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Uranium: Ores
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Uranium is of great interest because of its application to nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Uranium contamination is an emotive environmental problem. It is not particularly rare and is more common than beryllium or tungsten for instance.
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Uranium is in your normal diet, so there will always be some level of uranium in all parts of your body. Uranium is normally measured in a sample of urine collected and sent to a laboratory. Blood, feces, and tissue samples are rarely used. Because most uranium leaves the body within a few days, higher than normal amounts in your urine shows whether you have been exposed to larger-than-normal amounts within the last week or so. Some highly sensitive radiation methods can measure uranium levels for a long time after you take in a large amount. Also, some radiation equipment can tell if uranium is on your skin.
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Uranium can enter the body when it is inhaled or swallowed, or under rare circumstances it may enter through cuts in the skin. Uranium does not absorb through the skin, and alpha particles released by uranium cannot penetrate the skin, so uranium that is outside the body is much less harmful than it would be if it where inhaled or swallowed. When uranium gets inside the body it can lead to cancer or kidney damage.
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Uranium averages about 2.8 parts per million of the earth's crust. Traces of it occur almost everywhere. It is more abundant than gold, silver or mercury, about the same as tin and slightly less abundant than cobalt, lead or molybdenum. Vast amounts of uranium ... occur in the world's oceans, but in much lower concentrations.
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Uranium is widely distributed in its ores but is not found uncombined in nature. It is a fairly abundant element in the earth’s crust, being about 40 times as abundant as silver. Several hundred uranium-containing minerals have been found but only a few are commercially significant. The most important is pitchblende, mined in the Congo River basin and NW Canada. Coffinite (a uranium silicate) and carnotite (a potassium uranate-vanadate) are important minerals found in Colorado and Utah. Ores with as little as 0.1% uranium are mined and processed.
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Uranium was discovered in 1789 by German chemist Martin Klaproth while analysing mineral samples from the Joachimsal silver mines in the present day Czech Republic. Apart from its value to chemists, the only significant use for uranium throughout the 1800s was to colour glass and ceramics. Uranium compounds were used to give vases and decorative glassware a yellow-green colour. Ceramic glazes ranging from orange to bright red were used on items as varied as household crockery and architectural decorations.
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