Bassetite
Collection:
Cornish Mineral Heritage
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope
Click the object button to view an object rotation for this sample.
Object

Fact sheet

Bassetite

Bassetite is an uncommon iron uranium phosphate mineral. It is a so-called secondary mineral, formed by the near-surface weathering of uranium-bearing ore deposits.

This specimen shows aggregates of pale yellow lath-like crystals. It is part of a substantial collection of minerals put together by Redruth businessman James Wickett, which was acquired by the Royal Institution of Cornwall in 1922.

Bassetite was properly identified as an individual species in 1915 and named for the location where it was first described, Wheal Basset, near Illogan. The Basset group of mines (Wheal Basset, West Wheal Basset, North Wheal Basset and South Wheal Frances) were named for the influential land-owning Basset family on whose land the mines stood.

Chemical Formula: Fe2+(UO2)2(PO4)2•8H2O

Specimen no. TRURI: 1922.13.2193
Location: Wheal Basset
Grid Reference: SW 688 397

Mindat http://www.mindat.org/min-558.html

Additional images
 
  • Bassetite on matrix, 2 cm across
  • Bassetite on matrix, 5 cm across
  • Bassetite on matrix, 5 cm across
  • Bassetite on matrix, 2 cm across
Map
 
50.212035, -5.241866
Precision:
Good
About this collection
 
Cornish Mineral Heritage

This Collection focuses on Cornwall and West Devon’s mineralogical and mining heritage.  The specimens it features are drawn from the collection of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC) held at the Royal Cornwall Museum (RCM). 

This collaborative project involving the RCM, the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site and The Open University explores how access to the RIC’s mineral collection and the stories it can tell can be widened using digital technology.  It includes radioactive minerals from Cornwall that would otherwise be inaccessible to the public for health and safety reasons.

Sample details

Collection: Cornish Mineral Heritage
Type
mineral
Category
secondary
Category guide  
Category Guide
Title
Refers to any word or phrase that appears in the individual rock names. Names are generally descriptive; they allow users to search for broad terms like ‘granite’ as well as more specific names such as ‘breccia’. However, the adjacent descriptions of the specimens captures a wider range of general words and phrases and is a more powerful search tool.
Description
Refers to any word or phrase that appears anywhere in the descriptions of the specimens
Accessory minerals
Minerals that occur in very low abundance in a rock. They are usually not visible with the naked eye and contribute perhapssver, they often dominate the rare elements such as platinum group metals.
Rock-forming minerals
Minerals that make up the bulk of all rock samples and are also the ones used in rock classi?cation.
Timescale
Selecting one or more period, for example 'Jurassic'.
Theme
A term used to group together related samples that are not already gathered into a single Collection. For instance, there is a ‘SW England granites’ theme that includes such rock types as granite, hydrothermal breccia, skarn and vein samples.
Category
A general term used to label a rock sample. It is a useful way of grouping similar samples throughout a collection. Category names are often, but not exclusively, common rock names (e.g. granite, basalt, dolerite, gabbro, greisen, skarn, gneiss, amphibolite, limestone, sandstone).
Owner
The owner of the sample that appears in the collection. For example, NASA owns all the samples that appear in the Moon Rocks collection
We would like to thank the following for the use of this sample:

More from this collection

Cornish Mineral Heritage