Carnotite
Mineral K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O
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
Powdery canary-yellow coatings on sandstone and fossil wood, once mined for uranium, vanadium, and radium on the Colorado Plateau. Not fluorescent, which helps tell it from autunite; radioactive.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Vanadate, carnotite group (uranyl)
- Formula
- K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 2
- Specific gravity
- 4.7–5
- Streak
- yellow
- Lustre
- earthy, dull, pearly
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Colours
- bright yellow, canary yellow, greenish yellow
- Transparency
- opaque, translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- perfect in one direction, seen only in rare crystals
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.