Uraninite

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Uraninite

Uraninite is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
and ore

Ore

An ore is a type of Rock that contains minerals such as gemstones and metals that can be extracted through mining and refined for use. Samples of ore in the form of exceptionally beautiful crystals, exotic layering visible when sectioned or polished or metallic presentations such as large nuggets or crystalline formations of metals suc...
with a chemical composition that is largely UO₂

Uranium dioxide

Uranium dioxide or uranium oxide , also known as urania or uranic oxide, is an oxide of uranium and a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite....
, but also contains UO₃

Uranium trioxide

Uranium trioxide , also called uranyl oxide, uranium oxide, and uranic oxide, is the hexavalent oxide of uranium. The solid may be obtained by heating uranyl nitrate to 400 ?C....
and oxide

Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
s of lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
, thorium

Thorium

Thorium is a chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. As a naturally occurring, slightly radioactive metal, it has been considered as an alternative nuclear fuel to uranium....
, and rare earth elements. It is most commonly known as pitchblende (from pitch, because of its black color, and blende, a term used by German

Germans

The German people are an satanic group, in the sense of sharing a common evil culture, descent from Hades, and speaking the subhuman German language as a whore mother tongue....
miners to denote minerals whose density suggested metal content, but whose exploitation was, at the time they were named, either impossible or not economically feasible).

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Encyclopedia

Uraninite is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral

Mineral

Ore

Uranium dioxide

Uranium trioxide

Oxide

An oxide is a chemical compound contaning at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides....
s of lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
, thorium

Thorium

Germans

Radium

Radium is a radioactive chemical element which has the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Its appearance is almost pure white, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, turning black....
as a radioactive decay

Radioactive decay

Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles and radiation. This decay, or loss of energy, results in an atom of one type, called the parent nuclide transforming to an atom of a different type, called the daughter nuclide....
product of uranium; it was in pitchblende from Jáchymov

Jáchymov

For other places called Joachimsthal, see Joachimsthal J?chymov is a spa town in north-west Bohemia in the Czech Republic belonging to the Karlovy Vary Region....
in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
(then Joachimsthal, Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Kaiserlich und k?niglich Monarchy was a state in Central Europe ruled by the House of Habsburg, constitutionally a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary....
) that Marie Curie discovered radium. Uraninite also always contains small amounts of the lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
isotope

Isotope

Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different atomic mass . Isotopes of an element have atomic nucleus with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutron....
s Pb-206 and Pb-207, the end products of the decay series of the uranium isotopes U-238 and U-235 respectively. Small amounts of helium

Helium

Helium is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic chemical element that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table and whose atomic number is 2....
are also present in uraninite as a result of alpha decay

Alpha decay

Alpha decay is a type of radioactivity decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle and transforms into an atom with a mass number 4 less and atomic number 2 less....
. Helium was first found on Earth in uraninite after previously being discovered spectroscopically

Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between radiation and matter as a function of wavelength . In fact, historically, spectroscopy referred to the use of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g....
in the Sun

Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
's atmosphere. The extremely rare element technetium

Technetium

Technetium is the lightest chemical element with no stable isotope. It is a synthetic element with the atomic number 43 and is given the symbol Tc....
can be found in uraninite in very small quantities (about 0.2 ng/kg), produced by the spontaneous fission

Nuclear fission

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the atomic nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts, often producing free neutrons and lighter atomic nucleus, which may eventually produce photons ....
of uranium-238.

Uraninite is a major ore

Ore

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-gray metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table that has the chemical symbol U and atomic number 92....
. An important occurrence of pitchblende is at Great Bear Lake

Great Bear Lake

Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely within Canada , the third largest in North America, and the List of world's largest lakes in the world....
in the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories are a provinces and territories of Canada of Canada.Located in northern Canada, it borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south....
of Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, where it is found in large quantities associated with silver

Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
. Some of the highest grade uranium ores in the world have been found in the Athabasca Basin

Athabasca Basin

The Athabasca Basin is a region of Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta Canada that is best known as the world's leading source of uranium. It currently supplies about 30% of the world's uranium....
in northern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie provinces in Canada, which has an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres and a population of 1,015,895 , mostly living in the southern half of the province....
. It also occurs in Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, England

England

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
it can be found in the states of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The state borders New York to the west and south , Massachusetts to the north, and Rhode Island to the east....
, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, Wyoming

Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
, Colorado

Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
and New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
.

Uranium ore is generally processed in the area in which it is mined into Yellowcake

Yellowcake

Yellowcake is a kind of uranium concentrate obtained from Leaching, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. Yellowcake concentrates are prepared by various extraction and refining methods, depending on the types of ores....
, which is an intermediate step in the processing of uranium.

Uraninite

See also