Database of luminescent minerals 

THORITE

Chemical formula: (Th,U)SiO₄

Family: Silicates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Tetragonal

Display mineral: NON

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): THOROGUMMITE,  orangite,  uranothorite, 

Luminescence:

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Phosphorescence (in the common sense of the term) observable with the naked eye:

No data

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): (UO₂)²⁺ (ion Uranyle) en impureté, Sm³⁺,  Eu³⁺,  Dy³⁺,  Tb³⁺,  Ti - O,  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

(UO₂)²⁺ : broad band peaking at 525 - 530nm (FWMH: 75nm)

Eu³⁺ : lines at 591, 615 and 702nm

Sm³⁺ : 602, 640nm

(Ti - O) : large band with max at 520-550nm

Spectrum: Michael Gaft, Petah Tikva, Israel. Plot: Institute of Mineralogy, University of Vienna, Austria, with permission of the authors.

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Langesundfjord Region, Norway (yellowish variety called orangite and fluorescing green SW&LW);
• Landsverk 1 Feldspar Quarry, Landsverk, Evje og Hornnes, Agder, Norway;
• Laajamaa pegmatite, Pello, Lapland, Finland (var. uranothorite);
• Little Brown Egg thorium occurrence, Broadwater Co., Montana, USA;
• Kipawa alkaline complex, Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue, Témiscamingue RCM, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Canada;
• Rock Landing Quarry, Haddam Neck, Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, USA

(*)The data are not exhaustive and are limited to a few remarkable localities for fluorescence

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

• The Henkel Glossary of Fluorescent Minerals, Dr. Gerhard Henkel, Published by the FMS, 1989 ,
• Fluorescence: Gems and Minerals Under Ultraviolet Light, Manuel Robbins, 1994, Geoscience Press, ISBN 0-945005-13-X ,
• Luminescence Spectroscopy of Minerals and Materials, M. Gaft, R. Reisfeld, G. Panczer, Springer Editor, ISBN: 10 3-540-21918-8 ,
• Luminescent Spectra of Minerals, Boris S. Gorobets and Alexandre A. Rogojine, Moscow, 2002 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

  http://www.mindat.org/show.php?name=Thorite

  http://webmineral.com/data/Thorite.shtml

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