ISR Mining
Wyoming, U.S.A
What is Insitu Recovery (ISR) Mining?
Lowest Cost and Lowest Impact Uranium Mining
GTI Energy is focused on defining economically viable ISR amenable uranium resources in Wyoming. ISR recovery is the lowest cost & least environmentally damaging form of uranium mining especially when an alkaline leach and ion exchange (IX) processes are utilised.
ISR Mining
Wyoming USA
Low environmental impact ISR mining, also called Insitu Leach (ISL) or Solution Mining, uses an alkaline or acid “lixiviant“ solution*, injected & extracted using a series wells to leach subterranean ores.
After the lixiviant is injected, the uranium-bearing solution is pumped to the surface & recovered in a processing plant. Uranium pregnant solution from production wells is pumped or trucked to a treatment plant where uranium is recovered typically using resin/polymer ion exchange (IX) or solvent extraction (SX). Clean water is reinjected.
Wyoming is the home of ISR uranium with experimental mining during the early 1960s & commercial mining starting in 1974. In 2019,of world uranium was mined by ISR methods with most US, Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan uranium mining now by ISR. South Australia has two ISR mines & a satellite ISR operation at Honeymoon and Beverley (Four Mile).