OREANDA-NEWS. Gravel is obtained in the course of processing of non-commercial dumps. For 45 years, ore with a low metal content was deemed substandard and it was stockpiled into spoil heaps. About 7 million tons of rock bulk was accumulated on the industrial site. The JSC PIMCU Central R&D Laboratory developed a technology for processing of non-commercial and low-grade ores that enables extraction from this raw material uranium.

"An ore-sorting complex separates rock bulk into saleable ore and mining waste. Uranium is recovered from saleable ore by the heap leach technology. Mining waste that remains after sorting is delivered to a crush unit for obtainment of gravel, which is used for the enterprise's process needs," says Aleksandr Morozov, Head of the Central Research and Development Laboratory.

The first gravel batch - 140 cub.m - was delivered to the Shaft-Sinking Department and the Urtuiskoye open cast mining office. Overall, about 350 cub.m of products will be produced monthly. Economic benefit will amount to more than 800,000 roubles annually.