yellowcake
A dry, powdery solid — usually yellow or orange — made by extracting uranium from ore and drying it out. It is the form in which uranium leaves a mine before further processing.
Techniquement: Yellowcake is the conventional name for partially refined uranium oxide concentrate, principally triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈) or ammonium diuranate depending on the precipitation process used, produced at or near a uranium mine by leaching ore, purifying the resulting solution, precipitating the uranium, and drying the solids. It represents the first saleable product in the nuclear fuel cycle and the standard unit in which uranium is traded and reported. The colour ranges from yellow to orange to dark brown depending on the drying temperature and chemical composition, so the name is not always literally accurate; the term persists as a recognised commercial and regulatory designation rather than a precise chemical description.
Processing