Ulrichite is a rare green

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

phosphate mineral Phosphate minerals contain the tetrahedrally coordinated phosphate (PO43−) anion along sometimes with arsenate (AsO43−) and vanadate (VO43−) substitutions, and chloride (Cl−), fluoride (F−), and hydroxide (OH−) anions that also fit ...

(CaCu(UO₂) O₄sub>2·4H₂O).Mindat
/ref> It crystallizes as

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...

prisms which occur as apple green acicular radiating clusters. It is

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

and exhibits strong yellow

fluorescence Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

under

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...

radiation. Ulrichite was first described in 1988 for samples from the Lake Boga granite quarry,

Lake Boga Lake Boga () is a town in Victoria, Australia, located next to the lake of the same name. It is situated within the Rural City of Swan Hill within the Mallee region of north-west Victoria. At the 2016 census, Lake Boga had a population of 985 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It was named for George H. F. Ulrich (1830–1900),Handbook of Mineralogy
/ref> a 19th-century government geologist and mines department inspector. The type locality at Lake Boga is the only reported occurrence and the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

is located at the Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, as #M38576. It is of secondary origin in

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

pegmatites where it is found in miarolitic cavities. It occurs associated with

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of year ...

, chalcosiderite, cyrilovite,

torbernite Torbernite is a radioactive, hydrated green copper uranyl phosphate mineral, found in granites and other uranium-bearing deposits as a secondary mineral. Its name derives from the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman (1735–1784), It is also known ...

, libethenite, sampleite,

saleeite Saleeite is a secondary uranium mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of uranium deposits, or as disseminations in carnotite-bearing sandstones. Its chemical formula is Mg(UO2)2(PO4)2·10(H2O). It was discovered in 1932 at Shinkolobwe, Katang ...

and fluorapatite.

References

Copper(II) minerals Uranium(VI) minerals Phosphate minerals Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 14 {{phosphate-mineral-stub