I believe this is turquois, can y’all help me out

[Josh Finkus 5]

Found this in a creek at my house shoveling stones around over a period of s few months.  Outside of Charlotte North Carolina.  Also have crystal like purple with same host rock as some of the could be turquois with White solid swirls through some areas 

[Au Seeker 2,512]

While North Carolina is a treasure trove of many gemstones I have never seen or heard of turquoise being found in the state.

Not sure what all you have there but I'm sure none is turquoise, maybe other members can take a guess or know what some of it is.

[Josh Finkus 5]

4 hours ago, Au Seeker said:

While North Carolina is a treasure trove of many gemstones I have never seen or heard of turquoise being found in the state.

Not sure what all you have there but I'm sure none is turquoise, maybe other members can take a guess or know what some of it is.

10  and 11 picture starting from bottom,I’m sure is Obsidian it has somewhat of an appearance like glass.  I believe there is a mine or 2 in North Carolina that produce turquois.  I have found copper nuggets, a little gold, silver, Smokey quarts, and other minerals lots of iron ore from the same creek.  I’m going to post a picture of some turquois I believe out of Arizona I saw on the internet and show you one stone in general that makes me believe it’s turquois.  I have yet to try polishing any of these

[Bedrock Bob 2,098]

It does not look like turquoise to me. It looks way too hard and glassy.

 It does not look like obsidian either. I didn't think there was any obsidian in the east. Anyhoo, I think you have something else there. What exactly I do not know. My guess is that it is much harder than obsidian (or turquoise). I would suspect (some of this) material to possibly be the product of a ceramic kiln, smelter or casting process. 

Some of the pieces do resemble sheen obsidian and it certainly fractures like obsidian. The inclusions and cortex does not look right to me though. 

…I cant help but notice how many times in your posts you say "I believe". Beliefs about rocks fascinate me almost as much as the knowledge about them. Thank you for posting your photos and your beliefs. 

[Au Seeker 2,512]

7 hours ago, Au Seeker said:

While North Carolina is a treasure trove of many gemstones I have never seen or heard of turquoise being found in the state.

Not sure what all you have there but I'm sure none is turquoise, maybe other members can take a guess or know what some of it is.

 

3 hours ago, Josh Finkus said:

10  and 11 picture starting from bottom,I’m sure is Obsidian it has somewhat of an appearance like glass.  I believe there is a mine or 2 in North Carolina that produce turquois.  I have found copper nuggets, a little gold, silver, Smokey quarts, and other minerals lots of iron ore from the same creek.  I’m going to post a picture of some turquois I believe out of Arizona I saw on the internet and show you one stone in general that makes me believe it’s turquois.  I have yet to try polishing any of these

Josh,

I was a bit rude for not welcoming you to the forum, so welcome glad to have you here!

Well never let it be said that you can't teach an old dog a new trick...upon further research I found a website that does indeed mention that turquoise can be found in North Carolina, albeit it specfically says western North Carolina, that doesn't mean it can't be found in central North Carolina since you say you found these specimens around Charlotte.

http://www.ashevilleguidebook.com/wnc/outdoor-recreation/rock_hounding.htm

I visit North Carolina often epecially central North Carolina but not for gemstones but instead for gold so I'm not an expert on most gemstones but I do keep any possible gemstones I find when looking for gold, but I think it will be very hard for most here to indentify any North Carolina turquoise from photos alone since most here are more familiar with turquoise from the western states which I would assume would be a bit different from North Carolina turquoise, even turquoise from different western states vary in how it looks.

I would suggest you seek out a gemologist in and around Charlotte which there are many in that area for help with IDing your specimens, and be sure to let us know what you find out.

Again there are members here who are much more well versed in rocks and gemstones than I so I'm sure you'll get more replies on what they think you may have!

 

[d_day 153]

Obsidian? In North Carolina? Not likely. There are no known occurrences of obsidian east of the Mississippi. The geology of everything east of the Mississippi is far too old for obsidian to exist. Any obsidian that may have been in the area would have long since degraded into perlite. 

As to the turquoise, well, none of those stones look anything like any turquoise I’ve ever seen. Turquoise has a hardness of 5 to 6, and a specific gravity between 2.6 and 2.9. Test your pieces and if they don’t fall into these ranges then you definitely don’t have turquoise.

[Josh Finkus 5]

5 minutes ago, Au Seeker said:

 

Josh,

I was a bit rude for not welcoming you to the forum, so welcome glad to have you here!

Well never let it be said that you can't teach an old dog a new trick...upon further research I found a website that does indeed mention that turquoise can be found in North Carolina, albeit it specfically says western North Carolina, that doesn't mean it can't be found in mid North Carolina since you say you found these specimens around Charlotte.

http://www.ashevilleguidebook.com/wnc/outdoor-recreation/rock_hounding.htm

I visit North Carolina often but not for gemstones but instead for gold so I'm not an expert on most gemstones but I do keep any possible gemstones find when loking for gold, but I think it will be very hard for most here to indentify any North Carolina turquoise from photos alone since most here are fimilar with turquoise from the westenr states which I would assume would be a bit different from North Carolina turquoise, even turquoise from different western states vary in how it looks.

I would suggest you seek out a gemologist in and around Charlotte which there are many in that area for help with IDing your specimens, and be sure to let us know what you find out.

Again there are members here who are much more well versed in rocks and gemstones than I so I'm sure you'll get more replies on what they think you may have!

 

http://www.ashevilleguidebook.com/wnc/outdoor-recreation/rock_hounding.htm

I appreciate your response back.  Yeah this definitely a great place for people to share finds.  I have a few places Ive thought about going to to find out what they are, just finding the time to do it is another question.

