Uranium is a metal and is quite commonly found in the earth’s crust in ores that are mined in open-pit mines or in underground galleries. A new technology, called in situ leaching has become increasingly popular in recent years. Using this process, metals, such as uranium, are dissolved directly where they are found. Today, almost half of the world’s production is obtained through in situ leaching.
The main uranium producing countries are Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Niger, Namibia, Russia, Uzbekistan, the United States, China, and Ukraine.
Uranium is extracted from the ore by a series of processes that produce highly concentrated uranium. The result is yellow cake, a yellow powder that contains about 75% uranium, or 750 kg of uranium oxide per tonne. Yellow cake is then refined further, to obtain almost pure uranium in the form of Triuranium octoxide (U3O8).