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Torita Orangita

Torita is a mineral with formula ThSiO₄, in the Silicatos (Nesosilicatos) group. This specimen comes from Låven, Langesundsfjorden, Larvik, Vestfold, Noruega.

Torita Orangita from Låven, Langesundsfjorden, Larvik, Vestfold, Noruega — Terrium

Description

Partially translucent orange orangite plate with a resinous luster. The specimen has a small label attached with the number "615". It measures 167.50 µSv/h.

History of this specimen

Historical specimen. The director of Geoscientific Collections and curator of Mineralogical Collections at the Freiberg Bergakademie and Terra Mineralia, Andreas Massanek, attributes the handwriting on the label to Wilhelm Maucher, head of the Mineralien-Niederlage between 1904 and 1909. The label retains the name "Orangit von Löven bei Brevig in Norwegen" and a handwritten price of 4.50 marks. The piece also bears an old number, "615," corresponding to the order list used to identify specimens. Contemporary history adds another layer. Acquiring it was no easy task. The day it arrived home, I was nervous with excitement to open it. Inside the small soft cardboard package, there was a bit of bubble wrap rolled around itself. I carefully removed that small piece of bubble wrap, and right there in the center was my orangite... wrapped in its own early 20th-century label! And of course, naturally, the label was not only crumpled, but it arrived torn. Outrageous doesn't even begin to cover it.

About Torita

Orangite is the historical name for the orange variety of thorite, ThSiO₄. Bergemann and Krantz described it in 1851 as a supposed new mineral based on material from "Brevig" in Langesundsfjorden. Thorite contains a very high proportion of thorium and often appears metamictized, because its own radioactivity progressively disorders the crystal structure. Marie Curie studied the radioactivity of orangite during her early years of research. In the late 19th century, the demand for thorium for incandescent gas mantles sparked a brief "thorite rush" in Norway, which ended when its extraction was no longer economically competitive.

About the locality

Låven is one of the classic localities in Norwegian mineralogy. It is a small islet in the middle of a fjord, intersected by a large pegmatite extraordinarily rich in rare minerals, known since around 1830. Today, it is a protected natural monument, and it is strictly forbidden to collect minerals or damage its deposits.

Technical data

Catalogue No.
0699
Composition
ThSiO₄
Name
Torita
Variety
Orangita
Group
Silicatos (Nesosilicatos)
Category
Núcleus Ardens
Mine
Låven
District / Municipality
Langesundsfjorden
Province
Larvik
Region
Vestfold
Country
Noruega
Size (cm)
4 x 2.5 x 0.6
Weight
15.4 g
Ex-collection
K. S. Mineralien-Niederlage zu Freiberg > Joy Desor
Etymology
«Thorite» derives from thorium, the element named by Berzelius after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. «Orangite» refers directly to the characteristic orange colour of this variety.
Quality
Top
Value trend
Al alza

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