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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums > Prospecting, Mineral Collecting and Treasure Hunting Forums > Gem and Mineral Specimen Finds or Processes
lostnewb
Probably common and not very impressive but dont know what it is. Any help would be appreciated. Like my username "LostNewb" Thanks in advance.

Chris

Click to view attachment
Crusty
Got me; never seen anything like it, but it is pretty cool!
Dypheron
Is it thin layers of almost transparent material? That's how some of it looks, if that's the case it's probably mica. Certainly a weird and interesting find.
Abell
It looks like tourmaline to me.

QUOTE (lostnewb @ Aug 4 2013, 08:17 PM) *
Probably common and not very impressive but dont know what it is. Any help would be appreciated. Like my username "LostNewb" Thanks in advance.

Chris

Click to view attachment

lostnewb
QUOTE (Dypheron @ Aug 5 2013, 09:37 AM) *
Is it thin layers of almost transparent material? That's how some of it looks, if that's the case it's probably mica. Certainly a weird and interesting find.


It for sure not Mica which is what I was thinking in the beginning. Odd I have never found anything like it. Has a crystal structure almost.
lostnewb
QUOTE (Abell @ Aug 5 2013, 12:39 PM) *
It looks like tourmaline to me.

Didnt think of that. Very well could be. I found a spot where there is a ton of it. Some even in pink shades. odd. Would anyone else be interested in making a trip up to see. About a 6 mile hike that is not an easy one.
Caveman
Woody, what do you think? Tourmaline? The fact that pink is there too leads me in that direction - but I'm not knowledgeable in rock id at all.
lostnewb
QUOTE (Caveman @ Aug 5 2013, 05:07 PM) *
Woody, what do you think? Tourmaline? The fact that pink is there too leads me in that direction - but I'm not knowledgeable in rock id at all.

I did throw some very red rocks like this down the hill. Didn't have enough hands to get it up the incline I was at. They were a red pink color. Sorry for the stupidity I am new. I know a good amount about silver abs gold in CO but lost on others. That's why ya'll are great. Thanks for the help.
Abell
I've found a couple of nice sized chunks of this in the past on a couple of hikes. If you've found pink that would be very cool. If I still lived in Colorado I'd take you up on that hike thumbsupsmileyanim.gif !
QUOTE (lostnewb @ Aug 5 2013, 02:34 PM) *
Didnt think of that. Very well could be. I found a spot where there is a ton of it. Some even in pink shades. odd. Would anyone else be interested in making a trip up to see. About a 6 mile hike that is not an easy one.

Crusty
6 miles in or round trip? lol Either way, I'm in!
Woody
Yes,

Sure looks like tourmaline to me. Tourmaline is a mineral of various colors and it occurs frequently in igneous and metamorphic rocks from around our area. Unfortunately the gemmy kind is extremely rare and is rarely found near the surface. for a possible second choice I would compair it to Hornblende. I have some of this stuff laying around here somewhere and I was trying to find it and take a pic. Sorry no luck, Woody.
lostnewb
QUOTE (Crusty @ Aug 5 2013, 08:31 PM) *
6 miles in or round trip? lol Either way, I'm in!

Round trip and if my 4 year old can do it anyone can right. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif
Woody
I'm changing my vote to Hornblende,

Looks to me like it is worn or erroded evenly accrossed the entire rock surface. If this were Tourmaline I would expect the edges would be slightly higher than the sourounding matrix. Hornblende is a softer material, Tourmaline should resist a little more than that host rock. Just a guess vote though.
lostnewb
QUOTE (Woody @ Aug 6 2013, 11:01 AM) *
I'm changing my vote to Hornblende,

Looks to me like it is worn or erroded evenly accrossed the entire rock surface. If this were Tourmaline I would expect the edges would be slightly higher than the sourounding matrix. Hornblende is a softer material, Tourmaline should resist a little more than that host rock. Just a guess vote though.

That would make sense. There is normally titanium found around hornblende correct. signs021.gif
Abell
I didn't think of hornblende. I think you're right Woody, I'm changing my vote to hornblende as well thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

I'd really like to see some of the pink stuff you found when you get back up there! I know that tourmaline can be pink.

I'm changing my vote to Hornblende,

Looks to me like it is worn or erroded evenly accrossed the entire rock surface. If this were Tourmaline I would expect the edges would be slightly higher than the sourounding matrix. Hornblende is a softer material, Tourmaline should resist a little more than that host rock. Just a guess vote though.
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lostnewb
Hijacking but I think I found some gold. It is in a buttery looking rock. I will post picks tomorrow but just got home. Need to dry off.
Caveman
Can you really highjack your own thread? huh.gif Looking forward to those pics!
DenverDan
Hey Lostnewb, the rock you started this thread with also may contain spears of a mineral called Riebeckite. The picture looks a whole lot like some of the pegmatites I've seen in the Saint Peters Dome area near Colorado Springs. Both Hornblende and Riebeckite are in the same mineral group, so it doesn't really matter which it is. I agree with Crusty, it's a nice looking sample either way.

DavidS
Looks like Tourmaline to me, some of the black spots that are not elongated (like the one in the middle toward the bottom) seem to have a hexagonal crystal structure. The best way for you to test it at home, would be a scratch test. Tourmaline should not be scratched easily by a sharp piece of quartz. If a piece of quartz does scratch it fairly easily, then it could be another mineral. But the hexagonal crystal shapes suggest that it is NOT "Riebeckite" or "Hornblende", both of those minerals are a bit softer than quartz as well.
RhodoRose
Riebeckite. Scroll down and enlarge to compare to an identical looking piece from Mt. Rosa -

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