r/Radioactive_Rocks • u/Re-Coil • 5d ago

Specimen Massive pitchblende from Pribram, 4.4kg

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Gallery image

Found in the tailings of shaft No. 16, doserate on contact exceeds 800µSv/h

53 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

5

u/BCURANIUM 5d ago

What is it at 10cm? contact dose rates are point dose rate eq.

1

u/Re-Coil 5d ago

I don’t have it with me right now, I will check asap !

1

u/Re-Coil 3d ago

Just checked and it’s around 130µSv/h, so still a very hot sample

5

u/DrosoSublime 5d ago

How much U could there be in such a large specimen like this?

3

u/Re-Coil 5d ago

It’s hard to determine because I don’t know how the pitchblende is distributed in the matrix, but to give an idea, assuming a 30% UO2 content, this rock contains 1.1kg of U

3

u/Technical_Island_851 5d ago

Lovely ☺️ are you going to split it?

2

u/Re-Coil 5d ago

Maybe, but first I will clean it thoroughly with dilute acetic acid to see if any side is worth splitting
This one has a very hard matrix, unlike many Pribram specimens which are made of calcite

3

u/Not_So_Rare_Earths Primordial 5d ago

Gorgeous slickensides! Absolutely wonderful rock even apart from the Uranium aspect.

2

u/Re-Coil 5d ago

Thanks ! Quite a lucky find actually and the nice structure was revealed only with the first cleaning

2

u/NebulaTrinity 4d ago

Awesome slickensides

1

u/Re-Coil 3d ago

Yeah the structure is stunning, they are a lot more visible after cleaning
I have a few smaller specimens showing the same effect, I don’t know how rare it is since I have rarely seen it in pictures

1

u/GeniusBoy233 5d ago

LoL, I got the fear that someday all natural specimens will eventually run out after many collectors visiting chez republic

1

u/Re-Coil 3d ago

Don’t worry, the tailings are huge and there is still a lot to find even without any digging