Becquerelite
Mineral Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6·8H2O
Take care.
- Radioactive: Keep it in a closed, labelled box away from where people sit or sleep, handle it briefly, wash your hands after, and never grind or cut it.
About it
Amber to lemon-yellow tabular crystals that form as uraninite weathers. Radioactive; named for physicist Henri Becquerel, and best known from Shinkolobwe, DR Congo.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Hydroxide (uranyl oxide hydrate)
- Formula
- Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6·8H2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 2.5
- Specific gravity
- 5.1–5.2
- Streak
- yellow
- Lustre
- adamantine (diamond-like), resinous
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Colours
- amber, golden yellow, lemon yellow, brownish yellow
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- perfect in one direction
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.