Curienite - Encyclopedia
Class : Phosphates, arsenates, vanadates
Subclass : Uranyl vanadates
Crystal system : Orthorhombic
Chemistry : Pb(UO2)2(VO4)2 5H2O
Rarity : Very rare
Curienite is an extremely rare vanadate of uranium and lead which is only known exclusively in cryptocrystalline or powdery coatings of lemon yellow color on the crystals of francevillite, a mineral with which it forms a continuous series, the barium then replacing the lead . Its name was given to it in honor of Hubert Curien, French mineralogist and crystallographer at the CNRS and the Mineralogy and Crystallography Laboratory of the Pierre and Marie Curie University (Sorbonne). It is of course highly radioactive and is found in the surface oxidation zones of uranium deposits.
Main photo : Curienite from Mounana Mine, Gabon © Michel Arliguie
Curienite in the World
Twinning
No known twin due to the absence of automorphic crystals but powdery coatings can partially cover fossils, this is the case at the Akashat mine in Iraq.
Fakes and treatments
No fakes listed for this mineral species.
Hardness : 3
Density : 4.88
Fracture : Powdery
Streak : Yellow
TP : Translucent
RI : -
Birefringence : -
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None
Solubility : -
Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : Strong