Urancalcarite Mineral Data

General Urancalcarite Information

Chemical Formula: Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6•3(H2O) Composition: Molecular Weight = 1,066.26 gm    Calcium    3.76 %  Ca    5.26 % CaO    Uranium   66.97 %  U    75.97 % UO₂    Hydrogen   1.13 %  H    10.14 % H₂O    Carbon     1.13 %  C     4.13 % CO₂    Oxygen    27.01 %  O             ______        ______              100.00 %       95.50 % = TOTAL OXIDE Empirical Formula: Ca(UO₂)₃(CO₃)(OH)₆•3(H₂O) Environment: Found on uraninite. IMA Status: Approved IMA 1983 Locality: Shinkolbwe, Shaba, Zaire. Link to MinDat.org Location Data. Name Origin: Named for the composition. Name Pronunciation: Urancalcarite + Pronunciation  

Urancalcarite Image

Images:

Urancalcarite Comments: Bright yellow earthy spots composed of micro acicular urancalcarite crystals associated with rusty browm huemulite. Location: Huemul mine, Malargue, Mendoza, Argentina. Scale: Picture size 1.5 cm. © Tom Loomis / Dakota Matrix

Urancalcarite Crystallography

Axial Ratios: a:b:c =0.9589:1:0.4334 Cell Dimensions: a = 15.42, b = 16.08, c = 6.97, Z = 4; V = 1,728.24 Den(Calc)= 4.10 Crystal System: OrthorhombicSpace Group: Pbnm,Pbn21 X Ray Diffraction: By Intensity(I/I_o): 8.06(1), 4.02(0.8), 3.488(0.7),  

Physical Properties of Urancalcarite

Cleavage: None Color: Bright yellow. Density: 4.03 Habit: Acicular - Occurs as needle-like crystals. Habit: Aggregates - Made of numerous individual crystals or clusters. Habit: Radial - Crystals radiate from a center without producing stellar forms (e.g. stibnite) Hardness: 2-3 - Gypsum-Calcite Streak: light yellow  

Optical Properties of Urancalcarite

Gladstone-Dale: CI meas= -0.339 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.316 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1714,KPDmeas= 0.1744,KC= 0.1302
Ncalc = 1.52 - 1.53 Optical Data: Biaxial (-), a=1.66, b=1.712, g=1.736, bire=0.0760, 2V(Calc)=66, 2V(Meas)=67.  

Calculated Properties of Urancalcarite

Electron Density: Bulk Density (Electron Density)=3.52 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Urancalcarite =4.10 gm/cc.
Fermion Index: Fermion Index = 0.0051279226
Boson Index = 0.9948720774 Photoelectric: PE_{Urancalcarite} =1,769.23 barns/electron
U=PE_{Urancalcarite} x r_electron=6,231.61 barns/cc.
Radioactivity:

GRapi = 4,904,037.40 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Urancalcarite per GRapi unit = 203.91 (PPB)

Urancalcarite is Radioactive as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. Greater than 70 Bq / gram.

Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 10 cm box) 6.20 ± 1.55 grams of pure Urancalcarite .
Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 100 cm box) 620.24 ±155.06 grams of pure Urancalcarite .

Estimated Radioactivity from Urancalcarite - very strong

Specimen Size Weight/Volume (Sphere) *	Calculated Activity Becquerels (Bq)	Calculated Activity Curies (Ci)	Estimated Activity GR(api)	Estimated Exposure (mRem**)/hr If Held in Hand For One Hour
1000 gm / 7.75 cm	119,878,358	3.24E-03	4,904,037.40	1,612.29
100 gm / 3.60 cm	11,987,836	3.24E-04	490,403.74	161.23
10 gm / 1.67 cm	1,198,784	3.24E-05	49,040.37	16.12
1 gm / 7.75 mm	119,878	3.24E-06	4,904.04	1.61
0.1 gm / 3.60 mm	11,988	3.24E-07	490.40	0.16
0.01 gm / 1.67 mm	1,199	3.24E-08	49.04	0.02
0.001 gm / 0.78 mm	120	3.24E-09	4.90	0.00

Weight of pure Urancalcarite in grams (gm) and Calculated Diameter of a Sphere with a Density of 4.10 gm/cc.*
Goverment Estimate of Average Annual Exposure ( 360 mRem) **
Note: 10 microsieverts/hr = 1 mRem/hr **
Max Permissable Adult Dose 50,000 mRem/yr (hands), 15,000 mRem/yr (eyes)
Lethal Dose LD(50) Exposure 400,000 to 500,000 mRem

 

Urancalcarite Classification

Dana Class: 16b.05.02.01 (16b)Carbonates - Hydroxyl or Halogen   (16b.05)with miscellaneous formulae   (16b.05.02)Dana Group  

16b.05.02.01 Urancalcarite Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6•3(H2O) Pbnm,Pbn21 Ortho

Strunz Class: 05.EA.10 05 - CARBONATES (NITRATES)   05.E - Uranyl Carbonates   05.EA -UO2:CO3 > 1:1  

05.EA.10 Urancalcarite Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6•3(H2O) Pbnm,Pbn21 Ortho

 

Other Urancalcarite Information

References: NAME( Dana8) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) See Also: Links to other databases for Urancalcarite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - Uranium Minerals
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