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:

Orthorhombic Space 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
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 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	119,878,358	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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Urancalcarite

Ca(UO2)3(CO3)(OH)6•3(H2O)
Dana No: 16b.05.02.01 Strunz No: 05.EA.10
Locality:

Notes:

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