RadioactiveThings.com RadioactiveThings.com Recommended Films and Books Radioactive Things We sell high quality specimens of Pitchblende, Uraninite, Autunite, Schoepite, Curite, Kasolite, Becquerelite, Cuprosklodowskite, Torbernite and other radioactive minerals containing Uranium or Thorium from many of the world’s most famous mines. We also sell rare collectables from WWII and the early era of the nuclear power industry. We have many satisfied repeat customers as well as those who are new to collecting. We’re owned by Pro Partners & Associates, which has been in business for over 15 years as a provider of unique items for people with unique interests. Believed to have originated in supernova explosions, Uranium is the heaviest natural element on earth, and it continually decays over time with a half-life of 4.5 billion years. It was discovered by Klaproth in 1789 in the black mineral Pitchblende and in 1896 Becquerel demonstrated that Uranium was radioactive. In 1898 Marie Curie discovered a new element in Pitchblende that was a part of the Uranium decay chain.

She named the new element Radium and it is incredibly over 2 million times more radioactive than Uranium itself. Fission was discovered in 1938 by Otto Hahn and explained theoretically in 1939 by Lise Meitner. U235, the raw material for fission, was in very short supply at the time as only 0.7% of natural Uranium is composed of U-235 (99% is U-238, and a trace amount is U-234). This photo below shows a large and very active specimen of Pitchblende that dates to Martin Klaproth and the location where he collected the mineral in Jáchymov, in the Czech Republic. Attesting to its very high Uranium content, the specimen measures 200 mR/hr and 500,000 CPM on a Ludlum Model 3 counter with a 44-9 probe. Note: Please read our tips for safe handling before purchasing items from our website. All items are legal to own, and are shipped in accordance with USPS regulations. Most items shipped via USPS Priority Mail. No international shipping .

© Pro Partners & Associates 2017 Pitchblende | Article about pitchblende by The Free Dictionary Pitchblende | Article about pitchblende by The Free Dictionary Related to pitchblende: radium pitchblende (pĭch`blĕnd'), dark, lustrous, heavy mineral, a source of radium and uranium. Largely natural uranium oxides, triuranium octaoxide (U3O8) and uranium dioxide (UO2), it usually contains some lead and variable amounts of thorium and rare-earth elements. It is massive in form, frequently with a botryoidal, or grape-cluster, appearance, and has a variable but high specific gravity. Pitchblende is greenish, brownish, or black in color, with a pitchy to submetallic luster. The uranium yield is from 50% to 80%. Uraninite, a closely related ore richer in uranium (uranium dioxide), commonly crystallizes in the cubic system. It yields 65% to 80% uranium and has a specific gravity somewhat higher than that of pitchblende. The color range is from deep black to brown.

Both ores occur as primary constituents of quartz veins and with other metals. They supply radium and polonium in addition to uranium. Although the ores occur in small quantities throughout the world, the Great Lakes region of Canada, Congo (Kinshasa), the Czech Republic, the Colorado Plateau, Australia, and South Africa are the major sources. Pitchblende (nasturan), a variety of uraninite occurring as massive and colloform aggregates that contain variable quantities of UO3 (predominant constituent) and UO2. Admixtures include radiogenic lead, calcium, sometimes rare-earth elements of the yttrium subgroup, and up to 2–3 percent H2O. Pitchblende’s crystal structure generally corresponds to that of uraninite; however, pitchblende is converted to an amorphous state when UO3 dominates. An opaque black mineral with a pitchlike luster, it has a hardness of 4—6 on Mohs’ scale. Its density, depending on the UO2: UO3 ratio, varies from 6,000 to 9,200 kg/m3. The mineral is highly radioactive. Pitchblende is one of the most widely occurring uranium minerals.

It is found in complex hydrothermal ore deposits in association with tin and tungsten minerals, as well as with arsenides and sulfarsenides of cobalt, nickel, and iron, and with sulfides of copper, lead, bismuth, silver, and other metals. In uranium-iron ore deposits it occurs in association with hematite, magnetite, and other minerals. It also occurs in sedimentary deposits and in conglomerates, where powdery, earthy aggregates of the mineral are also commonly formed. Pitchblende is one of the most commercially important minerals contained in uranium ores. G. P.

B Pitchblende | Definition of Pitchblende by Merriam-Webster Definition of pitchblende : a brown to black mineral that consists of massive uraninite, has a distinctive luster, contains radium, and is the chief ore-mineral source of uranium Origin and Etymology of pitchblende partial translation of German Pechblende, from Pech pitch + Blende blende First Known Use: 1770 Uranium Ore Minerals pegnatiteSee beautiful color photos of the brilliantly colored minerals described in this book here Lindgren defines an ore mineral as "a mineral which may be used for the extraction of one or more metals." A uranium ore mineral is therefore a mineral possessing such physical and chemical properties and occurring in a deposit in such concentrations that it may be used for the profitable extraction of uranium, either alone or together with one or more other metals. There are only a few of the many uranium minerals that meet these qualifications and still fewer in which uranium is the major constituent.

Pitchblende and uraninite contain theoretically up to 85 per cent uranium but actually between 50 and 80 per cent; carnotite, torbernite, tyuyamunite, autunite, uranophane, and brannerite, 45 to 60 per cent. In other minerals, uranium is an important but relatively minor constituent the minerals, davidite, samarskite, and euxenite, for example, contain only 1 to 18 per cent. The majority of uranium-bearing minerals, however, contain uranium in small or trace amounts as an accessory to other major constituents. The uranium content of a mineral does not of itself, however, determine whether it is a uranium ore mineral. If the uranium is present in a mineral in such complex combinations with other elements that it is too costly to extract, or if the mineral does not occur in sufficient quantities to make extraction worthwhile, that mineral is not a uranium ore mineral. Thus, the definition for an ore mineral, like that for an ore deposit, is dependent upon economics and time upon the value of uranium and the results of future exploration and metallurgical progress. A uranium mineral that is not an ore mineral today may be one tomorrow.

Most of the uranium minerals in pegmatites and placers are refractory; that is, the uranium is present in combinations which are extremely difficult to break down chemically in order to recover the uranium. These minerals also usually occur scattered sparsely throughout the deposit so that recovery difficult and expensive. Therefore, even though some of the individual minerals may contain up to 50 per cent uranium, they are not ore minerals. The fact that only a few of the numerous uranium minerals qualify as uranium ore minerals and form uranium ore deposits, whereas uranium in small amounts is widely spread throughout the rocks of the earth's crust, adds greatly to the problem of uranium exploration. The uranium prospector gets many "nibbles" but few "bites," and to avoid disillusionment and frustration, as well as waste of time, effort, and money, he must know his business well. This is one of the most important factors in searching for uranium, as it is for other metals-the ability to judge the importance of what is found and whether to discard it or follow it up. In this respect, it is of first importance to become familiar with the uranium ore minerals.

PRIMARY URANIUM ORE MINERALS Primary uranium minerals have been found most commonly in veins or pegmatites, although in recent years extensive, flat-lying deposits of pitchblende in sedimentary rocks have also been discovered. The refractory primary uranium minerals are also found in placers. The primary uranium minerals are generally black or dark brown, noticeably heavy, and often have a shiny or pitch-like luster. When they are exposed to weathering at or near the surface, they are sometimes altered to form the bright-colored secondary uranium minerals. At the present time, there are only three known primary uranium ore minerals, and the most important of these, uraninite and pitchblende, are really varieties of the same mineral. Uraninite (combined UO2and UO3; 50-85 percent U308)1. Uraninite is a naturally occurring uranium oxide with cubic or octahedral crystal form. It has a specific gravity of 8-10.5 (iron = 7.85), a grayish-black color sometimes with a greenish cast and a hardness2 of 5-6, about the same as steel. Its streak3 is black.

Its most widespread occurrence is in pegmatites 4, in which it is found in small amounts, throughout the world. However, it is also an important constituent of nearly all important primary deposits, occurring closely associated with its massive variety, pitchblende. 1 U308 is the symbol for a chemical compound, uranium oxide, composed of three atoms of uranium to eight atoms of oxygen. Most chemical assays for uranium are expressed in terms of U308, and ore purchases are made on that basis. The uranium content equals approximately 85 per cent of the assay expressed in terms of U308. 2 Hardness of minerals is related to Moh's scale of 1 to 10 using typical minerals as standards: (1) Talc: easily scratched by the fingernail. (2) Gypsum: scratched with difficulty by the fingernail; will not scratch a copper coin. (3) Calcite: same hardness as copper. (4) Fluorite: scratches copper; will not scratch glass. (5) Apatite: same hardness as glass. (6) Feldspar: scratches glass easily; scratched with difficulty by knife blade.

(7) Quartz: not scratched by knife blade; scratched with difficulty by file. (8) Topaz: will scratch quartz. (9) Corundum: will scratch topaz. (10) Diamond: not scratched by any known substance. 3 Streak: Powder mark left by scratching on a hard surface, such as unglazed porcelain. 4 In spite of this typical occurrence, uraninite is not a refractory mineral and should not be confused with the many complex uranium minerals also found in pegmatites. Uraninite is the principal uranium-bearing mineral in two newly developed types of deposits that produced for the first time in 1952: the very low-grade (in uranium) Witwatersrand and Orange Free State gold-bearing conglomerates of the Union of South Africa, and the medium-grade uranium and copper-bearing carbonaceous slates at Rum Jungle, Northern Territory, Australia. In both of these deposits uraninite occurs as finely disseminated crystals, usually invisible to the naked eye.

Pitchblende (combined UO2 and U03; 50-80 percent U308) Pitchblende is the massive variety of uraninite, without apparent crystal form, that occurs most abundantly in the rich primary vein deposits of uranium. It is the chief constituent of nearly all high-grade uranium ores and has provided the largest part of all uranium produced throughout the world, forming the principal product of the Shinkolobwe mine, Belgian Congo; the Eldorado mine, Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada; and the mines at Joachimsthal, Czechoslovakia. Pitchblende is somewhat lighter than uraninite, having a specific gravity of between 6 and 9, but its other properties, with the exception of crystal form, are the same. It occurs as irregular masses often with a rounded, layered, botryoidal structure. The principal occurrences of pitchblende are in primary (hydrothermal) vein deposits, usually of the mesothermal (medium temperature and pressure) type, in igneous and metamorphic rocks and in flat-lying bedded deposits in sedimentary rocks.

Pitchblende is commonly associated with one or more of the primary ore minerals of iron, copper, cobalt, lead, silver, and bismuth; and the presence of these minerals in a mineral deposit is one indication of favorable conditions for pitchblende. It is usually accompanied also by bright colored secondary uranium minerals where subjected to weathering or other alteration. The commonly associated gangue1 minerals are quartz and other silica minerals, carbonates, fluorite, barite, and hydrocarbons. Quartz, calcite, and dolomite are usually the most abundant. Pitchblende, in vein deposits, is most likely to be deposited in existing open spaces in rock formations, rather than by replacement of the rock itself, and the richest deposits occur where large open fractures were available for filling by the mineralizing solutions. There are no important pitchblende replacement deposits like those of copper, lead, zinc, and silver, where rock formations have been substantially replaced by ore through solution of the original constituents and deposition of the ore minerals. 1The non-ore minerals in a vein or other ore deposit. Deposition of pitchblende is usually accompanied by strong alteration of the wall rock along the veins.

The presence of hematite (a red iron oxide mineral) extending from the pitchblende a few inches to a few feet into the wall rock is the most characteristic feature. The formation of hematite has occurred in all of the major pitchblende vein deposits and in many of the deposits of minor importance. Other alteration features often associated with pitchblende deposition are the formation of kaolin, chlorite, sericite, and silica minerals in the wall rock.1 In the recently discovered flat-lying deposits of pitchblende in sedimentary rocks, such as sandstones and conglomerates, the pitchblende is deposited between and around the grains of the rock and in available rock openings. The exact mechanics and chemistry of deposition, however, are not as well understood as they are in the case of the vein deposits.

The two most important examples are the "copper-uranium" deposits in southern Utah and northern Arizona, in which pitchblende occurs with a variety of secondary uranium and copper minerals and copper and lead sulfides, and the deposits in Big Indian Wash near La Sal, Utah, in the central Colorado Plateau, where the pitchblende is associated with the vanadium mineral, vanoxite, and some secondary minerals, principally carnotite, tyuyamunite, and becquerelite.2 l The alteration of the wall rock to form these minerals is known as kaolinization, chloritization, sericitization, and silification. Kaolinization causes the wall rock to become softand clay-like, so that it may be easily gouged with a knife blade or even the fingernail. Chloritization and sericitization cause the rock to become a waxy or greasy green or gray, sometimes soft and flaky. Silification results in a hard flint-like texture. 2In 1954 important pitchblende deposits in sandstone were developed on the Laguna reservation east of Grants, N. Mex., and significant pitchblende discoveries were made in the Black Hills, So.

Dak., and Wind River, Wyo. districts. Pitchblende has also been found in smaller amounts disseminated in volcanic rocks in the southwestern United States, in some of the carnotite deposits of the Colorado Plateau, and in the deposits in limestone in the Grants district, New Mexico. Davidite (rare earth-iron-titanium oxide; 7-10 percent U3O8). Davidite was not considered a significant uranium ore mineral until 1951, when additional exploration at the old Radium Hill mine near Olary, South Australia, an early producer of small quantities of radium, indicated a substantial uranium deposit. After World War II a few tons of davidite were produced from less important deposits near Tete in Mozambique (Portuguese East Africa). Davidite is a dark brown to black mineral with a glassy to submetallic luster. It has about the same hardness as pitchblende (5-6) and is somewhat lighter in weight (specific gravity, 4.5). It occurs most commonly in angular, irregular masses, sometimes with crystal outlines, but never in round, botryoidal shapes like pitchblende.

When it is exposed to weathering, a thin yellow-green coating of carnotite or tyuyamunite may form on its surface. This is particularly true at Radium Hill, Australia, and it provides an easy means of tentative identification in the field. Davidite is deposited in hydrothermal veins, presumably at a higher temperature and pressure than pitchblende. The veins have many of the characteristics of pegmatites. The associated vein minerals are ilmenite, hematite, biotite, mica, quartz, calcite, and pink feldspar. The rocks enclosing the veins at Radium Hill are largely gneisses or schists, with chloritic and sericitic alteration near the veins. At Tete, davidite veins are found in more basic1 rocks like gabbro and anorthosite. Davidite is almost never found as the "pure" mineral, but rather in complex inter-growths with ilmenite which has very similar physical properties and chemical composition. lRocks having a high iron, calcium, and magnesium content, as opposed to acidic rocks having a high sodium, potassium, and quartz content and which are the most common wall rocks of uranium vein deposits.

SECONDARY URANIUM ORE MINERALS The secondary uranium minerals are by far the most spectacular in appearance of the uranium minerals. Instead of the dull black, gray, and brown colors of the primary minerals, they present an array of bright yellow, orange, green, and all of the combinations and in-between shades of those colors. Some of them also have the property of fluorescence under ultraviolet light, resulting in even more brilliant coloration. Rather than being heavy and massive, they occur as earthy or powdery materials or as fine, delicate, needle-like or platy, flake-like crystals. As a group, they are probably more beautiful than the minerals of any other element. This, of course, is an important factor in their recognition in the field, although the inexperienced prospector may often confuse them with other colorful minerals, such as malachite (copper carbonate), limonite (iron hydroxide), and sulfur, to name a few. The secondary uranium ore minerals have represented only a small proportion of the total world uranium production to date. However, their deposits are more numerous and widespread than those of the primary ore minerals and, as a result of intensive prospecting activity, their importance is steadily increasing.

The secondary minerals have two major modes of occurrence: 1. In the weathered or oxidized zones of primary deposits, where they are formed by decomposition of the primary minerals in place. 2. As irregular, flat-lying deposits in sedimentary rocks, primarily sandstones, but also conglomerates, shales, and limestones, formed by precipitation from solutions that may have carried the uranium some distance away from the original source. The secondary uranium ore minerals also occur frequently along with a large variety of other secondary uranium minerals, mainly the uranium phosphates, carbonates, sulfates, hydrous-oxides and silicates, in what may be considered a third type of secondary mineral deposit. These have been referred to as oxidized secondary deposits or simply as oxidized deposits. Most of these deposits are probably oxidized vein deposits, the complete oxidation of the primary minerals in place making it difficult to prove the original primary character. On the other hand, they may be formed by ground-water solutions that have dissolved uranium from a broad area of slightly mineralized rocks and concentrated it by precipitation in veins and fracture zones.

These deposits are numerous throughout arid and semi-arid regions, such as the western and southwestern United States, the west coast of South America, the Mediterranean area, and southern Russia, and, although a few of them have produced ore, they provide most of the troublesome traces or nibbles that often confound uranium prospectors. In some cases they have proved to be the oxidized upper portions of primary deposits from which primary ore has eventually been mined at depth. The secondary minerals in the weathered zones of primary deposits have at some places contributed significant uranium production, particularly where weathering has been deep, as at Shinkolobwe in the Belgian Congo; at Urgeirica, Portugal; at Marysvale, Utah; and in some of the copper-uranium deposits of the southwestern United States. However, the major significance of such occurrences to the prospector is the indication of the presence of primary mineralization which, at important deposits, produces in the end the preponderance of the uranium.

The flat-lying deposits in sedimentary rocks represent the most important occurrence of the secondary minerals, and the most important deposits of this type are the carnotite deposits of the Colorado Plateau area of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, which have been radium, vanadium, and uranium producers since 1898. Three-quarters of the more than one hundred uranium minerals are secondary minerals, but of these only six may logically be considered ore minerals. Most of the others, many of them extremely rare, occur primarily as the weathering products in the oxidized zones of primary deposits, but some are found associated with the secondary ore minerals in deposits in sedimentary rocks. Unlike the primary uranium ore minerals, the secondary ore minerals seldom occur singly or only two to a deposit. They usually occur together in groups of several of both the ore and non-ore minerals, although, as in the case of the carnotite deposits, one mineral may be predominant. The dominant colors of the secondary uranium ore minerals are yellow and green, orange being confined primarily to the non-ore minerals.

Carnotite (K20*2UO3*V2O5*nH20; 50-55 percent U3O8). Carnotite, a potassium uranium vanadate, is the most important of the secondary uranium ore minerals, having provided possibly 90 percent of the uranium production from secondary deposits. It is a lemon-yellow mineral with an earthy luster, a yellow streak, and a specific gravity of about 4. It occurs most commonly in soft; powdery aggregates of finely crystalline material or in thin films or stains on rocks or other minerals. Its powdery nature gives the impression of even greater softness than its hardness scale rating of 2-3 would indicate. It can be easily scratched with the fingernail. Carnotite is not fluorescent.1 The most noted occurrences of carnotite are in the Colorado Plateau area of the United States, where it was first identified in 1898 and has since provided the major domestic uranium production, on the western edge of the Black Hills, South Dakota, and in the Ferghana basin, U.S.S.R.

