Abernathyita
Abernathyita is a mineral with formula K(UO₂)(AsO₄)·3H₂O, in the Arseniatos group. This specimen comes from Mina Descuido Nº 12004, Los Baños de Sierra Alhamilla, Pechina, Almería, Andalucía, España and joined the Terrium collection in 2015.
Description
Exceptional, white, delicate thumbnail, with fine crystalline aggregates of yellow-green abernathyite on gypsum and magnesite. Inconspicuous to the unaided eye but very visible under UV due to intense green fluorescence.
History of this specimen
This piece was obtained after a difficult, risky and painstaking search inside the El Descuido mine. In 2017 it was initially misidentified as metaheinrichite or metanováčekite, visually similar species. Years later, laboratory X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that it was abernathyite.
About Abernathyita
It is a secondary uranium mineral (a hydrated potassium uranyl arsenate), discovered in 1956 in Utah, the USA, and a scientific rarity in Spain because it is almost impossible to find. Under ultraviolet (UV) light it emits very bright green fluorescent pinpoints.
About the locality
Located in Pechina (Almería), this former iron mine is now closed and a deep, dangerous labyrinth of underground galleries. To recover these minerals, collectors (such as Amelia Molina) had to enter with oxygen masks. The risk was extreme due to the lack of ventilation, very high humidity, and the danger of breathing radioactive gases or dust. In the official mining records it appears as number 28470.
Technical data
- Catalogue No.
- 0638
- Composition
- K(UO₂)(AsO₄)·3H₂O
- Name
- Abernathyita
- Group
- Arseniatos
- Category
- Núcleus Ardens
- Matrix
- Yeso, Magnesita
- Mine
- Mina Descuido Nº 12004
- District / Municipality
- Los Baños de Sierra Alhamilla, Pechina
- Province
- Almería
- Region
- Andalucía
- Country
- España
- Size (cm)
- 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5
- Weight
- 6 g
- Acquired
- 2015
- Etymology
- Named in honour of Jess Abernathy, prospector and operator of uranium mines, and above all a direct supplier of very good material to geologists and laboratories.
- Quality
- Notable
- Value trend
- Al alza
Related specimens
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- Abernathyita — España
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- Adamita — México
- Adamita — México