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Vintage Uranium Mines of Czechoslovakia Atom Atomic Symbol Electron Pin Badge
- A pretty advertising pin from former Czechoslovakia. The badge face is 1.9cm high and has a stick pin fastener to the rear. The pin is from Western Czechoslovakia (Zapadni Cechy).
Czechoslovakia had extensive uranium mines in the 1950's and beyond, but they have all closed down now since it is more cost effective to import uranium from Africa than mine less productive seams here. Historical Background The first deliberate mining of radioactive ores took place in Jachymov in what is now the Czech Republic. Marie Curie used pitchblende ore from Jachymov to isolate the element radium, a decay product of uranium. Until World War II uranium mining was done primarily for the radium content. Sources for radium, contained in the uranium ore, were sought for use as luminous paint for watch dials and other instruments, as well as for health-related applications, some of which in retrospect might have been harmful. The byproduct uranium was used mostly as a yellow pigment.
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