Physical Properties

Colour Black or brownish

Lustre Sub metallic, greasy
Streak Brownish-black
Hardness 5.5
Density 7.5 – 9.7
Texture metallic corroded with coat
Fracture Brittle - Conchoidal - Very brittle
fracture producing small, conchoidal
fragments.
Phase Solid
Radioactivity 70Bq/gram

Chemical Properties:
Formula U2O
Composition: Molecular Weight = 270.03 gm
Uranium 88.15 % U Oxygen 11.85
%
Solubility Soluble in sulphuric, nitric, and
hydrofluoric acids.
Crystal Structure Cubic
Reactivity Can react with oxygen to produce UO3
and U3O8
Uranium metal is also reactive with
almost all nonmetallic elements and
their compounds with reactivity
increasing with temperature.
 Hazards: What makes it valuable

E=mc2

History
1896 Antoine Becquerel discovered the
concept of radioactivity

Enrico Fermi in 1934 discovered

that bombarding uranium produced
emission of beta rays.

December 2, 1942, team led by

Enrico Fermi was able to produce the
first artificial nuclear chain reaction.
End Products
 Enormous amounts of Nuclear Energy
 Nuclear Weapons
 Weaponry, like Bullets (high density depleted Uranium metal penetrates heavy armor)
The map shows the distribution of uranium around the planet

In what type of rock is Uraninite found in?

Uraninite is found in igneous rocks formed by magma solidifying.
How rare is uranium?
•40 times more abundant than silver
• It’s found in most soil, rocks, and water but in very low concentrations.
•Uranium ore contains 0.1 to 0.25% of actual
•Distributed world wide and in 2005 17 countries produced uranium oxides.
•3 million tons of uranium ore reserves are known to exist
•5 billion tones of uranium is estimated to be in sea water.
Mining
 Radiation detectors such as Geiger-Counter are used to detect the uranium ore
 Airborne gamma ray spectrometry is a leading technique for uranium prospecting (it is also used in
geological mapping, mineral exploration and environmental monitoring)
 Uraninite is usually separated using acidic solutions such as sulphuric, nitric, and hydrofluoric
acids.
Methods of Extraction
 Open Pit
 Underground uranium mining
 Heap Leaching
 In Situ Leaching
 Polymer Fibers
 Which countries are the lead producers of Uranium?

Country 2002 2003 2004 2005

Canada 11604 10457 11597 11628
Australia 6854 7572 8982 9519
Kazakhstan 2800 3300 3719 4357
Russia 2900 3150 3200 3431
Namibia 2333 2036 3038 3147
Niger 3075 3143 3282 3093
Uzbekistan 1860 1598 2016 2300
USA 919 779 846 1039
Total world 36 063 35 613 40 219 41 595
(42 529 t U3O8) (41 998 t U3O8) (47 430 t U3O8) (49 052 t U3O8)
 Environmental impact of the mining
 Radiation is unhealthy
 In Situ leaching type of mining is environmentally unfriendly
Countries with largest known Reserves

Country tonnes U percentage of world

Australia 1,074,000 30%
Kazakhstan 622,000 17%
Canada 439,000 12%
South Africa 298,000 8%
Namibia 213,000 6%
World total 3,537,000

Current Market Value

 $85/lb. This has risen from $75/lb since last month.
 How is the market value determined?
 Notions of geopolitics as Uranium plays a big role in nuclear power and weaponry.
 Not traded on an organized commodity exchange like London Metal Exchange. In most cases it is traded
through contract between buyer and seller directly.
 What is the market size in?
 Current production covers only 55% of the requirements of power utilities
 Uranium prices have been rising recently so that the demand appears to be increasing, meaning that the
market size for the uranium is increasing.About 440 reactors with combined capacity of some 360 GWe,
require 77,000 tonnes of uranium oxide while total uranium production world wide is only around 50,000
tones, which causes an increased demand and increase in prices.
 The leading consumers of Uranium:

Country Nuclear Energy (billion KWh)

USA 788.6
France 426.8
Japan 273.8
Germany 158.4
Russia 133.0
Korea 124.0
Canada 85.3