Need help identifying this mineral

[Cmharliosne 0]

My mother showed me a small box of these rocks that apparently my dad got from a mine somewhere in Nevada. She told me they were gold but it doesn’t look like any gold I’ve seen before. It is gold/yellow in color, maybe even a copper color. The formation is in thin layers in a black rock. I’m thinking it’s chalcopyrite but I’ve only found one image online that looks similar to it. My father has passed away otherwise I’d ask him more about this “gold”. Let me know what other info you would like and I’ll also (hopefully) be adding pictures of this rock I have, just not sure how yet.

Any help with this identification would be greatly appreciated.

[pondmn 259]

Need pictures to Id

[Cmharliosne 0]

Here are a couple pictures of the color, the layers and what the outer rock looks like. I lightly scratched it with a piece of glass, that’s what those marks are in the top right corner. Scratched easily.

[d_day 279]

Well, judging by the regular shape of some of those, I’m going to guess they’re man made. Aside from that I’m clueless.

[Cmharliosne 0]

17 hours ago, pondmn said:

Need pictures to Id

Do any of those pictures help?

[Cmharliosne 0]

16 hours ago, d_day said:

Well, judging by the regular shape of some of those, I’m going to guess they’re man made. Aside from that I’m clueless.

I was thinking that maybe they were core drilled out then broke apart at some point. 

[Bedrock Bob 3,699]

Just now, Cmharliosne said:

Do any of those pictures help?

Its strange stuff. You are not going to have any eureka moments with this one. 

You need an analysis. It is some sort of metal alloy. No one could tell you what that is without some tests.

My advice is a hand held XRF analysis. Guys who test construction materials have a machine they can use to tell you a lot about it. Any outfit that does demolition will have a number to a local lab with these capabilities. Call them and bring the specimen to them.  Depending on the machine they have they can give you a list of elements and the percentages of these. It should not cost more than $25 and is often free.

That won't tell you "what it is" but it will tell you what is in it. And it will tell you if there is gold in it. There certainly could be. 

If you want to know more bring that info back here and post it. Maybe it will offer some clues.

It could be natural or man made. It could be about anything. But it definitely could contain gold or something else of interest. If it is a mineral of some sort it could be more valuable than the gold content. I honestly have no clue what it is. But getting an XRF analysis is the easiest way to get some basic info.

Hope that helps. You have something strange there. Don't let the silence on this board fool you. It is something special. We just don't know what to think about it. 

 

Bob

[fuss 37]

Have you tried a streak test?

[Cmharliosne 0]

2 hours ago, Bedrock Bob said:

Its strange stuff. You are not going to have any eureka moments with this one. 

You need an analysis. It is some sort of metal alloy. No one could tell you what that is without some tests.

My advice is a hand held XRF analysis. Guys who test construction materials have a machine they can use to tell you a lot about it. Any outfit that does demolition will have a number to a local lab with these capabilities. Call them and bring the specimen to them.  Depending on the machine they have they can give you a list of elements and the percentages of these. It should not cost more than $25 and is often free.

That won't tell you "what it is" but it will tell you what is in it. And it will tell you if there is gold in it. There certainly could be. 

If you want to know more bring that info back here and post it. Maybe it will offer some clues.

It could be natural or man made. It could be about anything. But it definitely could contain gold or something else of interest. If it is a mineral of some sort it could be more valuable than the gold content. I honestly have no clue what it is. But getting an XRF analysis is the easiest way to get some basic info.

Hope that helps. You have something strange there. Don't let the silence on this board fool you. It is something special. We just don't know what to think about it. 

 

Bob

Wow, thank you for the very detailed response. You explained that all very well.

I’ll get a hold of some companies to find out who would be willing to work with me and get them a sample to test. As soon as I get the results, I’ll get back with you.

Until we get the lab results, any guesses as to what it’s consisting of are welcomed. Mainly just as a game to see who gets closest.

[Cmharliosne 0]

1 hour ago, fuss said:

Have you tried a streak test?

I haven’t tried a streak test. I’ve never done a streak test before so I’m not 100% sure how. Should I just rub in on a piece of tile? Uncoated tile as in the back of a flooring tile, correct? Does it matter if the “rock” portion rubs it, or would we want the “metallic” part to rub? I don’t think I could easily rub the metallic part flat against a tile because the rock portion curves around it a bit. I might be able to rub the edge though.

[fuss 37]

yes back of a tile works. Try it in a couple different spots and see what you get.