It occurs in sandstones in flat-lying, irregular, partially bedded ore bodies of from a few tons to a few hundred thousands of tons in size. In the higher-grade deposits (more than one-third of 1 per cent U3O8), the carnotite is present in sufficient quantity to color the rock a bright yellow; but in poorer deposits, particularly below 0.20 per cent U3O8, it is often difficult to distinguish it from the sandstone itself. Its color is also often masked by iron staining or by the dark-colored vanadium minerals usually associated with it. Most carnotite deposits range in grade from 0.10 per cent to 0.50 per cent U3O8. Although carnotite is the principal mineral in the carnotite deposits, nearly twenty other secondary uranium minerals are found associated with it. The most common of these is the secondary ore mineral, tyuyamunite, described below. All of the other secondary ore minerals, torbernite, autunite, schroeckingerite, and uranophane, have also been found in carnotite deposits.

The other associated secondary minerals are the rare oxides, carbonates, arsenates, vanadates, phosphates and silicates. The most common non-uranium minerals found associated with carnotite are the vanadium minerals, corvusite (hydrous-vanadium oxide), hewettite (calcium vanadium oxide), and roscoelite (vanadium mica-silicate). Minerals of the common metals, such as copper, lead, zinc, and manganese, have also been identified in carnotite deposits, as well as pitchblende and uraninite, but their occurrence in most cases is only of academic interest. One other important association of carnotite should be mentioned, for it has an important bearing on prospecting for these deposits. An evident general affinity of uranium for certain organic materials, which has had some effect on its deposition in almost all types of deposits, is perhaps most clearly displayed in the carnotite deposits of the Colorado Plateau area. In a large number of these deposits, the carnotite is intimately associated with silicified or carbonized wood fossil wood ), and a variety of coal-like and asphaltic materials, all of which are good indicator substances for carnotite.

In the Temple Mountain district, Utah, carnotite occurs in sandstones so impregnated with asphaltic material that the deposits are considered a special type and are called uraniferous asphaltite deposits. Elsewhere, fossil wood in the form of logs or accumulations of branches and twigs, locally called trash pockets, is the most common type of associated organic material. 1 Fluorescence The property of emitting light or glowing during exposure to ultraviolet light. Although occurrences of the type described represent the only ore deposits of carnotite, this mineral is one of the most widespread of the uranium minerals. It is present in varying amounts in nearly all of the other secondary uranium deposits and is the principal mineral in some of the noncommercial oxidized deposits, like those at Jean and Erie near Las Vegas, Nevada, and near San Carlos, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Carnotite is found also in small amounts in the oxidized zone of any primary uranium deposit containing even trace amounts of vanadium, for example, the davidite deposits at Tete, Mozambique, and at Radium Hill, South Australia, in the fluorite deposits of the Thomas Range, Utah, and other parts of the southwestern United States, and in places as thin stains and coatings at the outcroppings of the very low-grade, uranium-bearing shale, phosphate, and lignite deposits. Tyuyamunite (CaO*2UO3 *V2O5*nH20; 48-55 percent U3O8).Tyuyamunite is closely related to carnotite as indicated by the chemical formula, which is the same except that calcium substitutes for the potassium of carnotite. The physical properties of tyuyamunite are the same except for a slightly more greenish color than carnotite and, in some cases, a very weak yellow-green fluorescence not found in carnotite. Tyuyamunite is found in small amounts in almost any deposit or with any occurrence of carnotite.

It is, as one would suspect, more abundant where there is an appreciable amount of calcium, usually in the form of calcite or limestone. Tyuyamunite first obtained importance as an ore mineral because of its occurrence in a deposit in southeastern Turkistan, U.S.S.R., near the town of Tyuya Muyun, for which it was named. It occurs there, and at other localities in the region, associated with other secondary uranium minerals, particularly carnotite and torbernite, in fractures in limestones, dolomites, and shales. It is also an important constituent of the deposits in limestone at Grants, New Mexico, and has been identified in the deposits at Big Indian Wash, Utah. Torbernite and Meta-torbernite (CuO*2UO3 *P2O5* nH20; 60 percent U3O8) . Torbernite and meta-torbernite are hydrous copper uranium phosphates, the only difference between the two being the number of water molecules present; their physical properties are identical.

They have a bright emerald color, a pearly luster, hardness of 2-2 1/2 (about the same as the fingernail), and specific gravity of about 3.5 (a little heavier than quartz). They occur in flat, square, translucent crystals which usually fluoresce with a faint green color. Torbernite and meta-torbernite are the most common of the secondary uranium minerals that are found associated with primary deposits where oxidation has occurred. They are common in nearly all such deposits except pegmatites, which usually do not contain the necessary copper to form them. They are most noted for their abundance in the oxidized zones at Shinkolobwe, Joachimsthal, and in the copper-uranium deposits of Utah and Arizona. They have provided a substantial uranium production from the Urgeirica mine and nearby deposits in Portugal and from Marysvale, Utah, and they occur in the oxidized zone at Rum Jungle, Northern Territory, Australia. In addition, they occur with the other secondary uranium minerals in the oxidized secondary deposits whenever copper has been present in the depositing solutions or surrounding rocks.

They are associated with tyuyamunite in Turkistan and with autunite at Bukhova, Bulgaria, and at Mt. Painter, South Australia. The principal non uranium minerals associated with torbernite are the clay minerals, limonite, quartz, pyrite, and the copper sulfides and carbonates. Elsewhere in this book these two minerals will be referred to simply as torbernite, although actually the most common of the two is probably Meta-torbernite. Autunite and Meta-autunite (CaO*2UO3* P2O5* nH2O; 60 percent U308. Reference to the chemical formula will show that these two minerals have the same composition as torbernite, with calcium substituting for copper. Because of this similarity, they are commonly found together, the proportion of torbernite being dependent upon the amount of copper available to the uranium-bearing solutions. In some instances, where copper is completely lacking, only autunite or meta-autunite is formed.

