Uranium is found in hundreds of minerals, including uraninite (the most common uranium ore), carnotite, autunite, uranophane,
torbernite and coffinite.
In the Preit area, uranium prospecting has yielded good specimens of
torbernite crystals and of uranophane in aggregates of acicular crystals with barite.
The primary uranium minerals are uraninite and coffinite but numerous secondary uranium minerals have been formed as a result of the weathering processes: yellow gummites, autunite, metaautunite,
torbernite, saleeite, uranotyle, ianthinite and uranopilite (Arribas, 1975).
As for U-containing minerals, beside nasturan plenty of secondary minerals (otenite,
torbernite) and some black were present.
Torbernite Musonoi Mine, Shaba Prov., Zaire 3 1/2" wide ex-collections R.
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Torbernite (Metatorbernite), Cornwall, England, no.
Torbernite and its slightly dehydrated equivalent, metatorbernite, reach their finest development at the famous Musonoi uranium mine in the Congo.
With Warner's backing, the new company of Warner & Grieger was able to acquire good lots of Bisbee copper minerals, Canyon Diablo meteorites, California benitoite, Yugoslavian wulfenite (Helena mine at Miess--a collection assembled by the mine foreman there), Romanian and Central European minerals, Elba pyrite, Virgin Valley opals (collector specimens), native silver from the Rural mine in Mineral Park (Arizona), a comprehensive selection of minerals from Tsumeb and Klein Spitzkoppe in South-West Africa, English minerals including fluorite, barite, witherite,
torbernite and cuprite--all in 1936-1937.
The requests may have been made for relatively modest specimens, a rare book, or a fine cuprosklodowskite or
torbernite. Of course, part of Gilbert's fame lay with his near monopoly on uranium minerals.
Fine crystals of Cornish
torbernite on matrix, 2.5 inches.
There were Cornish and Russian specimens aplenty: chalcophyllite,
torbernite, liroconite crystals to 1 cm, chalcocite crystals to 2 cm, olivenite, copper, crocoite, cerussite, feldspar crystals, etc.
Torbernite occurred with autunite in an altered Tertiary plug on Rhyolite Mountain (Nelson-Moore et al., 1978; Eckel, 1997).