Vandenbrandeite Mineral Data

[Newest Minerals] [Mineral Auctions] [Mineral Gallery]
The Mineral Gallery's Exceptional Specimens and Mineral Hall of Fame
Visa, PayPal, and Mastercard are Welcomed

General Vandenbrandeite Information

Chemical Formula:

Cu(UO2)(OH)4

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 401.60 gm

Uranium 59.27 % U 67.24 % UO₂

Copper 15.82 % Cu 19.81 % CuO

Hydrogen 1.00 % H 8.97 % H₂O

Oxygen 23.90 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 96.02 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Cu(UO₂)(OH)₄

Environment:

Secondary mineral on pitchblende ores.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1932

Locality:

Kalonqwe, Shaba, Zaire. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for Pierre van den Brande (1896-1957), Belgian geologist who discovered the ore deposit at Kalongwe, Zaire.

Name Pronunciation:

Vandenbrandeite + Pronunciation

Synonym:

ICSD 1041

PDF 8-325

Vandenbrandeite Image

Images:

Vandenbrandeite

Comments: Cluster of deep greenish black crystals of vandenbrandeite to 2 mm.
Location: Musonoi Mine, Katanga, Dem. Rep. of the Congo. Scale: Picture size 1.5 cm.
© John Veevaert

Images:

Vandenbrandeite

Comments: Dark green vandenbrandeite crystal showing termination details.
Location: Musonoi Mine, Kolwezi, Western area, Shaba Cu belt, Shaba (Katanga), Congo (Zaïre). Scale: Picture size 3.5 cm.
© Paul M. Schumacher

Vandenbrandeite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =1.4448:1:1.1213

Cell Dimensions:

a = 7.86, b = 5.44, c = 6.1, Z = 2; alpha = 91.87°, beta = 102°, gamma = 89.92° V = 254.99 Den(Calc)= 5.23

Crystal System:

Triclinic - PinacoidalH-M Symbol ( 1) Space Group: P1

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 4.44(1), 5.26(0.9), 2.97(0.8),

Forms:

Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above

Forms: ( 1 1 0) ( 1 0 0) ( 0 0 1)

Warning: this large pop-up is very compute intensive and may not work well with some computers.

Crystal Structure:

Mouse
drag1 - LMB Manipulate Structure
drag2 - RMB Resize/Rotate
Keyboard
S - Stereo Pair on/off
H - Help Screen
I - Data Info
A - Atoms On/Off
P - Polyhedra On/Off
B - Bonds On/Off
Help on Above

Rosenzweig A , Ryan R R , Crystal Structure Communications , 6 (1977) p.53-56, Vandenbrandeite CuUO2(OH)4, Locality: Musonoi Mine, Kolwezi, Katanga, Zaire

Physical Properties of Vandenbrandeite

Cleavage:

{110} Perfect

Color:

Dark green, Black green.

Density:

5.08

Diaphaneity:

Transparent to Translucent

Habit:

Scaly - Morphology like fish scales.

Habit:

Tabular - Form dimensions are thin in one direction.

Hardness:

4 - Fluorite

Luminescence:

Non-fluorescent and radioactive.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

green

Optical Properties of Vandenbrandeite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.177 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.143 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1502,KPDmeas= 0.1547,KC= 0.1314
Ncalc = 1.67 - 1.69

Optical Data:

Biaxial (-), a=1.765, b=1.792, g=1.8, bire=0.0350, 2V(Calc)=56, 2V(Meas)=90. Dispersion strong.

Pleochroism (x):

blue green.

Pleochroism (z):

yellow green.

Calculated Properties of Vandenbrandeite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=4.51 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Vandenbrandeite =5.23 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.0043836596
Boson Index = 0.9956163404

Photoelectric:

PE_{Vandenbrandeite}=1,568.53 barns/electron
U=PE_{Vandenbrandeite} x r_electron=7,067.61 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 4,352,567.33 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Vandenbrandeite per GRapi unit = 229.75 (PPB)

Vandenbrandeite is Radioactive as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. Greater than 70 Bq / gram.

Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 10 cm box) 6.99 ± 1.75 grams of pure Vandenbrandeite .
Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 100 cm box) 698.82 ±174.71 grams of pure Vandenbrandeite .

**Estimated Radioactivity from Vandenbrandeite** - very strong
Specimen Size Weight/Volume (Sphere) *	Calculated Activity Becquerels (Bq)	Calculated Activity Curies (Ci)	Estimated Activity GR(api)	Estimated Exposure (mRem**)/hr If Held in Hand For One Hour
1000 gm / 7.15 cm	106,092,750	2.87E-03	4,352,567.33	1,430.98
100 gm / 3.32 cm	10,609,275	2.87E-04	435,256.73	143.10
10 gm / 1.54 cm	1,060,928	2.87E-05	43,525.67	14.31
1 gm / 7.15 mm	106,093	2.87E-06	4,352.57	1.43
0.1 gm / 3.32 mm	10,609	2.87E-07	435.26	0.14
0.01 gm / 1.54 mm	1,061	2.87E-08	43.53	0.01
0.001 gm / 0.71 mm	106	2.87E-09	4.35	0.00

Weight of pure Vandenbrandeite in grams (gm) and Calculated Diameter of a Sphere with a Density of 5.23 gm/cc.*
Goverment Estimate of Average Annual Exposure ( 360 mRem) **
Note: 10 microsieverts/hr = 1 mRem/hr **
Max Permissable Adult Dose 50,000 mRem/yr (hands), 15,000 mRem/yr (eyes)
Lethal Dose LD(50) Exposure 400,000 to 500,000 mRem

Vandenbrandeite Classification

Dana Class:

05.03.02.01 (05)Oxides Containing Uranium and Thorium

(05.03)with a cation charge of 8+ (AO4) and hydrated

(05.03.02)Dana Group

05.03.02.01 Vandenbrandeite Cu(UO2)(OH)4 P1 1

Strunz Class:

04.GB.45 04 - OXIDES (Hydroxides, V[5,6] vanadates, arsenites, antimonites, bismuthites, sulfites, selenites, tellurites, iodate

04.G - Uranyl Hydroxides

04.GB -With additional cations (K, Ca, Ba, Pb, etc.); with mainly UO2(O,OH)5 pentagonal polyhedra

04.GB.45 Vandenbrandeite Cu(UO2)(OH)4 P1 1

Other Vandenbrandeite Information

References:

NAME( Dana8) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Dana8)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Vandenbrandeite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - Uranium Minerals
16 - WWW-MINCRYST

Search for Vandenbrandeite using:

[AOL] [Bing] [Dog Pile] [GeoScienceWorld] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [Lycos] [MAMMA] [Scirus] [Teoma] [WebCrawler] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Vandenbrandeite :

A Bijoux Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Adam's Minerals Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Cape Minerals Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Dakota Matrix Minerals Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Excalibur Mineral Corp. Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Exceptional Minerals Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
John Betts Fine Minerals Search for Vandenbrandeite
McDougall Minerals Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Mineral News Website Link
Rock and Mineral Shows Google Search for Vandenbrandeite
Weinrich Minerals, Inc. Google Search for Vandenbrandeite

Ask about Vandenbrandeite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Vandenbrandeite Specimen Label here :

Vandenbrandeite

Cu(UO2)(OH)4
Dana No: 05.03.02.01 Strunz No: 04.GB.45
Locality:

Notes: