❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here

Prospecting Australia

Help Support Prospecting Australia:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Some more hints might help like......Is it heavy or light?. Lots lying around or is it the only piece there.. location of your find may help too... Don't need exact place but area would help.. and a close-up to see the 'structure' of the minerals. :/ :Y:

Magnetite?, Galena? it could be... need more info to be more accurate.... :)

LW....
 
hAyyoUinAU said:
It was in an area that produces gold. The area is associated with other minerals as well, so yeah.
Click to expand...

What 'other' minerals were found in the area? hayyou.. good chance it's one of them..
PM if you want... ;)
 
Hey lone wolf

Yeah it's heavyish an yeah it's got a green colour.
I found it up in the hills in adelaide area near a river of other sort of rocks
Aswell it's soft which feels like it's sendetry I think the word.
 
Two more photos
1517217631_img_0771.jpg

1517217632_img_0772.jpg
 
 
LoneWolf said:
:Y: Pic 1 looks like a solid form of Pyrite... But I don't think Pyrite is Magnetic.... Have you tried a streak test?..
Try some of these...

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=24758

LW.....
Click to expand...
Doesn't look like pyrite to me but photos are not clear (and correct, pyrite is not magnetic but pyrrhotite is). Try going to "Series on identifying minerals" and list as many properties as you can and it makes it easier to answer (otherwise people are guessing)
 
Shaza1 said:
LoneWolf said:
Quartz I think Shaza... Topaz feels 'cool' if you put it on your lips compared to Quartz...... :) Thank-you for posting in the Correct area.... :Y:

LW....
Click to expand...
Thanks LW,
I took your advice but kinda hard to get correct temp when its 45c out here but surprisingly I took a few from my pile and they where still pretty cool to the touch on my lips even felt smidge icey in this stincker of a day lol https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...1939_7cbf5fad-a58f-47ef-880c-94f852bb0d84.jpg
Click to expand...
Hardness is diagnostic for topaz as mentioned. Go to "Series on identifying minerals" and list as many properties as possible.
 
hAyyoUinAU said:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/10637/1517113648_interesting.jpg

Found this whilst prospecting for gold. The GPZ liked it, and so did the makro obviously (it likes a lot).
It weighed over 5 kilos and I brought it back and broke it down. I haven't crushed it yet, but will do one piece tonight.
What got me interested is besides the silvery minerals visible, is that the pinpointers both go off on it.

Has anyone come across anything similar looking?
Click to expand...
Not a single mineral but a rock - need close up photos of minerals in it for identification.
 
 
hAyyoUinAU said:
Just crushed some and panned it out. Could only see heavy pyrites.

So maybe its just highly mineralised and sets the pin pointers off. Not sure.

I will test it out with Minelabs latest pin pointer and see if it grunts or not. That will be interesting.
Click to expand...
Looks like a veinlet of pyrite in silicified greenstone (rock) but would need more info.
 
hAyyoUinAU said:
LoneWolf said:
Might have to wait for some cooler temps Shaza... :rolleyes: if ever that happens...

Very interesting hayyou... Keen to know your crush results... 8) Tin or Silver is my guess too... and a vein of Pyrite?

LW....
Click to expand...

I haven't had experience panning silver or tin..lol. I know that whatever it is, it is not malleable. It crushed with pressure.

This is at 50x

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...0637/1517115933_win_20180128_14_50_11_pro.jpg
Click to expand...
Very unlikely to be silver and tin does not occur as tin metal but as a dark and often translucent mineral. cassiterite. Go to "Series on identifying minerals" and list as many properties as possible, especially hardness and streak
 
LoneWolf said:
Some more hints might help like......Is it heavy or light?. Lots lying around or is it the only piece there.. location of your find may help too... Don't need exact place but area would help.. and a close-up to see the 'structure' of the minerals. :/ :Y:

Magnetite?, Galena? it could be... need more info to be more accurate.... :)

LW....
Click to expand...
Yes, good advice - close up and more properties. At a guess not galena - if it were magnetite it would be magnetic
 
Thanks goldieroks... :Y: It can be hard with only a pic and no info...Thank-you for your effort posting these Topics... Very handy indeed... :Y:

Now to get Everyone to look at them... O:)

LW....
 
goldierocks said:
hAyyoUinAU said:
Just crushed some and panned it out. Could only see heavy pyrites.

