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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums > Prospecting, Mineral Collecting and Treasure Hunting Forums > Prospectors and Rockhounding Field Work
CoolGems312
We could use your honest opinion on this object. A friend suggested meteorite, even though there wasn't much fusion crust left on it. We did some research online an the closest resemblance was the hexahedrite with the blue fusion crust. We also did some home tests; this is what we know:
The dull grey/blue exterior was grazed with a small grinding wheel. It now looks like shiny new metal with only a few spots that show rust after getting it wet. Has weak magnetic attraction, leaves light grey streaks on non-glazed porcelain, heavier than other rocks of it's size, looks like chrome inside when sawed, but has micro bubbles when chipped off. After chipping off a small piece, we hit with a hammer. It crushed like stone with some very shiny specks that flattened out, and the rest turned to powder. All particles were picked up by a magnet.
We have looked at thousands of pictures of meteorites and meteor-wrongs, foundry slag & ore, and we only found three that were close. All of which were confirmed meteorites. Unfortunately, origin and history are unknown. What do you think? If not meteorite, do you have a clue of what it might be? Thank you for your time.
MikeS
Cool specimen CoolGems312! Welcome to the forums! thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

It looks like a mixed metal ore to me. If it were a nickel-iron meteorite I would think it would be strongly magnetic. The blue and purple minerals look like the copper minerals like azurite. If the silver colored metal had a dark coating on it that could indicate that it is silver. Silver will oxidize(rust) black. Copper will oxidize green/blue. However neither copper or silver are magnetic enough to get effects as described. It may have a magnetic metal mixed in there like iron or nickel. Silver, Iron and Nickel will all leave a grey streak. I don't think it rules out the idea that it could be a meteorite. Hope this helps!
CoolGems312
It does help quite a bit, thanks. Gives us new ideas to search for.
Thanks =)
Dave S.
Hello CoolGems !! You really have an interesting specimen there! My best guess so far is that it is Galena with iron (and maybe silver). The blue/purple color may be Azurite and/ or Bornite (copper minerals). And the small Reddish brown spots may be Sphalerite. You may want to do a Home Specific Gravity Test.

For a home test, you need to get a weight of the stone (
use an accurate scale that can read a tenth of a gram, digital if possible).

Then you need the weight of the rock's Water Displacement( use the same scale, but Zero the scale with a small cup of water on it. Then tie some thread around the rock. Dip the rock in the cup using the thread, but don't let the rock touch on the sides or the bottom of the cup. Keep the rock just barely underwater. The scale should show a "weight" of the water that has moved.)

Then take the first number ( rock weight )
Divide by the second number (
water weight )

The result should be the sample's approximate Specific Gravity (
this number represents how many times heavier than water the rock sample is)

Then from there we can narrow down the possibilities of what the rock is. research.gif


GeoMatt
First rule of specimen identification - what geologic environment did you find it in? Are we talking a corn field in Iowa, or in an old mining district in Montana, etc....
fenixsmom
They said location and history are unknown.
CoolGems312
It took a little bit, but we were finally able to do the specific gravity test and it came up to being
5.76grams
We also added a few new photos cause we had to cut a small slice off.
swizz
QUOTE (CoolGems312 @ Mar 5 2015, 03:04 PM) *
It took a little bit, but we were finally able to do the specific gravity test and it came up to being
5.76grams

I am intrigued! Confused on your Specific Gravity test result though.
Is 5.76 "grams" the weight of the specimen..... or did your Specific Gravity test indicate a numerical value of 5.76?
The Specific Gravity number indicates how much denser/heavier relative to water the material is. Example: 5.76 Specific Gravity result indicates that a material is 5.76 times heavier than water.
I hope we can narrow this one down, it's an odd one.
MikeS
Well CoolGems321, I think with that the specific gravity test (5.76 times the weight of water) rules out a meteorite. However it leads me to believe that you may have a piece of Arsenic.
Arsenic is commonly mixed with slight amounts of antimony, nickel, silver, iron and/or sulfur which could explain the mild magnetic effects and other physical properties.

There is a way to test your piece for Arsenic which it sounds like you have already done more than once. When you struck it with a hammer or cut it do you smell garlic?
swizz
mmmmmmm..... garlic

..... also I just found this dang nice downloadable mineral ID chart thingy which could help narrow things down: Mineral ID
Dave S.
If the test results were 5.76 that helps narrow it down.
MikeS
may have the best guess yet with Arsenic. But there are multiple minerals in that rock specimen.
-- Here are a few relevant minerals with (gravity range):

Arsenic (5.6 - 5.7 ) , Antimony (6.6 - 6.9) , Silver (10.1 - 11.1)

NickelIron (meteorite) (7.0 - 7.8 ) , Magnetite (4.9 - 5.2) , Chlorargyrite (5.5-5.6)

Hematite (4.9 - 5.3 ) , Arsenopyrite (6.0 - 6.2) ,

Linarite (blue mineral ?) (5.35 ) , Azurite (blue ?) (3.7 - 3.8) , Bornite (blue/purple?) (4.9 - 5.1)


Hope this helps!
CoolGems312
Hm, well thanks for your opinions, We are truly confused at what it could be,
but we are going to search a few of the suggestions and do a few more
home tests =) Thanks a bunch everyone ^^ we will keep updated.
fenixsmom
Maybe you can take it to a lapidary shop or a college or a museum?
swizz
QUOTE (fenixsmom @ Mar 6 2015, 03:17 PM) *
Maybe you can take it to a lapidary shop or a college or a museum?