Like torbernite and meta-torbernite, autunite and meta-autunite are identical in their physical properties, the distinction being made on the basis of the number of water molecules present. Also, as in the case of torbernite, meta-autunite is probably the most common. For simplification, however, they will be referred to as autunite. The physical properties of autunite are similar to those of torbernite, except for its color, which is predominantly lemon or sulfur-yellow, although occasionally apple-green, and its brilliant yellow to greenish-yellow fluorescence in ultraviolet light. Autunite has a hardness of 2-2 1/2, is slightly heavier than quartz (specific gravity, 3.1), has a colorless to pale yellow or green streak, and occurs in small square, rectangular, or octagonal flat, translucent crystals or as thin coatings or stains on rock or other mineral surfaces. It is seldom found in large masses but rather as small spots scattered throughout the enclosing rocks. A good autunite exposure is a brilliant sight at night under ultraviolet light, and the inexperienced prospector is apt to overestimate the grade of a deposit seen under those conditions.

Autunite is found in varying amounts in almost all deposits of the other secondary uranium minerals. It is an oxidation product of pitchblende and uraninite and most of the other primary minerals, and may also be derived from some other secondary minerals, like gummite and uranophane. As such it is an important constituent of the oxidized zones at Shinkolobwe and other important primary ore deposits and is a common secondary uranium mineral in most pegmatites. It is present in small amounts in many of the carnotite deposits of the Colorado Plateau area and in larger amounts in the tyuyaunite deposits of Turkistan. The greatest significance of autunite to the prospector lies in the fact that it is the most common uranium mineral in the oxidized secondary deposits in igneous rocks of arid regions, both those related to primary mineralization and those of unknown origin. It is an important constituent of the oxidized ores at Urgeirica, Portugal, and at Marysvale, Utah, and the most prominent mineral in the White Signal, New Mexico, district, at Mt.

Painter, South Australia, and in the numerous low-grade secondary occurrences in the Mojave Desert and at other localities in southern California and Nevada. In addition, it frequently occurs as thin stains on fracture surfaces in granite and pegmatites in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States from Stone Mountain in Georgia to New England. The associated non-uranium minerals are the same as for torbernite, except that the copper minerals may be absent. Uranophane (CaO*2UO3*2SiO2*6H2O; 65 percent U308 Uranophane is a hydrated calcium uranium silicate containing silica in place of the phosphate of autunite. It is slightly lighter in color and somewhat heavier than autunite (specific gravity 3.85) and has a different crystalline form; it may occur as stains or coatings without apparent crystal form or as finely flbrous or radiating crystal aggregates. The origin and occurrence of uranophane are very similar to autunite and torbernite. At least two of these three minerals are almost always found together, in proportions varying with availability of copper and phosphorus, uranophane becoming predominant where these two elements are scarce or absent.

Although it has as broad a geographic occurrence as the other two, uranophane, with a few exceptions, is usually present in smaller quantities. It is an important constituent of the secondary deposits in limestone near Grants, New Mexico, where it earned its reputation as an ore mineral, and in recently discovered deposits in sandstone in southern Carbon County, Wyoming. It is also the most common secondary uranium mineral found in the noncommercial deposits in granite and pegmatites in the eastern United States. Its most noted occurrences of this type are at Stone Mountain, Georgia (granite), and at the Ruggles mine at Grafton, New Hampshire (pegmatite). Schroeckingerite [NaCa3 (UO2) (CO3)3(SO4)F*1OH20; 30 percent U308]. Schroeckingerite is a complex hydrated sulfate, carbonate, and fluoride of calcium, sodium, and uranium. It has a yellow to greenish-yellow color with a pearly luster, a bright yellow-green fluorescence, and a paler yellow or greenish yellow streak.

It is very soft (less than 1 on the hardness scale)1, easily water soluble, and is the lightest of the uranium minerals (specific gravity, 2.5). It occurs as globular coatings on rock fracture surfaces or as small rounded masses composed of aggregates of flaky crystals distributed through soft rocks or soil. Schroeckingerite is the least important of the uranium ore minerals and barely qualifies as such. It is a significant constituent of the secondary ores at Marysvale, Utah, and probably occurs in small amounts in the oxidized zones of most of the important primary deposits. The only known occurrence in which schroeckingerite is the principal mineral is at Lost Creek near Wamsutter, Wyoming. It occurs there as small pellets distributed through clay beds at or near the ground surface over a considerable area to form a low grade uranium deposit that is presently submarginal. In this type of deposit there are no significant associated minerals. 1Apparent hardness-theoretical hardness 2.5. URANINITE & OTHER RADIOACTIVE MINERALS RADIOACTIVE MINERALS HISTORICAL INFORMATION � Dr. Eugene B.

Gross collection It is only by luck and/or good fortune that we have any specimens surviving in collections from the �Uranium rush� era of the 1950�s to early 1960�s. During that period, the United States government encouraged prospecting and mining for Uranium in the Colorado Plateau area, generally including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, as well as parts of Wyoming. Everything radioactive was processed in the name of the �arms race�, i.e., at the time of the cold war with Russia. Unfortunately, the Russians were doing the same at Jachymov, Czechoslovakia and other Central European localities, to get ready for a possible war with the USA. The U.S. government was, at the same time, purchasing quantities of radioactive minerals (mostly Uraninite) from the famous mine at Shinkolobwe and other mining districts in Zaire. Untold numbers of fine examples of Uraninite and other uranium-bearing ore minerals were undoubtedly destroyed in the course of processing the ores from these uranium-rich deposits for defense purposes. Many of the specimens from USA localities, described within the radioactive minerals section of our web site, are from the Eugene B.

Gross collection, and are historical specimens from this mining era. Dr. Gross worked for the Atomic Energy Commission from 1952 - 1958 and was personally responsible for collecting these historically important specimens, and preserving them in his private collection. Other unique radioactive mineral specimens from world wide locations will also be found on the following pages. Get your Geiger counter out and let's go prospecting! Need a Geiger counter? Click Here Scroll to the bottom of this page for links to more radioactive mineral specimens. TO PURCHASE RADIOACTIVE MINERALS, DOWNLOAD LIABILITY WAIVER CLICK HERE , PRINT, SIGN AND FAX, OR EMAIL BACK. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION REGARDING RADIOACTIVE MINERAL SPECIMENS ! ! CLICK HERE DUE TO CURRENT INTERNATIONAL POSTAL REGULATIONS, WE CAN ONLY SHIP RADIOACTIVE MINERALS TO DESTINATIONS LOCATED WITHIN THE U.S.A. = Radioactive Specimen �SYSTEMATIC MINERALOGY OF URANIUM AND THORIUM�, C. Frondel, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin #1064, 400 pages, 6 X 9�, soft cover, 1958.

