Russia
<also relevant for tantalum and niobium>
To manufacture ore concentrates of tantalum, niobium and tin the spodumen
beryllium ores are used in a milling factory. After the preparation
of the ore (fragmentation and rubbing) the final separation of each
mineral is done by the specific techniques. Cassiterite (tin concentrate)
is extracted using electromagnetic separation and niobium concentrate
is manufactured using chemical extraction.
Specific activities (Bq/g):
Raw material
Spodumen beryllium ore: U-nat 0.59, Ra-226 0.19, Th-232 0.022, Pa-231
0.0014
Products
Ta-Nb concentrate: U-nat 960, Ra-226 240, Th-232 12
Deprived Ta-Nb concentrate: U-nat 55, Ra-226 3.7, Th-232 5.2
Ta concentrate: U-nat 0.67, Ra-226 0.004, Th-232 n/d
Nb concentrate: U-nat 1.5, Ra-226 0.09, Th-232 n/d
Tin concentrate: U-nat 670, Ra-226 110, Th-232 6.7
Tin concentrate of final purification: U-nat 370, Ra-226 89, Th-232
4.4, Pa-231 27.0
Wastes
Natural iron: U-nat 110, Ra-226 11, Th-232 2.9
Pomergranate sand: U-nat 120, Ra-226 6.3, Th-232 0.3
Cake: U-nat 370, Ra-226 1.3, Th-232 0.2
Eticke: U-nat 28, Ra-226 48, Th-232 0.7
Smear of the equipment: U-nat 16, Ra-226 3.3, Th-232 0.07