Thank you sir

[Morlock 1,070]

Some of those photos look like art glass or perhaps even some type of slag. As far as the rest of them, it's hard to tell. Without having them in hand, it would only be a guess. 

Edited April 14 by Morlock

[Josh Finkus 5]

Bob thank you for your insight sir, like many here I’m really not sure what I have.  Believe has a wide range of meaning, but if I have to, I guess saying this is my opinion sounds better and easily understood.  Now believe and belief, two different words somewhat of the same meanings. With all that was said, so to be not confused it was my opinion/ assumption that I thought it to be turquois.  This is why I’m here though, to get more experienced opinions.

Thank you again,

 

[Josh Finkus 5]

6 hours ago, Bedrock Bob said:

 

After doing some research on the property, when you said furnace I got to looking somethings up.  Turns out a mile from where I found this is an old civil furnace in the middle of the woods directly beside the creek.  Still standing.....Anyhow slag glass, lots of slag glass.  👍

 

[Josh Finkus 5]

6 hours ago, Au Seeker said:

 

Josh,

I was a bit rude for not welcoming you to the forum, so welcome glad to have you here!

Well never let it be said that you can't teach an old dog a new trick...upon further research I found a website that does indeed mention that turquoise can be found in North Carolina, albeit it specfically says western North Carolina, that doesn't mean it can't be found in central North Carolina since you say you found these specimens around Charlotte.

http://www.ashevilleguidebook.com/wnc/outdoor-recreation/rock_hounding.htm

I visit North Carolina often epecially central North Carolina but not for gemstones but instead for gold so I'm not an expert on most gemstones but I do keep any possible gemstones I find when looking for gold, but I think it will be very hard for most here to indentify any North Carolina turquoise from photos alone since most here are more familiar with turquoise from the western states which I would assume would be a bit different from North Carolina turquoise, even turquoise from different western states vary in how it looks.

I would suggest you seek out a gemologist in and around Charlotte which there are many in that area for help with IDing your specimens, and be sure to let us know what you find out.

Again there are members here who are much more well versed in rocks and gemstones than I so I'm sure you'll get more replies on what they think you may have!

 

Slag glass from an old civil war furnace

[Bedrock Bob 2,098]

3 hours ago, Josh Finkus said:

After doing some research on the property, when you said furnace I got to looking somethings up.  Turns out a mile from where I found this is an old civil furnace in the middle of the woods directly beside the creek.  Still standing.....Anyhow slag glass, lots of slag glass.  👍

 

Refractory waste has been the subject of much discussion here on Nuggetshooter. You can become an expert on the various forms of slag and flux glass around here. 

They were doing something at that furnace. I bet that glass tells a story. I truly believe that! 

It is different stuff than slag that comes from an ore smelt. They were either making something or re-working slag. It looks strange to me. Like Morlock said , kinda like art glass.

I have seen a lot of similar stuff at a bronze casting foundry in Santa Fe. Swirly, milky black glass used in the pot to cover he molten metal. It flowed out and covered the metal when they poured it in the molds. When it was cool they would smash the glass to reveal the casting. There was piles of this stuff laying all around. Some looked metallic and some looked like opal or obsidian. I really thought I had found something until I realized it was coming from the foundry.

I wonder what they were making? I would bet they were casting something or firing something. A little poking around and some research might be in order. It could certainly be a lot better discovery than some flaky turquoise or heavily included obsidian. You might find some of whatever they may have been making with a detector?

[Josh Finkus 5]

57 minutes ago, Bedrock Bob said:

Refractory waste has been the subject of much discussion here on Nuggetshooter. You can become an expert on the various forms of slag and flux glass around here. 

They were doing something at that furnace. I bet that glass tells a story. I truly believe that! 

It is different stuff than slag that comes from an ore smelt. They were either making something or re-working slag. It looks strange to me. Like Morlock said , kinda like art glass.

I have seen a lot of similar stuff at a bronze casting foundry in Santa Fe. Swirly, milky black glass used in the pot to cover he molten metal. It flowed out and covered the metal when they poured it in the molds. When it was cool they would smash the glass to reveal the casting. There was piles of this stuff laying all around. Some looked metallic and some looked like opal or obsidian. I really thought I had found something until I realized it was coming from the foundry.

I wonder what they were making? I would bet they were casting something or firing something. A little poking around and some research might be in order. It could certainly be a lot better discovery than some flaky turquoise or heavily included obsidian. You might find some of whatever they may have been making with a detector?

A couple other finds 

smokey quartz

most of a quartz arrowhead

Im going to ask a few locals around the house, I’m original from Arkansas, have you tried  Crater of Diamonds State Park Murfreesboro, AR.  Pretty fun even if you don’t find diamonds 

[Bedrock Bob 2,098]

That is an awesome little fat point! 

I have only been to Arkansas once. Little Rock. I had a blast. Didn't find any diamonds though. 

I was in a little pub on the riverside downtown. One of those half underground bars with a window out over the river. Karaoke night. Lots of college girls having a great time.

My partner and I worked at a NASA facility and we were there for a convention. We convinced a dozen of these ladies that we were astronauts in training to fly on the space shuttle. We had lots of NASA bling and showed them photos of us doing cool NASA stuff. We talked a good line of schite and filled in the gaps with Jello shots. In the wee hours of the morning we wound up on the other side of that river in a hot springs filled with leggy young ladies and us two astronauts.

I was impressed with Little Rock and Arkansas in general. It was a very nice place to visit. I didn't find any diamonds though.