Uranopilite

{{Short description|Minor ore of uranium}} {{Infobox mineral | name = Uranopilite | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = Uranopilit mit Fluoreszenz1.jpg | imagesize = 260 | alt = | caption = Uranopilite with Fluorescence - Exposed in the Mineralogical Museum, Bonn, Germany | category = Sulfate minerals | formula = (UO₂)₆SO₄(OH)₆O₂·14H₂O | IMAsymbol = Up<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}</ref> | molweight = | strunz = 7.EA.05 | dana = | system = Triclinic | class = Pinacoidal ({{overline|1}}) <br/><small>(same H-M symbol)</small> | symmetry = ''P''{{overline|1}} | unit cell = | color = | colour = | habit = | twinning = | cleavage = | fracture = | tenacity = | mohs = | luster = | streak = | diaphaneity = | gravity = | density = | polish = | opticalprop = | refractive = | birefringence = | pleochroism = | 2V = | dispersion = | extinction = | length fast/slow = | fluorescence = | absorption = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | impurities = | alteration = | other = 25px Radioactive | prop1 = | prop1text = | references = <ref>http://www.mindat.org/min-4108.html Mindat</ref><ref>https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Uranopilite Mineralienatlas</ref> }} '''Uranopilite''' is a minor ore of uranium with the chemistry (UO₂)₆SO₄(OH)₆O₂·14H₂O or, hydrated uranyl sulfate hydroxide.

As with many uranyl minerals, it is fluorescent and radioactive. It is straw yellow in normal light. Uranopilite fluoresces a bright green under ultraviolet light. Uranopilite contains clusters of six uranyl pentagonal bipyramids that share equatorial edges and vertices, with the clusters cross-linked to form chains by sharing vertices with sulfate tetrahedra. In uranopilite, the chains are linked directly by hydrogen bonds, as well as to interstitial H₂O groups.

Uranopilite is associated with other uranyl minerals such as zippeite and johannite and, like them, is usually found as an efflorescent crust in uranium mines.

Notable occurrences include:

* Wheal Owles, Cornwall, England * San Juan County, Utah, US * Northwest Territories, Canada * Bohemian region of Europe

== See also == * Uranyl sulfate * List of minerals

== References == {{reflist}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060903223841/http://burgaz.mit.edu/PUBLICATIONS/PDF/pssc-30-1-2002.pdf Progress in Solid State Chemistry] * [http://un2sg4.unige.ch/athena/cgi-bin/minfich?s=METAURANOPILITE ATHENA MINERAL: Mineral Data] {{Commons category|Uranopilite}}

Category:Uranium(VI) minerals Category:Sulfate minerals Category:Triclinic minerals Category:Minerals in space group 2

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