Blatonite with Rutherfordine

specimen number:
2133236

location:
Jomac Mine, San Juan Co., Utah, USA

description:
Yellow blatonite and rutherfordine on matrix. Good for these species.

Blatonite and rutherfordine are rare uranyl carbonate minerals often found in the oxidized zones of uranium deposits. Geologically, rutherfordine forms as a secondary mineral through the alteration of uraninite in acidic, carbon-dioxide-rich environments, typically appearing as yellow, earthy, or fibrous masses. Blatonite is an even rarer hydrated uranyl carbonate that occurs as extremely delicate, needle-like crystals, often associated with other secondary uranium minerals in sedimentary-hosted deposits. Historically, rutherfordine was first described in 1906 from the Morogoro region in Tanzania and named after the physicist Ernest Rutherford. Blatonite is a much more recent discovery, first identified in the late 20th century at the Jomac Mine in San Juan County, Utah, and named in honor of the Belgian mineralogist Nicolas Blaton. Neither mineral is mined as a primary ore due to their scarcity, but they are significant to mineralogists as indicators of specific geochemical conditions during the weathering of uranium-bearing rocks.

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