Full-scale pore size distribution features of uranium-bearing sandstone in the northwest of Xinjiang, China

As an important nuclear fuel, uranium in sandstone uranium deposits is mainly extracted by in situ leaching. The porosity of sandstone is one of the important indexes determining in situ leaching efficiency. Moreover, the microscopic pore size distribution (PSD) of the uranium-bearing layer has an important effect on porosity. It is necessary to feature the pore structure by various techniques because of the different pore types and sizes in the uranium layer. In this paper, combined with nitrogen gas adsorption, nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and scanning electron microscopy, the full-scale PSD features of uranium-bearing sandstone in the northwest of Xinjiang are effectively characterized. The results show that pores structure of uranium-bearing sandstone include dissolution pores (d ≤ 50 nm), intergranular pores (50 nm < d ≤ 200 µm) and microfractures. Intergranular pores of 60 nm and 1 µm are the significant contributors to pore volume. The effects of the pore volume of two pore types (dissolution pores and intergranular pores) on the porosity of uranium-bearing sandstone are analysed. The results show that intergranular pores have the greater influence on the porosity and are positively correlated to the porosity. Dissolution pores have little effect on the porosity, but it is one of the key factors for improving uranium recovery. Moreover, the greater the difference of PSD between sandstones, the stronger the interlayer heterogeneity of uranium-bearing sandstone. This kind of interlayer heterogeneity leads to the change of permeability in the horizontal direction of strata. It provides a basis for a reasonable setting of well type and well spacing parameters.