That's an excellent idea. I once had a rare fossil (Stromatolite) successfully ID'd at CSU.
CoolGems312
Thanks again =) We will look into this a bunch more. we have figured out that we actually did the specific gravity test wrong the first time,
and its 6.67 grams for the specific gravity.
Snacksquatch
Hey Gems, not sure if youre still following, but the CSM museum can do an XRF test for you that may help shed some light on it. Thats a pretty dense material, but also keep in mind that specific gravity is most useful for ID with a pure specimen too. If youve got varying minerals present, that could skew your data.

Good luck!
Yoda
I'm far from an expert, but at 6.67, and given what it looks like (dead ringer), I put my money on cassiterite (tin ore).
AirBreather
I hate to ask novice questions in an amateurish way, but.... When I walk down forest service roads while hunting or hiking there are massive pieces of what appears to be quartz, mixed in with other elements. Are these pieces quartz or other minerals, I am constantly picking pieces up and tossing them, I can't keep them all...lol...Please forgive the beginners questions. I really thought I was better at identifying specimens. Thanks.
AirBreather
I put this question here wrongly, sorry....
Denise
No problem AirBreather, I will just answer here as well. happy088.gif

Sounds like you are describing quartz. It is "the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar."
CoolGems312
Hey guys, thanks so much for your feed back and support! We still have no idea what it is yet, but
we have done more tests in the last year. Ps- Sorry, I had forgotten my log in information there for a while.
Anyway, here is what we know:

After nearly two years of research, and having it tested at a state university, we were able to discover some minerals
that it contained, but are still not 100% positive of what the item actually is. The test results show:
Cr/F/Fe/Mn/C/Si/Co as well as several small spikes that were unidentified. Under a microscope, it shows red, yellow,
green, white, and clear crystalline. There was also some rust with a week attraction to magnet. The item is not man made,
that much we were able to figure out.
EMac
The results you gave sound a lot like SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy) results. Aside from having access to such a machine, the key I've found is the analyst interpreting the results. If you have the spectra charts and pictures showing the areas they were taken from, along with parameters used, that would be helpful. For me, they'd be interesting, but I'm pretty clueless there. Posting them in a materials forum or similar might yield you results; particularly if the person has seen such a similar animal previously.
CoolGems312
We have new information and I may post a new post as it might be easier.
Thanks so much to everyone for helping out, Each new advice has led us one step closer to
identifying this odd object. =)
CoolGems312
Updated Information-

Hello Colorado Prospector!

Thank you all for your input and interest in this object. We have had a couple of more tests done on it. we sent the first test results and a few photos to a lab in Hawaii and his opinion was no viable reason for an alloy, "extraterrestrial or man-made". For the second test we sent a small sample to California with test # 1's results and his opinion was a "chromium alloy of some sort". But he had no clue what kind or use. For the third test we drove four hours in a snow storm to keep our appointment at UMN. It was a very disappointing, unprofessional, disrespectful 5 min meeting. He did not examine the rock at all other than to slam it on the desk and did 1 XRF test. He then told us to have a nice day and He would email us the results. No opinion or nothing. While watching the weather channel one evening, they aired two segments, one hour each called "the birth and death of a planet" and "it fell from space". We were shocked to see images of 4.5 billion year old organisms that seemed to match some of the things we see in our home magnified photos of things found in a meteorite. In our further research, we found out the shape of an oriented meteorite could be worth 10 times as that of gold. Nasa posted a drawing of the shape and discussed it in detail, they don't have one to post a photo of. Our item appears to match that description to a T. They also stated that the material inside is not what's important. The images you see in the photos are not seen if you hold in your hand. Many people have commented on the "blue" there are a couple of websites that talk about that, but you must dig deep. There's a secret about the blue.. we will talk about that later. Many of the professionals we dealt with said they are not interested in proving it because of the bureaucracy and expense. After several years and more than a few bucks, our hands are tied. We know it's illegal to sell and undocumented meteorite as real, but it's not illegal to list it as the worlds best fake meteorite with several bonus features, too many to list here. We are not meteorite professionals, but after researching this item, I am pretty sure I could teach a college level course. We will post a few photos later this weekend. We were very excited to see that this went to a hot topic status.
Thank you all.
CoolGems312
updated photo
Coalbunny
Chromite....
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