FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Maxilos]

Hi everybody,

I'm collecting for about eight to ten years now, but I want to know some rules about it. I know for one thing that cuprosklodowskite is illegaly in The Netherlands. That's also the only thing I know.

Could you guys please help me with some very important rules (radioactivity, size, certain elements, et cetera)

Thanks in advance

Mark

[h.abbasi]

Hi Maxilos
Excuse me, I don’t know what you want , but I think you should see :
https://www.mindat.org/min-1191.html
And then tell me is it enough?
I think you can find all about Cuprosklodowskite in this page.
Finally , a question :
Tell me why cuprosklodowskite is illegally in The Netherlands? please.
What's the meaning of this sentence?
Thanks

[chris]

Hi Mark,

I agree, could you be a bit more specific because I'm a bit puzzled to by your request. What do you mean by :

[Jordi Fabre]

[Pete Modreski]

I wondered what responses people might have to this question.

I think it's a good aspect of mineral collecting that, basically, there are not any "rules" or restrictions about it.

Perhaps, Mark, you were thinking about the fact that there may be restrictions on sending specimens that are significantly radioactive by Postal Service mail; a large specimen of cuproskodowski or other uranium minerals would probably fall under those restrictions.

Thinking of any other "restrictions" that might exist, in many countries there are prohibitions agains collecting specimens from land in National Parks and other natural preserves, and it would likewise be illegal to sell or export such specimens. And I believe a number of countries do have export laws restricting or prohibiting the exporting of fossils, meteorites, and other natural history specimens that are regarded as "national treasures". In the U.S., it is illegal to collect vertebrate fossils on public lands, and it is technically illegal (though I think this prohibition is not always observed or enforced) for anyone to sell any kind of fossils that have been collected on public (as opposed to privately owned) lands.

Pete Modreski

[Maxilos]

Hi,

To answer the questions from abbasi and chris: cuprosklodowskite is illegal in The Netherlands because it is too radioactive and I gave this sentence as a sample.

I meant by this question exacly what Pete said: the restrictions on sending and keeping some special minerals.

(If someone knows anything else about it, I'd like to hear it)

Thanks

Mark

[John S. White]

In my experience there are few such restrictions worldwide, but one can always encounter some bureaucratic problem maker who will take it upon himself to interpret laws in such a way that they are detrimental to the free and easy transfer of minerals from one place to another. I would not be particularly worried about an overload of restrictive "rules" for minerals. Radioactive ones and various forms of asbestos minerals can pose a problem for the ill-informed. Artifacts and fossils often are a different story and the import/export of them can be tightly controlled.

[Jesse Fisher]

In the US there are no laws regulating what minerals an individual can posses, unless they are deemed to constitute a "public hazard." This would happen only if one were to amass a very large collection and treat it in such a careless fashion that others could be exposed to dangerous levels of a toxic agent (such as mercury, asbestos, or high levels of radioactivity, for example). There are also laws that govern the transport and disposal of known hazardous materials, but these usually apply to amounts larger that anyone but the most avaricious collector is likely to acquire.

Having a collection with some radioactive minerals such as torbernite, cuprosklodowskite, betafite, uraninite, etc. is perfectly legal. I would, however, caution anyone against trying to pass through airport security with any of these.