<p>You can try using the <a href="https://www.mindat.org/countrylist.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">locality list at MinDat</a>. 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-19T04:33:22.520Z
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! :)
T. Jones
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-09T08:38:29.093Z
2018-11-09T08:38:29.093Z
Gimelist
<p>I'm pretty new to all this...  </p>

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

<p>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!</p>

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

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T21:39:10.393Z
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!
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T21:56:08.897Z
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!
T. Jones
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T22:05:15.703Z
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).
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T22:08:02.547Z
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](https://chat.stackexchange.com/?tab=site&host=earthscience.stackexchange.com) where occasionally folks will chat more casually :)
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T22:08:25.580Z
That sounds pretty interesting have you found any meteors in the past? And I'm fairly new to geology. I've always been quite slow but eager to learn more about things! :)
T. Jones
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T22:10:42.183Z
Hehe, many meteorologists might yell at you :-p -- meteorologists study weather, not meteors. (It's a common misunderstanding) Rain drops are called hydrometeors, since they too are things falling from the sky, and so the science was called meteorology. So nope, no idea about such things! There's a lot of questions around here about such, everyone seems to want to find meteors. Me, I'd rather see a good thunderstorm :-p But let's continue the discussion in [chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/?tab=site&host=earthscience.stackexchange.com) so as to keep the question and comments on topic :)
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-07T22:19:02.883Z
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
T. Jones
<geology><minerals><radioactivity><uranium>
Where to start searching to find more radioactive minerals?
T. Jones
# Where to start searching to find more radioactive minerals?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-07)

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?

**Tags:** geology, minerals, radioactivity, uranium

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 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!  
> **username_0**: 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!  
> **username_1**: 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).  
> **username_1**: 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](https://chat.stackexchange.com/?tab=site&host=earthscience.stackexchange.com) where occasionally folks will chat more casually :)  
> **username_0**: That sounds pretty interesting have you found any meteors in the past? And I'm fairly new to geology. I've always been quite slow but eager to learn more about things! :)  
> **username_1**: Hehe, many meteorologists might yell at you :-p -- meteorologists study weather, not meteors. (It's a common misunderstanding) Rain drops are called hydrometeors, since they too are things falling from the sky, and so the science was called meteorology. So nope, no idea about such things! There's a lot of questions around here about such, everyone seems to want to find meteors. Me, I'd rather see a good thunderstorm :-p But let's continue the discussion in [chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/?tab=site&host=earthscience.stackexchange.com) so as to keep the question and comments on topic :)  
> **username_0**: 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  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-11-09. Score: 1

You can try using the [locality list at MinDat](https://www.mindat.org/countrylist.php). 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.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: 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! :)  

---