This comprehensive report covers work done on behalf of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and includes information covering all known uranium and thorium-bearing minerals on a worldwide basis. Included are numerous tables and line drawings, and one b & w photo. Each mineral species is described according to its synonymy, composition, crystallography and crystal habit, physical properties, optical properties, synthesis, identification, natural formation, and occurrence. The descriptive mineralogy is followed by determinative tables in which the mineral species are arranged according to their X-ray powder-diffraction interplanar spacings, chemical composition, optical properties, color, specific gravity, and fluorescence. The work is documented by more than 800 references to the world literature of the past 200 years! This is an absolute �must have� reference for anyone interested in radioactive minerals! Published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1958. Original, new copy, printed in 1958.

Order Item BK-0575 METATORBERNITE Musonoi Mine, near Kolwezi, Shaba Province (Katanga), Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) The basic description for Metatorbernite from this locality is that the mineral forms lustrous, tabular, medium to dark emerald green crystals, often standing up on edge, tightly intergrown, usually with a very rich coverage of intergrown crystals on the surface of the matrix. Metatorbernite is a copper and uranium-bearing phosphate -- a member of the Autunite group. Chemical composition is: Cu2+(UO2)2(PO4)2).8H2O. Not fluorescent. In the past, the Musonoi Mine has produced what are certainly among the finest specimens of Metatorbernite found, worldwide. At the present time, specimens are very difficult to obtain. Most specimens in this group have Metatorbernite only, without associated mineralization, however on a few specimens small amounts of black massive Heterogenite are present.

NOTE: Small specimens have smaller amounts of Metatorbernite crystals, so the overall mR/hr and CPM readings are naturally lower on the small specimens, than the readings given for the larger examples. Pricing is according to the richness of crystallization, and overall specimen size. For background information on this locality see the Katanga! special issue of the "Mineralogical Record" magazine, Vol. 20, No. 4, July-August 1989, P. 274-275, and 286. If you do not have this invaluable reference on the Uranium mines and minerals of the Shaba Province in Zaire, we have copies available for purchase, priced at $25.00 plus shipping. Order item MR20-4. ITEM 2 O Guilleminite is most often found associated with Malachite, Vandenbrandeite, Metatorbernite, and selenium-rich Digenite. Selenium-rich Digenite, also known as selenian Digenite, was first identified from the Musonoi Mine and has yet to be reported from any other uranium mineral bearing deposits, worldwide.

Selenian Digenite is present on items 2374 and 2375 as dark metallic gray-black in color masses, as a constituent of the matrix. Vandenbrandeite is dark green, massive, and can often be visually differentiated from massive Malachite by its very dark �British racing green� color. The associated Malachite is a lighter green in color. Small amounts of micro crystalline Metatorbernite are associated on items 2373 and 2375 only. TYUYAMUNITE Monument #2 Mine, Monument Valley, Apache County, Arizona These examples of bright golden-yellow Tyuyamunite are from the Dr. Eugene B. Gross collection of Uranium-bearing minerals, probably personally collected by Dr. Gross during the early 1960�s. All specimens are of good to exceptional quality for this mineral, from a mine that is now a part of the history of the �Uranium rush� of the late 1950�s to early 1960�s. The gram weights are given solely as a measure of specimen size. Specimens are not priced by the gram.

Items 2502, 2503, and 2504, as well as 1980, 1981, and 1982 are pure Tyuyamunite without matrix. Items 2505 and 2523 through 2535 have varying amounts of rock or sandstone matrix associated. Tyuyamunite is: Ca(UO2)2V2O8.5-8H2O Facts About Radium Facts About Radium By Rachel Ross, Live Science Contributor | October 14, 2016 05:44pm ET MORE Radium was used to make clock faces and hands glow in the dark in the 1900s. Credit: EPA Radium is a highly radioactive element and can be extremely dangerous. However, it was once used in many everyday products, including wristwatches and toothpaste, and thought to have curative properties until its intense radioactivity was found to cause adverse health effects. Radium has an abundance of about 1 part per trillion in the Earth's crust, according to Chemicool .

Trace amounts of radium are found in uranium ore, because radium is created from the decay of the uranium atom, which then into several other unstable elements before finally ending in the element lead. There are several known isotopes of radium, but due to the rapid decay rates of many of the isotopes, it is uncertain about the natural abundances of the radium isotopes.

Just the facts Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 88 Atomic symbol (on the periodic table of elements): Ra Atomic weight (average mass of the atom): 226 Density: 3.2 ounces per cubic inch (5.5 grams per cubic cm) Phase at room temperature: solid Melting point: 1,292 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius) Boiling point: 2,084 F (1,140 C) Number of natural isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons): 33 Most common isotopes: Ra-226 (unknown percent of natural abundance), Ra-223 (unknown percent of natural abundance), Ra-224 (unknown percent of natural abundance), Ra-228 (unknown percent of natural abundance) Radium Credit: Andrei Marincas Shutterstock History Marie and Pierre Curie, Polish and French chemists, discovered radium in 1898, according to New World Encyclopedia . The discovery came from the study of pitchblende (a type of uranium ore) found in Bohemia (today's Czech Republic).

The uranium was removed from the ore and the remains were found to still be radioactive. The radioactive remains were then separated out and when the spectrum was studied, the material was found to be primarily barium with an unknown element. According to Peter van der Krogt , a Dutch historian, the element was named for the Latin word "radius" or "ray" because the radiation emitted from the new element was about 3 million times greater than the radiation from uranium. The Curies were able to extract about 1 milligram of radium from nearly 10 tons of pitchblende, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry . Pure radium was isolated in 1902 by electrolysis by Marie Curie and Andre Debierne, a French chemist, according to New World Encyclopedia . Radium E, known to be bismuth-210, was the first synthetic radioactive element that was created synthetically by scientists at the University of California, according to Time . Who knew? According to Chemicool , radium has an abundance in the Earth's crust about 1 part per trillion by weight. This makes it the 84thmost abundant element in Earth's crust according to Periodic Table .

