Help Identifying Rocks and Minerals

[Au Seeker 3,137]

#37 maybe Hematite, but I'm guessing Magnetite, Hematite usually has to be heated before it's readily attracted to a magnet, but Magnetite will always stick to a magnet, a simple streak test on a piece of unglazed ceramic will help determine which it may be, Hematite will have a reddish/brown streak, Magnetite will have a dark gray to black streak, if any other color, not Hematite or Magnetite, but knowing the streak color will help lead to an ID, not only on this piece but on all of your samples.

#43 looks like Moonstone to me but I'm no expert.

[pondmn 260]

#32 is mariposite, #34 is tiger jasper, #43 looks like tumbled quartz, #40 looks like agate, #36 looks like malachite, #30 jasper/agate, #38 pyrite and #31 might be soapstone or serpentine --more likely the latter.

[4meter 198]

My best guesses based solely on photos for this batch:

Minerals:
32 – Malachite
34 – Quartz - var. Leopard Agate
35 – Quartz - var. Tiger's Eye
37 – Hematite - var. Specularite
38 & 39 – Pyrite
43 - Plagioclase Feldspar - var. Moonstone (polished)
45 – Sulfur (massive, check its hardness, sulfur is soft) OR rock covered in sulfur

Rocks:
31– Serpentinite (metamorphic rock) with slickensides due to faulting (jagged edges on upper surface of rock seen in right hand photo)
44 – Obsidian (volcanic glass) OR furnace slag
36, 40-42 - dyed pebbles (pretty but not natural)

Unknowns:
30 - Could be many things. Test for hardness, taste, fizz (acid test) & report you findings

What cameria do you use to take these photos? The photos are very nice.

Edited February 12, 2016 by 4meter

[MrCheese 6]

A lot of these were picked up from those bins they have in museum gift shops. I know all of the ones I picked up had a fancy name to them. I guess on some of them I got ripped off. I wasn't aware they could dye a rock. I'll still hold on to them. They are very pretty to look at. I just won't put them in the new case I am building.

4Meter, I used a Canon 40d with a 100mm macro lens. I'll be happy to show you my setup if you would like.

I have one more batch to upload. Thank you guys for being so kind to help me out.

[Au Seeker 3,137]

A lot of these were picked up from those bins they have in museum gift shops. I know all of the ones I picked up had a fancy name to them. I guess on some of them I got ripped off. I wasn't aware they could dye a rock. I'll still hold on to them. They are very pretty to look at. I just won't put them in the new case I am building.

4Meter, I used a Canon 40d with a 100mm macro lens. I'll be happy to show you my setup if you would like.

I have one more batch to upload. Thank you guys for being so kind to help me out.

Mr. Cheese,

IMHO if you like the rocks/minerals no matter if some of them are not what you thought they might be when you acquired them, put them in your display case anyway, I hoping you're displaying them for your enjoyment not what others may think of them, of course sharing your passion with others is a great thing, but do up your display to your liking/enjoyment first and foremost!!

[d_day 332]

34 is called leopard skin Jasper. It's an orbicular rhyolite from Mexico. It sells for around $3.50 a pound and cut my fair share of it. I say this is what it is with 100% certainty.

35 definitely tigers eye.

37 magnetite

38 & 39 pyrite

40 is an agate

41 looks like a silicified chrysocolla

43 test for hardness. Might be quartz, selenite, moonstone, or any other number of minerals.

44 obsidian

[4meter 198]

MrCheese, if you found the rock or mineral to be worthy of your collection then it should be there and displayed prominently because it is special to you.

Yes, I would love to see/hear how you set up and take your photos of minerals/rocks. Thanks

[MrCheese 6]

046 - Is this a shell?

047 - I don't think this one is anything special. Looks like a common rock.

048 - Quartz

049

[MrCheese 6]

050

051

052

053

[MrCheese 6]

054

055 - I wonder if this is a piece of brick that somehow got into the box I had.

056

057

[MrCheese 6]

058 - Gold Ore (This one was bought claiming it contained specks of gold)

059

060

061

[MrCheese 6]

That is the end of the collection. Everything else I have I either know what it is or it is already labeled. I really want to thank you all for helping me. 4Meter I will get some photos of the setup I used. I also picked up a porcelain plate to test some of the questionable ones. I also have some that are supposed to be florescent so I also ordered a SW/LW UV lamp to see.

[Au Seeker 3,137]

That is the end of the collection. Everything else I have I either know what it is or it is already labeled. I really want to thank you all for helping me. 4Meter I will get some photos of the setup I used. I also picked up a porcelain plate to test some of the questionable ones. I also have some that are supposed to be florescent so I also ordered a SW/LW UV lamp to see.

Be sure you have a good pair of UV safety glasses to protect your eyes from harmful damage when using the UV light!

[MrCheese 6]

I ran a magnet over all of them and I found out that #024 and #059 are magnetic. AU Seeker, thanks for the heads-up!

Edited February 21, 2016 by MrCheese

[4meter 198]

My best guesses based solely on photos for this last batch:

Minerals:
47 – Quarts pebble

48 – Quartz fragment
49 – Feldspar fragment
52 – Epidote with Hornblend (black) & Quartz seams
59 - Hematite
60 - either: Epidote, Jadite or Nephrite hardness and specific gravity will tell which is which

Rocks:
46 – Travertine (cave or hot springs, calcite deposit)

50 - Granite

53 - Sandstone with Dendrites (fern like mineral growth of manganese oxides and hydroxides)

54 - Granite fragment with possible uranium/vanadium mineral(s) (green)

56 - Gneiss

58 - Conglomerate with pyrite and gold (?)

61 - Pebbly Conglomerate with goethite cement (yellow), limonite (brownish red) & a very colorful rock clast (green/red thingy)

Unknowns:
51 - No idea

55 - Brick fragment, works for me

57 -

[4meter 198]

24 & 59 - Magnetite, hematite is not magnetic unless you crush it to a powder, then fuse it in the oxidizing flame of a blow pipe.

[MrCheese 6]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help in figuring out what was in my old collection. I've since decided to start collecting again.

 

Sorry for the delay. I said I would show you guys the setup for the photos. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo before I disassembled my setup. I've been meaning to put it back together so I could take a photo but life got in the way. Anyway I put it back together so you can see what I did. Note the camera in the photos below is not the same one I used for the photos.

I shot everything in a light tent. I used a square of reflective black plexiglass for the items to sit on. There are three 100w cone cfl 5000k lights illuminating the light tent; one on each side and another on the top. For reflective items I put a front screen over the opening. The screen had a slit in it to stick the camera lens. For items that contained traces of minerals that sparkled, I used an led bulb of the same color temp as the lights. The bulb has multiple led's inside to give a sparkle to anything that will reflect light. I use this type of bulb when I am shooting jewelry with gemstones.

I used a canon 40d (different then in the picture) with a 100mm macro lens on the front. I also used extension tubes with the lens. Photos were shot in RAW, manual mode at f16 and developed in adobe camera raw. The camera and lighting was all profiled beforehand so I was able to apply that profile to the photos when developing them so I could ensure the color was accurate.

I hope this helps someone!