This small but interesting prospect is located on the east side of Topaz Mountain.
There was an abundance of Radioactive Opal, which upon later inspection proved to be fluorescent!
A sample under ordinary light... |
Under ultraviolet light! |
Down into the belly of the beast! (Quicktime Movie 430k-Sound)
This is the entrance to the adit. |
Looking down one of the shafts. |
A nice fluorite specimen. |
This photo was taken at a fluorite mine directly to the north of the Bell Hill Mine. |
Byron J. Sharp
U. S. Atomic Energy Commission
From "Guidebook To The Geology of Utah" Number 17, 1963
The fluorite pipes of Spor Mountain contain variable quantities titles of uranium associated with the fluorite. These pipes are described in detail by M. H. Staatz and F. W. Osterwald in USGS Bulletin 1069. The U. S. Atomic Energy Commission sampled many of the pipes for uranium and the results indicated that some of the fluorite contained nearly commercial quantities of uranium. Yellow secondary minerals occur locally in the fluorite, but for the most part, the uranium ion apparently substitutes for the calcium ion in the crystal lattice of the fluorite. Although this intimate association renders the uranium non-amenable in existing uranium mills, it may be possible to extract some as a byproduct in a hydrofluoric acid mill.
The fluorite pipes at the southern end of Spor Mountain contain about 4 times as much uranium as those at the north end and those in between show a general gradational increase in a southern direction
The Bell Hill pipe is the most significant fluorite pipe as far as uranium is concerned. Near commercial grade uranium samples have been taken from the lowest levels of the pipe, as well as near surface from many places in between. The Bell Hill pipe is considered to be near the center of a high uranium zone in fluorite, and pipes which may be discovered in this area would probably be high in uranium content.