Uranophane
Mineral Ca(UO2)2(SiO3OH)2·5H2O
Also called Uranotile
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
Lemon-yellow tufts of tiny needles, the commonest uranyl silicate, formed where uraninite weathers; Shinkolobwe, Congo, and uranium mines of the American Southwest.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Silicate (nesosilicate), uranophane group
- Formula
- Ca(UO2)2(SiO3OH)2·5H2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 2.5–3
- Specific gravity
- 3.81–3.9
- Streak
- pale yellow
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy), pearly, waxy
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Colours
- lemon yellow, straw yellow, honey brown, greenish yellow
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- perfect in one direction
- Under UV light
- sometimes weak green under UV
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.