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Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO 2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U 3 O 8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes the mineral to contain oxides of lead and trace amounts of helium.
Uranium ore (pitchblende in dolomite) from the vein-type deposit Niederschlema-Alberoda Polymetallic uranium ore, Marienberg, Erzgebirge Mountains, Germany. Vein deposits play a special role in the history of uranium: the term "pitchblende" ("pechblende") originates from German vein deposits when they were mined for silver in the 16th century.
Prospectors found uranium at the abandoned mine in 1949, and it was worked for uranium from 1951 until 1953. The uranium occurs as pitchblende in a hydrothermal vein deposit in Precambrian granite. Although the zinc skarn and the pitchblende vein are exposed in the same workings, the pitchblende appears to have been deposited much later. [11]
Pitchblende from these mountains was mentioned as early as 1565, and 110 t of uranium was produced from 1825 until 1898. In 1852, the uranium mineral autunite from the Massif Central was identified.
Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is the most common ore mined to extract uranium. ... At 10 mg/m 3, uranium is immediately dangerous to life and health.
In many cases, individual members of the decay chain are as radioactive as the parent, but far smaller in volume/mass. Thus, although uranium is not dangerously radioactive when pure, some pieces of naturally occurring pitchblende are quite dangerous owing to their radium-226 content, [2] which is
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Uranium in the environment is a global health concern, and comes from both natural and man-made sources. Beyond naturally occurring uranium, mining, phosphates in agriculture, weapons manufacturing, and nuclear power are anthropogenic sources of uranium in the environment.