silauim

Silauim is a fictional mineral described in speculative geology and science fiction. In these accounts, it is a rare silicate phase that combines silicon, aluminum, and uranium within a single crystal lattice, producing a material with distinctive physical and radiological properties.

Physically, silauim is imagined to crystallize in a monoclinic or orthorhombic system, with a metallic to sub-metallic luster. Reported color ranges include pale gray to dark brown, and it may exhibit faint radioluminescence under ultraviolet light. The mineral is described as fairly hard, with a Mohs hardness around 6 to 7, and a high density due to uranium content. Its radioactivity would require specialized handling in any hypothetical extraction scenario.

Geologically, silauim is proposed to form in pegmatitic pockets or high-temperature hydrothermal veins within uraniferous granites. In fiction, it is commonly associated with minerals such as uraninite, zircon, and xenotime. In real-world geology, no verified deposit of silauim has been identified, and the mineral is not recognized by major mineralogical catalogs.

Origin of the name: the term silauim is described as a neologism combining elements of silicon (sil-), a nod to aluminum-rich silicates, and the radiative 'im' suffix used in several fictional mineral names. The concept has appeared in various speculative texts and worldbuilding exercises since the early 2010s.

Potential applications within fiction include radioluminescent devices, high-temperature electrolytes for imagined reactors, or a testbed for studying radiation damage in silicate lattices. Because silauim is not a real mineral, no experimental data exist, and any discussion of its properties should be understood as speculative and literary rather than scientific.