Coffinita
Coffinita is a mineral with formula USiO₄, in the Silicatos group. This specimen comes from Temple Mountain, San Rafael, Emery County, Utah, Estados Unidos.
Description
Black to dark grey, micaceous, lustrous masses dispersed in silicified matrix. Compact appearance with metallic reflections and fine surface glints. Measured radioactivity 0.60 µSv/h.
History of this specimen
This piece is a direct product of the nuclear boom on the Colorado Plateau during the 1950s and 1960s. It was the golden age known as the “uranium rush”, driven by the US Government, which bought the ore at favourable prices, and during which thousands of people headed into the desert with Geiger counters in hand, discovering new species. Magazines such as Popular Mechanics and Life published articles showing families how to take weekend “prospecting holidays”, while packages combining Geiger counters, tents and portable cool boxes were sold. Although the Government presented this activity as recreational, festive and family-friendly, it should not be forgotten that, once the areas with the highest uranium concentrations had been located, the extraction work was carried out mainly by Native American workers and other vulnerable populations, in poor conditions and for little financial reward. The specimen has a demonstrable chain of custody preserved in its original handwritten labels: it was first documented by Professor Frank Bauer and, by the 1980s, had entered the personal collection of Dr G. Jung.
About Coffinita
An apparently simple uranium silicate, but in fact extremely rare. Isostructural with zircon, it is usually a product of uraninite alteration. It typically occurs massive or intermixed with organic matter (such as radioactive petrified wood), only rarely with visible crystal habit. It was described in 1954, at the height of the uranium boom.
About the locality
Temple Mountain is a classic Triassic sandstone uranium deposit within the San Rafael district, Utah. Known since the mid-20th century, it yielded specimens of uraninite, autunite and coffinite—minerals that marked the start of the United States uranium boom.
Technical data
- Catalogue No.
- 0170
- Composition
- USiO₄
- Name
- Coffinita
- Group
- Silicatos
- Category
- Núcleus Ardens
- Matrix
- Matriz silicificada con impregnaciones negras
- Mine
- Temple Mountain
- District / Municipality
- San Rafael
- Province
- Emery County
- Region
- Utah
- Country
- Estados Unidos
- Size (cm)
- 4.5 x 2.5 x 1.5
- Weight
- 13 g
- Ex-collection
- Prof. Frank Bauer > Dr. G. Jung
- Etymology
- Named in honour of R. B. Coffin, a US Geological Survey geologist.
- Quality
- Muy buena
- Value trend
- Estable
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