Assessment of 222Rn emanation from ore body and backfill tailings in low-grade underground uranium mine
2014
Mishra, Devi Prasad | Sahu, Patitapaban | Panigrahi, Durga Charan | Jha, Vivekanand | Patnaik, R Lokeswara
This paper presents a comparative study of²²²Rn emanation from the ore and backfill tailings in an underground uranium mine located at Jaduguda, India. The effects of surface area, porosity,²²⁶Ra and moisture contents on²²²Rn emanation rate were examined. The study revealed that the bulk porosity of backfill tailings is more than two orders of magnitude than that of the ore. The geometric mean radon emanation rates from the ore body and backfill tailings were found to be 10.01 × 10⁻³and 1.03 Bq m⁻² s⁻¹, respectively. Significant positive linear correlations between²²²Rn emanation rate and the²²⁶Ra content of ore and tailings were observed. For normalised²²⁶Ra content, the²²²Rn emanation rate from tailings was found to be 283 times higher than the ore due to higher bulk porosity and surface area. The relative radon emanation from the tailings with moisture fraction of 0.14 was found to be 2.4 times higher than the oven-dried tailings. The study suggested that the mill tailings used as a backfill material significantly contributes to radon emanation as compared to the ore body itself and the²²⁶Ra content and bulk porosity are the dominant factors for radon emanation into the mine atmosphere.
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