Intensive exploration efforts have confirmed the presence of uranium as a low-grade surficial deposit in the Central Jordanregion. According to the Joint Ore Reserve Committee (JORC) compliance resource estimations, approximately 41,000 tonsof U3O8with an average grade of 137 ppm are located in this region, presenting challenges for effective uranium mining.This study evaluates the use of Lewatit® TP-107 resin for uranium recovery from the pregnant liquor solution produced bythe alkaline leach process employed by the Jordan Uranium Mining Company (JUMCO). Uranium adsorption and desorptionwere examined through batch processes, considering various parameters such as initial pH, contact time, temperature,adsorbent dosage, and initial uranium concentration. The maximum uranium adsorption capacity of Lewatit® TP-107 wasfound to be approximately 67 mg of U/g of resin at a temperature of 50 °C. Adsorption isotherms were analyzed using boththe Langmuir and Freundlich models. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the Gibbs free energy change (ΔG°) rangedfrom 27.58 to − 24.05 kJ/mol, the enthalpy change (ΔH°) was 18.03 kJ/mol, and the entropy change (ΔS°) was 141.23 J/mol·K, indicating a spontaneous endothermic adsorption process. Kinetic analysis showed that the adsorption rate followeda pseudo-second-order model, with a squared correlation coefficient (R2) close to unitary. After five consecutive cycles, theresin maintained an efficiency of approximately 85%, similar to its initial performance, when using NaHCO3as the elutingsolution.
Intensive exploration efforts have confirmed the presence of uranium as a low-grade surficial deposit in the Central Jordan