US EPA

1439103 

Journal Article 

GAMMA-SPECTROMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF INDUSTRIALLY USED AFRICAN AND AUSTRALIAN BAUXITES AND THEIR RED MUD TAILINGS 

Vonphilipsborn, H; Kuhnast, E 

1992 

1 

Radiation Protection Dosimetry
ISSN: 0144-8420
EISSN: 1742-3406 

45 

1-4 

741-744 

WOS:A1992LA67300158 

From their genesis by weathering and sedimentation,
bauxites, the principal aluminium ores, contain appreciable amounts of uranium and thorium. High
resolution gamma spectrometry with a high purity germanium detector was used for an analysis of
four industrially used bauxites from Gondama, Sierra Leone; Boke, Guinea; Weipa, Queensland,
Australia; Gove, Northern Territory, Australia. Significant differences in uranium to thorium
ratios and in activities of the uranium and thorium daughters were observed for the four
bauxites. It was found that the bauxite from Gondoma, Sierra Leone has an activity of only 10%
compared with the others. Red mud tailings from such a bauxite may well be used as an additive to
bricks, which is now illegal for normal red mud from more active bauxites.