Sorption concentration of thorium from solutions during complex processing and deactivation of scandium-containing technogeneous raw materials

The results of investigations into the selective sorption recovery of hydrolyzed thorium ions on macroporous sulfonic cationites from scandium-containing solutions forming during the complex processing of multicomponent polymetallic production wastes are generalized and systematized. It is shown that the efficiency and selectivity of the process can be substantially increased with the use of a KU-23 macroporous cationite and anionite in the OH− form for sorption, as well as with the preliminary introduction of magnesium and calcium chlorides into Sc-Th-containing solutions in amounts of 50–150 g/dm3. Based on our experiments and previous investigations, a production flow chart for the complex processing, deactivation, and neutralization of production wastes with the localization of thorium and its decay products, as well as the acquisition of commercial products of scandium oxide, inorganic pigments, sorbents, catalysts, etc., is developed and suggested for practical implementation.