Radium is the heaviest alkaline earth metal, according to Encyclopedia . The other alkali earth metals include beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium. Radium changes from a silvery white color to black when exposed to air, according to Lenntech due to oxidation. According to Chemicool , the radium isotope that has the longest half-life is radium-226 with a half-life of 1602 years. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry , radium typically enters the body when it is breathed in or swallowed. Health effects from radium exposure include cancer, anemia, cataracts, and death. Radium emits alpha particles (two protons and two neutrons bonded together), beta particles (high energy electrons or positrons), and gamma rays (the most energetic wavelength of light), according to New World Encyclopedia . According to the Royal Society of Chemistry , radium is in the same group as calcium and is sometimes used to target bone cancer. Alpha particles emitted by the radium kills the cancerous cells. Radium is primarily extracted as a byproduct in uranium mining, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Most of the radium comes from uranium mines in Democratic Republic of Congo and Canada. According to Chemistry Explained , radium is extracted today from uranium ores in much the same way that Marie and Pierre Curie did in the late 1890s and early 1900s. According to Periodic Table , radium was used in clocks to paint the numbers and the hands so that they were visible in the dark. This practiced ceased after too many factory workers died from exposure. According to Encyclopedia , radium combines with nearly all non-metals including oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, and nitrogen. A curie (Ci) is a unit that is named for the amount of radiation emitted of a quantity of radionuclides that is equal to one gram of radium, or at a rate of decays at 37 billion disintegrations per second, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission . According to Lenntech , because radium is naturally occurring in small amounts in our environment, we are constantly exposed to small amounts of radiation. There is no evidence that the radium radiation levels are harmful.

Marie and Pierre Curie's laboratory notebooks are still too radioactive due to their work with radium to be handled today, according to the Jefferson Lab . Due to her work with radium, Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics (1903) and the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes (second in 1911), according to Biography . According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory , radium is used to produce radon gas, which is typically used to treat several diseases including cancer. Radium is an unstable element and undergoes several stages of radioactive decay reaching its end product of lead, according to New World Encyclopedia . Current research Radium is often used to treat various forms of cancers. In a study published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine , Isis Gayed and other researchers from Texas discuss treating bony metastases brought on by prostate cancer. The patients were treated with isotope Ra-223 and closely followed through treatments. Several factors were considered and compared before and after treatments including pain levels, PSA , creatinine , and hematological values. The patients that had lower PSA and creatinine levels and higher hemoglobin levels responded better to the radium treatments.

A 2014 article by Ashley Lehman, an American researcher, published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine , discusses how the medication used in the above study, radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo), works. When radium encounters bone, it behaves similarly to calcium and gravitates toward where new bone formation is occurring. The radium in the medication collects in the bony metastatic sites there the damage from alpha particles being emitted by the decaying radium is primarily limited to the surrounding cancerous tissue as the alpha particles only travel short distances. The study concluded that using radium-223 was a promising treatment for those with prostate cancer and that the same treatment was currently being studied with in breast cancer patients who have developed bone metastases. There are several ongoing trials for using radium-223 for breast cancer, including a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial by a group of American researchers, with an abstract published in the American Association for Cancer Research in 2015. The study is aiming to get a total of 227 participants to study the effects and safety of using radium to treat bony metastatic sites caused by breast cancer.

Additional resources Uranium Mining in Utah Uranium Mining in Utah Raye C. Ringholz Utah History Encyclopedia Uranium, a radioactive element, was first mined in the western United States in 1871 by Dr. Richard Pierce, who shipped 200 pounds of pitchblende to London from the Central City Mining District near Denver, Colorado. The ore was researched for fabrication of steel alloys, chemical experimentation and as pigments for dyes, inks and stained glass. In 1898 Pierre and Marie Curie and G. Bemont isolated the "miracle element" radium from pitchblende. That same year, uranium, vanadium and radium were found to exist in carnotite, a mineral containing colorful red and yellow ores that had been used as body paint by early Navajo and Ute Indians on the Colorado Plateau. The discovery triggered a small prospecting boom in southeastern Utah, and radium mines in Grand and San Juan counties became a major source of ore for the Curies. Prior to World War I, radium mining dwindled but a new bonanza was identified in the tailings dumps of the mines.

When it was determined that the discarded vanadium added to molten steel would greatly increase the tensile strength and elasticity of the metal, Utah's vanadium industry flourished. One of the dominant figures in the resultant boom was Howard Balsley of Moab, who sold carnotite ores to Vitro Chemical Corporation of Pittsburgh for medicaments and luminous paint. It wasn't until twenty-five years later, as a result of the atomic age and subsequent arms race of the Cold War, that uranium, previously considered a waste product of the vanadium mines, came into demand as a key element for nuclear weaponry. In the beginning, almost 90 percent of the United States' uranium supply was imported from the Belgian Congo and Canada. But scanty amounts being filtered from abandoned radium and vanadium dumps on the Colorado Plateau gave promise of an untapped domestic source. The Manhattan Project of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, charged with development of an atom bomb to end the war, instituted a covert program to mine uranium from the vanadium dumps and sent geologists to scour the region in search of new lodes. With the end of World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission replaced the Manhattan Project and launched the first federally-sponsored mineral rush in history.

The AEC constructed roads into the back country, promised $10,000 bonuses for new lodes of high-grade ore, guaranteed minimum prices and paid up to $50 per ton on 0.3 percent ore, constructed mills, helped with haulage expenses and posted geologic data on promising areas tracked by federal geologists using airborne scinillometers and other sophisticated radiation detection instruments. The Four Corners area, where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet, suddenly teemed with prospectors in the greatest ore search since the gold fever days of the previous century. Amateurs and experts, alike, followed AEC guidelines and used radiation detectors called Geiger counters to test promising sandstone formations for uranium deposits. Concentrating on exposed outcroppings along canyon rims, they searched primarily for the grayish Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation. When a likely claim was located, they used diamond drills to core test holes to determine if mineable ore was present. In 1952 Charles Augustus Steen, an unemployed oil geologist from Texas, effectively proved there was significant uranium ore on the Colorado Plateau.

Settling his wife and four young sons in a tarpaper shack near Cisco, he took off alone to seek the precious mineral. Unable to afford a geiger counter, he took a broken down drill rig into the back-country, ignored standard uranium-seeking technology, and used oil exploration geology to locate the Mi Vida mine in the Shinarump conglomerate of an area the AEC had deemed barren of ore. What had been ridiculed as "Steen's Folly" resulted in the nation's first big uranium strike in the Big Indian Wash of Lisbon Valley southeast of Moab. Steen's find triggered more. Vernon Pick claimed the Delta Mine northwest of Hanksville, later selling it to international financier Floyd Odlum for nine million dollars and an airplane. Pratt Seegmiller staked the lucrative Freedom and Prospector claims near Marysvale. Joe Cooper and Fletcher Bronson discovered uranium in their played-out Happy Jack copper mine near Monticello and netted over $25 million. Between 1946 and 1959, 309,380 claims were filed in four Utah counties.

