Abstract: Contaminants are removed from a contaminated surface soil by contacting the soil with a solvent in which the contaminate is soluble and then vacuuming the solvent with the contaminants dissolved therein from the soil.

Abstract: A steam flood recovery process for recovering heavy oil from a producing formation wherein the production stream is processed to separate the produced water from the heavy oil and then the hardness of the water is first reduced to from 10-60 ppm by treatment with caustic and then reduced to less than 1 ppm by flowing it through a weak acid cation resin whereby the water can be used to generate the steam used in the recovery operation.

Abstract: Uranium and other base metals are leached from their ores with aqueous solutions containing bicarbonate ions that have been generated or reconstituted by converting other non-bicarbonate anions into bicarbonate ions. The conversion is most conveniently effected by contacting solutions containing SO.sub.4.sup.= and Cl.sup.- ions with a basic anion exchange resin so that the SO.sub.4.sup.= and Cl.sup.- ions are converted into or exchanged for HCO.sub.3.sup.- ions. CO.sub.2 may be dissolved in the solution so it is present during the exchange. The resin is preferably in bicarbonate form prior to contact and CO.sub.2 partial pressure is adjusted so that the resin is not fouled by depositing metal precipitates. In-situ uranium mining is conducted by circulating such solutions through the ore deposit. Oxidizing agents are included in the injected lixiviant.

Abstract: A process is described for recovering uranium from a pregnant lixiviant containing uranium values and a certain portion of molybdenum values comprising passing the pregnant lixiviant through an anion-exchange resin to capture the uranium and molybdenum values on the resin, eluting the uranium and molybdenum values from the resin with a salt solution, passing the eluate through a weak acid cationic resin in its hydrogen form to capture the uranium values on the resin and treating and resulting eluate to precipitate uranium therefrom to produce the familiar "yellow-cake.