Saleeite

specimen number:
8822017

location:
Ranger Mine, Northern Territory, Australia

description:
Choice thumbnail for the species, this a cluster of platy yellow green crystals without matrix. In excellent condition. Brightly fluorescent.

The Ranger Mine, located in the Alligator Rivers region of the Northern Territory, Australia, and completely surrounded by Kakadu National Park, is a major unconformity-related uranium deposit discovered in late 1969 with commercial mining operations commencing in 1980. Geologically, the orebodies are hosted within the Paleoproterozoic Cahill Formation, consisting of metamorphosed sedimentary and carbonate sequences that overlie the Archaean basement, where uranium was concentrated via hydrothermal and meteoric fluid interactions. Mineralogically, while primary zones contain minerals like uraninite and coffinite, the weathered and oxidized upper zones of the deposit are well known for featuring secondary uranium species, most notably saleeite, a hydrated magnesium uranium phosphate mineral that forms striking yellow to greenish-yellow tabular crystal plates.

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