A center of activity, the once sleepy farming town of Moab became known as "The Uranium Capitol of the World." By 1955 there were approximately 800 mines producing high-trade ore on the Colorado Plateau. Utah alone had produced approximately nine million tons of ore valued at $25 million by the end of 1962. But then the industry almost came to a standstill. The AEC, now holding ample reserves, announced an eight-year limited program, and finally completely stopped buying uranium in 1970. Private industry triggered a brief second boom when nuclear power plants came on line in the mid-70s, but foreign competition, federal regulations and nuclear fears virtually put an end to domestic uranium mining. During the uranium heyday, the federal government built several buying stations and a number of milling and reduction centers on the Colorado Plateau. Utah's AEC milling facilities were in Salt lake City, Monticello, LaSal, Blanding, and Mexican Hat. In 1957 Steen opened the Uranium Reduction Company, the nation's first large independent uranium mill, in Moab.

Sold to Floyd Odlum's Atlas Corporation in 1962, the facility shut down in 1984. The federal mills were sold to private industry and finally disbanded. Uranium excitement was not limited to the redrock desert. In the 1950s and 1960s, Salt lake City became known as the "Wall Street of Uranium Stocks." Triggered by a promoter named Jay Walters, Jr., a mania for buying penny stocks to finance developing uranium mines swept the country. The first offering was sold in 1953; by the end of 1954, eighty-one uranium firms were listed with the Utah Securities Commission. Housewives, schoolteachers, auto mechanics and insurance executives stood in line to buy certificates to finance large corporations such as Uranium Corporation of America, Standard Uranium, Federal, and Lisbon, and scores of false claims that didn't have a whiff of ore. Utah's fabled uranium boom was not without tragedy. From the Manhattan Project days, health scientists warned that radiation in the mines was a danger to miners.

Medical literature dating as early as the sixteenth century documented cancer deaths claiming a high percentage of radium miners in the Erz Mountains of Germany and Czechoslovakia. But neither the AEC, state governments, nor the mining companies would take responsibility to regulate ventilation and safety practices. It was not until hundreds of uranium miners in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and new Mexico had succumbed to lung cancer that safe levels of radiation were finally imposed. And not until 1989, after years of furtive court battles, that the United States Congress passed legislation to financially compensate radiation victims. Although uranium mining in Utah and other western states has ceased, experts indicate that there is still substantial ore deep underground. Should demand for nuclear power revive and the market become viable, the Colorado Plateau may once again teem with the mines and mills of the atomic years. Uranium miner near Moab, 1918 Uranium miners Uranium miners See: Raye C. Ringholz, Uranium Frenzy, Boom and Bust on the Colorado Plateau (1989), and Raymond W. Taylor and Samuel W. Taylor, Uranium Fever, or No talk Under $1 Million (1970). Raye C.

Ringholz Update: Since this article was published in the Utah History Encyclopedia in 1994, uranium mining has resumed in San Juan County. The following information was submitted by a reader: First uranium from Daneros mine milled at White Mesa mill: On Jan. 24, 2011, White Canyon Uranium Limited announced that 39,289 tons (35,635 tonnes) of ore was milled at the White Mesa Mill over the period Nov. 1, 2010 to Dec. 10, 2010. The ore with an average grade of 0.28% U3O8 (0.24% U) yielded 204,450 pounds of U3O8 (78.6 t U) at a recovery rate of 94.06%. There are currently a handful of applications and permits submitted for uranium mining in Utah. Radioactive deposits in California Radioactive deposits in California Trace Elements Investigations 229 This report concerns work done on behalf of the Division of Raw Materials of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

By: Download citation as: RIS Abstract Reconnaissance examination by Government geologists of many areas, mine properties, and prospects in California during the period between 1948 and 1953 has confirmed the presence of radioactive materials in place at more than 40 localities. Abnormal radioactivity at these localities is due to concentrations of primary and secondary uranium minerals, to radon gas, radium (?), and to thorium minerals. Of the known occurrences only three were thought to contain uranium oxide (uranitite or pitchblende), 4 contained uranium-bearing columbate, tantalate, or titanate minerals, 12 contained secondary uranium minerals, such as autunite, carnotite, and torbernite, one contained radon gas, 7 contained thorium minerals, and, at the remaining 16 localities, the source of the anomalous radiation was not positively determined. The occurrences in which uranium oxide has been tentatively identified include the Rathgeb mine (Calaveras County), the Yerih group of claims (San Bernardino County), and the Rainbow claim (Madera County).

Occurrences of secondary uranium minerals are largely confined to the arid desert regions of south-eastern California including deposits in San Bernardino, Kern, Inyo, and Imperial Counties. Uranium-bearing columbate, tantalate, or titanate minerals have been reported from pegmatite and granitic rock in southeastern and eastern California. Thorium minerals have been found in vein deposits in eastern San Bernardino County and from pegmatites and granitic rocks in various parts of southeastern California; placer concentrations of thorium minerals are known from nearly all areas in the State that are underlain, in part, by plutonic crystalline rocks. The primary uranium minerals occur principally as minute accessory crystals in pegmatite or granitic rock, or with base-metal sulfide minerals in veins. Thorium minerals also occur as accessory crystals in pegmatite or granitic rock, in placer deposits derived from such rock, and, at Mountain Pass, in veins containing rare earths. Secondary uranium minerals have been found as fracture coatings and as disseminations in various types of wall rock, although they are largely confined to areas of Tertiary volcanic rocks.

Probably the uranium in the uraniferous deposits in California is related genetically to felsic crystalline rocks and felsic volcanic rocks; the present distribution of the secondary uranium minerals has been controlled, in part, by circulating ground waters and probably, in part, by magmatic waters related to the Tertiary volcanic activity. The thorium minerals are genetically related to the intrusion of pegmatite and plutonic crystalline rocks. None of the known deposits of radioactive minerals in California contain marketable reserves of uranium or thorium ore under economic conditions existing in 1952. With a favorable local market small lots of uranium ore may be available in the following places: the Rosamund prospect, the Rafferty and Chilson properties, the Lucky Star claim, and the Yerih group. The commercial production of thorium minerals will be possible, in the near future, only if these minerals can be recovered cheaply as a byproduct either from the mining of rare earths minerals at Mountain Pass or as a byproduct of placer mining for gold. Study Area

Question: What is the black mineral that is the source of uranium and radium
Answer: Pitchblende