Heinrichite is a rare barium-bearing uranyl arsenate mineral characterized by its bright, lemon-yellow color and intense yellow-green fluorescence under ultraviolet light. It typically occurs as thin, brittle tabular crystals often found coating fractures in uranium-rich hydrothermal deposits.
Is this heinrichite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch heinrichite with a known reference. Heinrichite sits at Mohs 2.5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: white.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous to pearly.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: yellow, green, yellow green.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: monoclinic. Typical habit: scaly.
Often confused with
Heinrichite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Heinrichite leaves white, Autunite leaves pale yellow.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Heinrichite leaves white, Meta-autunite leaves yellow; luster reads vitreous to pearly on Heinrichite and pearly to dull on Meta-autunite.
How to tell apart: Streak differs, so Heinrichite leaves white, Torbernite leaves pale green.
Often found alongside heinrichite
Minerals reported to co-occur with heinrichite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Ba(UO₂)₂(AsO₄)₂·10-12H₂O
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Density
- 3.61 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous to pearly
- Transparency
- Transparent to translucent
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Crystal habit
- Scaly
- Cleavage
- Perfect on {001}; distinct on {100}
- Fluorescence
- Bright green to yellow-green under SW and LW UV
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector, Scientific research
- Host rock
- A secondary mineral in oxidized uranium deposits
Where rockhounds find heinrichite
Classic worldwide localities
- White King mine, about 22 km northwest of Lakeview, Lake Co., Oregon, USA
- Black Forest, from the Sophia mine and on the Schmiedestollen dump, near Wittichen, Germany
- Reinerzau, near Alpirsbach, Germany
- Michael mine, Weiler, near Lahr, Germany
- Schramberg and Triberg, Hammereisenbach, Menzenschwand, Germany
- Anton mine, Heubachtal, near Schiltach, Germany
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: A secondary mineral in oxidized uranium deposits. If you start seeing metaheinrichite, zeunerite, nováčekite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: scaly. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
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Find heinrichite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
