CURITE

    Class : Oxides and hydroxides
    Subclass : Uranyl hydroxides
    Crystal system : Orthorhombic
    Chemistry : Pb3(UO2)8O8(OH)6 3H2O
    Rarity : Rare

Curite is one of seven currently known mixed oxides of lead and uranium. They are secondary minerals present in the oxidation zone of uranium deposits where they derive from the alteration of pitchblende. Curite is, with fourmarierite, one of the main "orange gummites", clearly recognizable in the alteration rings of the pitchblende. Its name is dedicated to the French physicist Pierre Curie, professor at the Sorbonne and known for his research on radioactivity, Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 with his wife Marie Curie. Curite occurs in acicular crystals of 5 mm or less, with a strong adamantine luster, in microcrystals, in powdery coatings, or in compact cryptocrystalline masses, orange to orange-red in color. it can completely replace uraninite crystals (pseudomorph). It is a very incidental uranium ore.

Main photo : Curite of Shinkolobwe, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo © Elmar Lackner

Curite of Shinkolobwe, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo © Jason B. Smith
Curite of Shinkolobwe, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo © Paul de Bondt
Curite of Shinkolobwe, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo © Uwe Haubenreisser
Curite from Alligator River, Australia © Matteo Chinelatto

Curite in the World

Curite was discovered in abundance in the oxidation zone of the Congolese deposit of Shinkolobwe (Katanga), which provided the most beautiful crystals known, and in the neighboring deposit of Musonoï. it is also present in deposits in northern Australia (Koongarra, Nabarlek), Canada (Port Radium, North-West Territory), and in the uraninite pegmatites of Germany (Wölsendorf) and Madagascar (Malakialina).

Curite in France

In France, curite was one of the major constituents of "orange gummites", exploited in the veins of Crouzille (Haute-Vienne), it is also reported at Margnac (Haute-Vienne), at Montebras (Creuse), at Kerségalec and Quistiav (Morbihan) as well as in the pitchblendes of the Thiers region (Puy-de-Dôme).

Twinning

No known twin for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fakes listed for this mineral species.


Hardness : 4 to 5
Density : 6.98 to 7.4
Fracture : Underterminated
Streak : Orange

TP : Translucent to transparent
RI : 2.060 to 2.150
Birefringence : 0.090
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : Visible
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Acids


Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : Very strong