Acidic organophosphorus solvent extraction process for the purification of molybdenum in tailings from uranium ore treatment

Uranium ore often contains a significant amount of molybdenum. The main by-product of uranium extraction is an impure calcium molybdate, whose recovery could justify the development of a liquid-liquid extraction process. The knowledge of the behavior of heteropolymolybdic species in acidic solutions was exploited to investigate the use of an organophosphorus extractant to extract molybdenum from dissolution liquors of impure calcium molybdate, residues from uranium ore treatment. An organophosphorus solvent extraction process is proposed to recover and purify 99.7% of the molybdenum from the initial residue, free from the impurities P, V, and Si.