Searching for uranium is in some ways easier than for other mineral resources because the radiation signature of uranium's decay products allows deposits to be identified and mapped from the air. In this case special mining techniques such as dust suppression, and in extreme cases remote handling techniques, are employed to limit worker radiation exposure and to ensure the safety of the environment and general public. Generally speaking, uranium mining is no different from other kinds of mining unless the ore is very high grade. In this case, lower concentrations of uranium than usual can be recovered at a competitive cost. Where a deposit holds a significant concentration of two or more valuable minerals then the cost of recovering each individual mineral is reduced as certain mining and treatment requirements can be shared. An orebody is defined as a mineral deposit from which the mineral may be recovered at a cost that is economically viable given the current market conditions. In these cases the concentration of uranium may be as low as a tenth of that in orebodies mined primarily for their uranium content. Some uranium is also recovered as a by-product with copper, as at Olympic Dam mine in Australia, or as by-product from the treatment of other ores, such as the gold-bearing ores of South Africa, or from phosphate deposits such as Morocco and Florida. Uranium mines operate in some 20 countries, though in 2020 over 50% of world production came from just 10 mines in five countries (see Table 1). Other mines however can operate successfully with very low grade ores, down to about 0.02% U. In the first phase of uranium mining to the 1960s, this would have been seen as a respectable grade, but today some Canadian mines have huge amounts of ore up to 20% U average grade. Most of the uranium ore deposits at present supporting these mines have average grades in excess of 0.10% of uranium вЂ“ that is, greater than 1000 parts per million. Table 1: The largest-producing uranium mines in 2020 Mine Vast amounts of uranium also occur in the world's oceans, but in very low concentrations. It is more abundant than gold, silver or mercury, about the same as tin and slightly less abundant than cobalt, lead or molybdenum.

Uranium is a naturally occurring element with an average concentration of 2.8 parts per million in the Earth's crust. Some is also used in marine propulsion, especially naval. While uranium is used almost entirely for making electricity, a small proportion is used for the important task of producing medical isotopes.

It is mined and concentrated similarly to many other metals.

In the last 60 years uranium has become one of the worldвЂ™s most important energy minerals.

Space engineers where to find uranium