,0 mm. diameter. The inert polymeric material may be thermoplastic, for example polyethylene, polyisobutylene, vulcanized natural or synthetic rubber, especially polystyrene and a copolymer of styrene and butadiene, and a copolymer of butadiene and acrylonitrile, vinyl chloride polymers and copolymers, for example polyvinyl chloride and the copolymers of vinyl chloride with the vinyl esters of lower aliphatic acids, for example vinyl acetate. The anion exchange medium may be formed by heating a mixture of the anion exchange particles with the polymeric material, dispersing the particles, and forming into for example a sheet. In an example, an anion exchange resin, prepared by treating particles of chloromethylated polystyrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene with trimethylamine, was formed into a sheet with polyethylene, treated with sulphuric acid, and used to absorb uranium from a uranyl sulphate solution. The process may be applied to recovery of uranium from aqueous pulps, wherein the anion exchange medium is immersed in the pulp so as to extend upwardly therein, and the solid particles present in the pulp are kept suspended by gas forced upwardly through the pulp.