Thorite

noun

1. A vitreous brownish-yellow to black radioactive mineral, essentially ThSiO₄, an ore of thorium.
2. An explosive of the ammonium-nitrate class once experimented with as a bursting charge for shell.
3. A silicate of thorium, generally compact with conchoidal fracture, and of a black color, or, as in the variety orangite, orange-yellow.
4. A mineral of a brown to black color, or, as in the variety <ex>orangite</ex>, orange-yellow. It is essentially a silicate of thorium.
5. A <xref>radioactive</xref> <xref>mineral</xref>, composed mostly of thorium silicate (<xref>Th</xref><xref>Si</xref><xref>O</xref>4), along with silicates of <xref>uranium</xref> and the <xref>rare earths</xref>.