Urancalcarite Mineral Data

Urancalcarite Mineral Data +

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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.

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

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ 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

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:

r_electron=3.52 gm/cc
note: r_{Urancalcarite}=4.10 gm/cc.

Fermion Index

Fermion Index = 0.00512
Boson Index = 0.99488

Photoelectric:

PE_{Urancalcarite}=1,769.23 barns/electron
U=PE_{Urancalcarite} x r_electron=6,231.61 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 4,904,035.42 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)

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 Bequerols (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	119,878,341	3.24E-03	4,904,035.42	1,612.29
100 gm / 3.60 cm	11,987,834	3.24E-04	490,403.54	161.23
10 gm / 1.67 cm	1,198,783	3.24E-05	49,040.35	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.5.2.1 (16b)Carbonates - Hydroxyl or Halogen

(16b.5)with miscellaneous formulae

(16b.5.2)Dana Group

16b.5.2.1 Urancalcarite Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6·3(H2O) Pbnm,Pbn21 Ortho

Strunz Class:

V/F.04-10 V - Nitrates, Carbonates and Borates

V/F - Uranylcarbonates ([UO2]4+ - [CO3]2-)

V/F.04 - Urancalcarite - Albrechtschraufite series

V/F.04-10 Urancalcarite Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6·3(H2O) Pbnm,Pbn21 Ortho

V/F.04-20 Sharpite Ca(UO2)6(CO3)5(OH)4·6(H2O) Unk Ortho

V/F.04-30 Rabbittite Ca3Mg3(UO2)2(CO3)6(OH)4·18(H2O) Unk Mono

V/F.04-40 Albrechtschraufite Ca4Mg(UO2)2(CO3)6F2·17(H2O) P1 1

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 -Google Images 5 -Google Scholar 6 -Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA) 7 -MinDAT 8 -MinMax(Deutsch) 9 -MinMax(English) 10 -Mineralienatlas (Deutsch) 11 -QUT Mineral Atlas 12 - Uranium Minerals 13 -École des Mines de Paris

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Urancalcarite

Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6·3(H2O)
Dana No: 16b.5.2.1 Strunz No: V/F.04-10
Locality:

Notes: