Hot Stuff - A Uranium Phosphate...

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crocoite
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Hot Stuff - A Uranium Phosphate...

Post by crocoite »

Hi all

Been doing a bit more mineral photography and this one I think is particularly nice. It's a specimen of torbernite, a copper uranium phosphate, from a granite quarry at Lake Boga, Victoria, Australia. It would set off a Geiger counter ok.

Image

Field of view is 2mm. Camera Sony DSC-P150 through Olympus microscope.
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Steve

Look at everything everyday. No, really. Look at EVERYTHING EVERYDAY.
The Real Meaning of Life!

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Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Wow, that little thing is radioactive! Awesome! Can it be refined and enriched I wonder, is it fissionable? Nice photograph. :D I know little about such things but I find those that might possibly have nuclear applications quite interesting. Harry Truman did too! :wink:
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Reposts of my images within the galleries are welcome, as are constructive critical critiques.

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crocoite
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Post by crocoite »

Thanks Ken

You could do all of that if you had enough of the stuff. It's usually the primary uranium minerals that are mined though, not secondary ones like this one. This locality doesn't have any where near enough. I did come across an interesting magazine article once (from the 1960s) that talked about the roads nearby being "hot". The quarry material is primarily for road base.

Regards
Steve
Regards
Steve

Look at everything everyday. No, really. Look at EVERYTHING EVERYDAY.
The Real Meaning of Life!

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