Help with Rock ID

[jedijackie 0]

Hi everyone! 

I found a interesting rock with metallic luster here at home in Texas. I think it might be a mIneral rock but I have know clue as to what type of mineral. I am new to the forum and not very educated when it comes to rocks and mineral types.  Thankfully we have sites like this one for rookies like me that don’t have a clue about rocks and fossils. I have posted pics of the rock and would love to know what everyone else thinks about what mineral type it could be, thanks y’all!

[Old Tom 972]

Looks to me like a piece of Babbitt material from an over pour of a main bearing.  You would have to give more statistics to determine more about it.  Weight, is it mailable, has it been cleaned, etc.  Looks very interesting to say the least.  

   Old Tom  

[jedijackie 0]

2 hours ago, Old Tom said:

Looks to me like a piece of Babbitt material from an over pour of a main bearing.  You would have to give more statistics to determine more about it.  Weight, is it mailable, has it been cleaned, etc.  Looks very interesting to say the least.  

   Old Tom  

Hi old Tom, 

i did indeed conduct a streak test not sure if I did it right I will post a pic of the result

[jedijackie 0]

2 hours ago, Old Tom said:

Looks to me like a piece of Babbitt material from an over pour of a main bearing.  You would have to give more statistics to determine more about it.  Weight, is it mailable, has it been cleaned, etc.  Looks very interesting to say the least.  

   Old Tom  

Ironically I found this rock outside my home in the dirt with other rocks. 

[4meter 169]

The depressions in the sample make me think it was melted & poured; the coloration reminds me of an alloy (2 metals melted together) of some sort.  I'm going with Old Tom's "Babbitt".

Edited June 21, 2018 by 4meter

[Saul R W 741]

I second Old Tom's query for more info.  Is it heavy or light for its size?  Malleable or crispy-crunchy?  Was the streak taken from the primary mineral?  The piece appears to me to be composed of several distinct minerals, and I'm wondering if they would give different streaks?  How hard is it using the Mohs scale?

In one photo above, it almost looks like it left a mark on an index finger.  Could the primary mineral be graphite?

[Reno Chris 424]

Its a piece of melted metal. If heavy perhaps Babbitt or lead, if light, perhaps aluminum. But its not a rock or a natural mineral.

[Saul R W 741]

2 hours ago, Reno Chris said:

Its a piece of melted metal. If heavy perhaps Babbitt or lead, if light, perhaps aluminum. But its not a rock or a natural mineral.

Chris, I thought so too, until I looked closer.  Using the magnified view, there are what appear to be cleavage planes, very small, covering much of the surface.  And then there are what appear to me to be several small pockets of crystallization (one of the more obvious pockets can be seen at bottom of second photo, just above thumb).  I thought of a melted chunk of aluminum from a campfire, or maybe a chunk of Babbitt material like others suggested, or even some of the gunk that builds up under a grinding wheel, but the close-up view doesn't seem to bear that out.  I could be wrong (and often am).

 

[Greg L 21]

Saul, you nailed it worked stone 

[LipCa 350]

Definitely not a stone.....

[Saul R W 741]

3 hours ago, Greg L said:

Saul, you nailed it worked stone 

Hello, Greg.  Hogwash.  It's not "worked" anything.

[Saul R W 741]

Here's a chunk of graphite that displays similar tiny cleavage under magnification.  This entire discussion is pure speculation, though, unless we learn more about weight, hardness, et cetera.

 

[Greg L 21]

I find the chunks of graphite and coal as well and think that was used to pigment the art pieces. When I washed the one I posted it lost a lot of detail, just one of my crazy theories though, no basis in reality.

[Reno Chris 424]

Quote

there are what appear to be cleavage planes, very small, covering much of the surface. 

Although it has some angular features, it also has some very much melted features of rounding with probable bubble areas. Graphite rarely has a nice metallic surface, I think that photo is mostly a matter of photo reflection appearance.  Graphite is only slightly metallic looking and also something that never looks melted. The metallic silver streak also says metal (Graphite has a steak that looks like pencil lead). In the end its impossible to be 100% sure. That's why identifying something from a photo or two is hard. The angular features could be an imprint of what it sat on in its melted form as it cooled. Also some metals will partly crystallize if they cool slowly.

I'm still reasonably confident its some melted metal.