Apprehension of thorianite in Brazil

Abstract

Thorianite is a strongly radioactive thorium’s mineral (ThO2) which often contains uranium, lead and rare earth elements. It is a very heavy, hard, and colored dark gray to brownish black or bluish black. In the environment can be found in pegmatite, beach sands, and alluvial deposits. Despite to be considered a rare mineral it can be found in several parts of the world. The main occurrence areas in Brazil are alluvial deposits located in the Municipalities of Porto Grande, Serra do Navio and Pedra Branca in the Amapa State (Amazon Rainforest). Besides thorium, the mineral has high contents of uranium, lead and rare earths which represents an important commercial and strategic value. During the last decades several tons of this mineral have been apprehended by Brazilian Federal Police. This situation is extremely serious considering that these numbers just represent a very small part of the total of the smuggled amount. The main questions are : Who? To whom? and With which objective? This paper will present the more recent data and a nuclear forensic perspective of the nowadays situation.