MARTHOZITE

    Class : Oxides and hydroxides
    Subclass : Uranyl selenites
    Crystal system : Orthorhombic
    Chemistry : Cu(UO2)3(SeO3)3(OH)2 7H2O
    Rarity : Uncommon

The appearance of marthozite and other uranium selenites requires the joint presence of sufficient quantities of selenium and uranium in a deposit. These conditions are only met exceptionally, which explains the great rarity of these minerals, of which there are only four (guilleminite, demesmaekerite, derriksite and marthozite). It was named in honor of Aimé Marthoz, Director General of the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga. Marthozite forms millimetric crystals flattened according to (100) often trapezoidal, from green-yellow to greenish brown. The face (001) is striped parallel to [001].

Main photo : Marthozite from Musonoi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo © Joachim Esche

Marthozite from Musonoi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo © Stephan Wolfsried
Marthozite from Musonoi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo © Brent Thorne
Marthozite from Musonoi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo © Luc Vandenberghe
Marthozite from Musonoi, Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo © Joy Desor

Marthozite in the World

Marthozite is only found almost exclusively in the oxidation zone of the copper and cobalt deposit (with accessory uranium) of Musonoï (Democratic Republic of Congo). It has also been reported on the uranium deposit of La Creusaz (Switzerland) as well as in Peña Negra (Argentina).

Marthozite in France

Marthozite is not known in the French underground.

Twinning

No twins known for this mineral species

Fakes and treatments

No fakes recorded for this mineral species.


Hardness : Undetermined
Density : 4.4
Fracture : Undetermined
Streak : Undetermined

TP : Translucent
RI : Undetermined
Birefringence : Undetermined
Optical character : Biaxial -
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : Aqua regia

Magnetism : NoneRadioactivity : Very strong

ReCaptcha

This service is used to secure web forms of our website and required if you want to contact us. By accepting it you agree to Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a service used on our website that tracks, reports traffic and measures how users interact with our website content in order for us to improve it and provide better services.

Facebook

Our website allows you to like or share its content on Facebook social network. By activating and using it you agree to Facebook's privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy/cookies/

YouTube

Integrated videos provided by YouTube are used on our website. By accepting to watch them you agree to Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Twitter

Integrated tweets and share services of Twitter are used on our website. By accepting and using these you agree to Twitter's privacy policy: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies

PInterest

Our website allows you to share its content on PInterest social network. By activating and using it you agree to PInterest's privacy policy: https://policy.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy/