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I'm pretty new to all this...

I've recently purchased a Geiger counter, and am hoping to locate rocks like pitchblende and other radioactive minerals for my collection.

I'm based in the North West of England in Manchester and looking for any hot spots nearby for which to go to and search!

Are there maps available, or any hints as to what types of locations I should be seeking to start my search?

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  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to the community T! I'm going to try to clean up your question to help focus it more around what you're looking to find out, so it's easier to work from and more within the guidelines/standards the community has. But sounds like an interesting question! $\endgroup$
    – JeopardyTempest
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 21:39
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    $\begingroup$ Thank you for the reply! I would be preferebly asking the landowners beforehand I know it's legal to own in certain amounts, I've had a bit of a fascination with it for the past few months and would love to find some and have it safely stored but still so people can look at it! $\endgroup$
    – T. Jones
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 21:56
  • $\begingroup$ No problem, glad to! All sounds reasonable to me. But minerals are a subject I really know very little about (my field of focus is really meteorology). $\endgroup$
    – JeopardyTempest
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 22:05
  • $\begingroup$ Now we sit back and hope someone with more expertise/info will answer eventually! StackExchange is less chit-chatty than most forums you've probably come across before, which certainly can be weird at first. But by focusing on the central question and limiting discussion and pleasantries, it hopefully helps answers stand out better so others who have the same question can understand it quickly without having to wade through long conversations. There is a chat where occasionally folks will chat more casually :) $\endgroup$
    – JeopardyTempest
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 22:08
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    $\begingroup$ Well I never knew that talk about learn something new every day lol! It still sounds like an interesting subject regardless. I love photographing rain I do a bit or photography/cinematography on the side. And true true so basically I've done some research and found you can find radioactive elements everywhere in nature such as the soil and in other minerals and vains of uranium are sometimes found in the top layer of the Earths crust. I've seen a few videos on YouTube of people finding this pitchblende and I know it's common south of the UK but my burning question is if I can find some not too $\endgroup$
    – T. Jones
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 22:19

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You can try using the locality list at MinDat. Go to places that are easily accessible to you and see what minerals have been reported there. If there's something radioactive, it will probably be listed there.

I would remind you that radioactive minerals are, well, radioactive. These things are dangerous. I strongly recommend you find a different hobby. I deal with radioactive minerals as part of my job, and this is not something that you want to do unless you really know what you're doing. I remind you that a lot of the early researchers who worked on radioactivity died because they did not use the necessary precautions.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you I've just gave it a look over and it's really useful! And thank you for looking out for me it will be stored and handled safely if I do find a sample and inform the land owner! Honestly thank you again that link is a great aid on my quest! :) $\endgroup$
    – T. Jones
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 4:33

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