Soddyite
Mineral (UO2)2SiO4·2H2O
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-yellow dipyramids and crusts of uranyl silicate, heavy and radioactive; best from Shinkolobwe in Katanga, Congo. Named for the chemist Frederick Soddy.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Silicate (nesosilicate), soddyite group
- Formula
- (UO2)2SiO4·2H2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 3.5
- Specific gravity
- 4.63–4.7
- Streak
- pale yellow
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy), adamantine (diamond-like)
- Crystal system
- Orthorhombic
- Colours
- amber, yellow, greenish yellow
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- perfect in one direction
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.