How is uranium formed?
Uranium is actually found as a number of ores of uranium in the natural world. Uranium the element is a heavy metalic material that must be extracted from the naturally occuring ores. There are a variety of ore materials, these include: uranite and pitchblend are two forms of the same mineral, both are uranium dioxide. Gummite is another common ore containing uranium oxide and water. Orbernite is a rarer ore of uranium that usually does not occur in massive enough quantities to make mining it economical but in Zaire it forms large masses. It is a hydrous copper uranium phosphate. Aytunite is hydrous calcium uranium phosphate and is very abundant worldwide. Carnotite is hydrous potassium uranium vanadate found in sandstone deposits in the Southwestern United States and elsewhere. Uranophane is a somewhat less common mineral found in several areas of the US, Saxony, Czechoslovakia and Zaire. It is hydrated calcium uranium silicate. Uranium is found in most rocks at a concentration of 2-4