So maybe its just highly mineralised and sets the pin pointers off. Not sure.

I will test it out with Minelabs latest pin pointer and see if it grunts or not. That will be interesting.
Click to expand...
Looks like a veinlet of pyrite in silicified greenstone (rock) but would need more info.
Click to expand...

Thanks Goldierocks. Makes sense. It did pan as heavies, but crushed with pressure. Pyrite it is.

I guess its mineralised enough in some spots to register on metal detectors. I will still keep some pieces of it. Still cool.

Once again, thank you for your time and expertise. It is much appreciated.
 
Shaza1 said:
LoneWolf said:
Quartz I think Shaza... Topaz feels 'cool' if you put it on your lips compared to Quartz...... :) Thank-you for posting in the Correct area.... :Y:

LW....
Click to expand...
Thanks LW,
I took your advice but kinda hard to get correct temp when its 45c out here but surprisingly I took a few from my pile and they where still pretty cool to the touch on my lips even felt smidge icey in this stincker of a day lol https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...1939_7cbf5fad-a58f-47ef-880c-94f852bb0d84.jpg
Click to expand...

Shaza, some your mixed bag of different types of quartz pieces look like they are definitely waste material from aboriginal tool making. (I have done some ab site recording in my time). Were some of the pieces found on the surface?, in the same area? cheers RDD
 
Hey everyone.
Just wondering if youse can tell me what this is
It's hard solid.
Magnetic highly.
Silvery
It's 24.5 grams
An then 4.5 gravity

Here's a photo thought platinum at first but not sure now
1517623819_img_0864.jpg


1517623852_img_0863.jpg
 
goldierocks said:
Shaza1 said:
Hiya good people, just wondering what you think.. Topaz?? :) https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5200_ea85c968-2561-42ff-b16b-56a23c484d4a.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5201_ca1be90f-973d-44b4-9371-05890370af53.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5201_226126df-bd12-4850-a4ce-7bb34f9999b3.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5202_3da9ce80-3809-4dfb-af70-fc60e632222a.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5202_2e3bfe45-42f4-4e8d-93d0-9038011266ed.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5203_5c269bc5-d406-4316-80ac-7271e8f3670f.jpg
Click to expand...

It does look like it has parallel cleavage surfaces (very rare in quartz). But what is its hardness? Topaz is 8 on Moh's scale sp will scratch quartz - quartz cannot scratch topaz
Click to expand...

I just tried to scratch them with a peice of quartz defiantly no scratch marks the quartz just put like powder lines on there which just wiped off, also tryed a steel nail, stainless steel knife and a drill bit no scratches....
 
RedDirtDigger said:
Shaza1 said:
LoneWolf said:
Quartz I think Shaza... Topaz feels 'cool' if you put it on your lips compared to Quartz...... :) Thank-you for posting in the Correct area.... :Y:

LW....
Click to expand...
Thanks LW,
I took your advice but kinda hard to get correct temp when its 45c out here but surprisingly I took a few from my pile and they where still pretty cool to the touch on my lips even felt smidge icey in this stincker of a day lol https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...1939_7cbf5fad-a58f-47ef-880c-94f852bb0d84.jpg
Click to expand...

Shaza, some your mixed bag of different types of quartz pieces look like they are definitely waste material from aboriginal tool making. (I have done some ab site recording in my time). Were some of the pieces found on the surface?, in the same area? cheers RDD
Click to expand...

Hey RDD yea I mainly find them on or close to the serface in the Adelaide hills, near and old track and creek bed :) also on the higher points in the hills aswell
 
Jaxon96 said:
Hey everyone.
Just wondering if youse can tell me what this is
It's hard solid.
Magnetic highly.
Silvery
It's 24.5 grams
An then 4.5 gravity

Here's a photo thought platinum at first but not sure now https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/11799/1517623819_img_0864.jpg

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/11799/1517623852_img_0863.jpg
Click to expand...
Definitely not platinum. Streak is likely to help you most (see my recent post on streak). Photo looks like an iron oxide. You say it is slightly magnetic - one problem with the iron oxide minerals (magnetite Fe3O4, hematite Fe2O3, limonite FeO(OH)nH2O but variable) is that one can change to another near the Earth surface. For example, magnetite might change to hematite or limonite (and more commonly hematite changes to limonite). Why? If you have a look at the chemical formulae, there is a higher ratio of oxygen to iron from those on the left relative to those on the right in my list, e.g 4 to 3 (4/3 = 1.3) in magnetite but 3 to 2 (3/2 = 1.5) in hematite (and limonite is even higher again in its oxygen to iron ratio). And limonite has water as part of its composition. So near surface the atmosphere and rain are supplying oxygen and water to convert one mineral to another.

However the process may be incomplete. So you can end up with a lump that looks like limonite and has its streak, but there may be tiny remnant bits of magnetite in it, sufficient to make it appear slightly magnetic still if you don't realise that more than one mineral is present. So you need to examine it closely under your hand lens to check for this, and make sure that you are testing just one mineral at a time. For example the streak you get may represent the bulk of the specimen, but if you see different grains in it, try getting their streak by scratching the small grains with the point of a fine sharp pocket knife blade. And to test for magnetism, always use a bar magnet and hang it from a bit of string or leather thong - hold the specimen in one hand and bring the end of the magnet towards it - if the mineral you are testing is magnetic the magnet will be pulled sideways towards the grain you are testing (because it is dangling from string it is a very sensitive test). That way you can test small grains within a single larger lump of a different mineral.

Why am I confident that it is not platinum? Because platinum has a silvery colour and a strongly metallic lustre:

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...QsAQIJg&biw=1540&bih=846#imgrc=UKhatMGAY--pcM:

When you want to see what a mineral looks like, Google its name plus photo (e.g. "platinum photo"). But beware! The photos you see of minerals that can occur as the native metal (like gold. silver, copper. platinum, bismuth, osmiridium etc) will be mixed in with photos of the pure synthetic refined metal (which can look different). So in this case I googled "platinum nugget photo" to get photos of the natural mineral ("platinum mineral photo" would probably also work). Unfortunately Google is not perfect though and often even then you will get a mixture of natural and synthetic mineral photos nevertheless (e.g bismuth is such an example. because people like making synthetic crystals of native bismuth because they are so attractive).

Lots of tricks of the trade!
 
Found this lump of slag in the local goldfields on Friday. Is about fist size, highly magnetic and sends the SDC crazy.

Broke it open hoping for the best.

My question, is it from the old timers melting gold or from a steel foundry/Blacksmith?

1517701470_image.jpg
 

Similar threads

S
Detector research
Replies
6
Views
3K
TJH2620
T
WalnLiz
Agate Creek..."World class Agates on our doorstep."
Replies
8
Views
7K
jimnyjerry
jimnyjerry
WalnLiz
Detecting bigger gold in NSW...."Alluvial" vs "Eluvial"
2 3 4
Replies
76
Views
21K
Scalesy82
S
WalnLiz
"Sniping" for Gold....a rewarding way to cool off in Summer.
2 3
Replies
40
Views
12K
nucopia
nucopia
P
  • Locked
For Sale GPZ7000 plus many extras
Replies
14
Views
4K
PeterInSa
P

Latest posts

Top