what kind of nugget is this?

[spaghettigold]

Had this in my gravity sluice .Eny ideas what it is?
Oh ,and hello again to all,its been some time.

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Spaghettigold, I owe you an apology. I get kind of flip with rock posters sometimes. I can't help with your original question on the nugget thingy, but from the mineral specimens you showed later, that's quite an ore body you're in, and the likelihood of precious metals is pretty good, I should think.

Don't forget microscopic gold and silver, invisible to the naked eye. That rock reminds me of some I collected in northern Nevada, 30+ years ago.

 

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[spaghettigold]

That fake piece would not fool me. Doesn't look like anything I've seen.

I never saw something similar either but i was in a new location,found it in my sluice and it looked to me like these spongy goldnuggets where the unnoble metals have rotten out ,just without being gold.
And since i'm a beginner in the minerals/geology field i'm a easy victim.
I.m far away of having it seen it all because normally i was working in rivers in the plains where the glaciers brought the material and i was far away from the sources and the geology.
Wan't be the last time i get fooled probably

 

[spaghettigold]

Spaghettigold, I owe you an apology. I get kind of flip with rock posters sometimes. I can't help with your original question on the nugget thingy, but from the mineral specimens you showed later, that's quite an ore body you're in, and the likelihood of precious metals is pretty good, I should think.

Don't forget microscopic gold and silver, invisible to the naked eye. That rock reminds me of some I collected in northern Nevada, 30+ years ago.

Nothing to apologise Kray.
You delivered a plausible explanation, humor and used only 1 word.
That was pretty efficient.
cheers

Regarding the rocks i also looked up in the net for companys doing assays here where i live but nothing shows up as there is no mining culture here besides gravel plants.
Maybe if i contact the universitys around here i can make something happen.
But even if the assays would show good results the further procedure would be uncertain.
In the industrialized eurozone the laws and regs. are designed to destroy smallscale ops.
There,s no easy claim filing procedure like you guys have i know of.
The mineral collector i got to know told me he applyed for a permit for a artisanal mine and they not even answered his request.
Yesterday i read about application procedure for the regions i,m intressted in.
Besides all the EIRS,Feasability,bond -things and stuff not only you have to show that there,s profitable amounts ,you also have to show "industrial scale"potential" Thats how you kill artisanal mining by law.
Then you have a antimining brainwashed Nymby crowd,(agitated by ngo's,) running around with the newest cellphones ,cars and other things full of metals that must be mined that may oppose you on local level.
Theyre brains are not able to connect the two sides of the medal.
With the actual permit i have i can't use eny motorized or mechanical equipment,even my pry bar is not allowed to be longer then 3 feet and i think i'm allowed to take only 25 kilograms of hardrock material per day.

So there have to be really good assay results needed to make me hammer out ore with a handchisel ,partly while snorkeling because some of the veins are running under water,instead of hittin the bedrock with my grav. dredge setup.(but i would do it)

P.s.Tacitus figured it out long time ago

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I never saw something similar either but i was in a new location,found it in my sluice and it looked to me like these spongy goldnuggets where the unnoble metals have rotten out ,just without being gold.
And since i'm a beginner in the minerals/geology field i'm a easy victim.
I.m far away of having it seen it all because normally i was working in rivers in the plains where the glaciers brought the material and i was far away from the sources and the geology.
Wan't be the last time i get fooled probably

I was referring to the gold foil covered lead blob that Underdurden posted.
Your doing right by questioning what you find.

Per a potentially load deposit and all the regulations...you have to weigh the reward vs. risk. I know what I would do.
For those miners in the US..these types of draconian laws are in our future if we don't come together and start acting in unison on a national scale.

Back to your specific gravity test..can you provide your method and math?
Maybe we can help you figure it out. By the spongy appearance it may have trapped air inside the specimen. I'd try and let it soak for 48 hours before weighing in water.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Your specimen might be too small, but I was reading about calculating the specific gravity of wood.
It is also porous. There is a displacement method that is used with the sample being coated in paraffin to prevent water from soaking into the wood.

I think without altering your specimen, it may be difficult to determine the specific gravity accurately.

 

[arizau]

weight i will determine tomorrow.Got my scale still in my car as i just came back from a trip to a new creek sunday evening and had no time yet to straighten up things.It,s slightly heavy but not heavy like gold or lead .
Malleability ..i,m afraid to break it,i think its,s pretty hard.Streak,against what should i rub it?
location is south europe(sorry,the anti-small scale mining/eco mafia is reading).Gold there (in the creek)is chunky,mineralized veins all over(i took samples) Magnetite balls in the creek alluvials bigger then my hand.

For a streak test, rub it on the underside of a porcelain toilet tank lid. Is it actually metal or a rock? Have you tested it with a strong magnet?

 

[spaghettigold]

I was referring to the gold foil covered lead blob that Underdurden posted.
Your doing right by questioning what you find.

Per a potentially load deposit and all the regulations...you have to weigh the reward vs. risk. I know what I would do.
For those miners in the US..these types of draconian laws are in our future if we don't come together and start acting in unison on a national scale.

Back to your specific gravity test..can you provide your method and math?
Maybe we can help you figure it out. By the spongy appearance it may have trapped air inside the specimen. I'd try and let it soak for 48 hours before weighing in water.

Ok that's the second time i did'nt get it now.
For the test i weighed the thing dry.Then filled a cup with water ,put the cup on the scale and zeroed it.Then i rolled some yarn around the thing and let it hang in there without touching the cup and noted the weight it showed. Then i divided the dry weight through the weight in the water.
I try your soaking method and look what happens.

 

[spaghettigold]

For a streak test, rub it on the underside of a porcelain toilet tank lid. Is it actually metal or a rock? Have you tested it with a strong magnet?

It's all plastic tanks arizau.But i will find something in the next times.It's a metal it seems.I only have normal magnets but it doesn't atract the thing.

 

[smokeythecat]

John Attard in San Diego provides an SEM and XRD service. He can take a rice sized piece and let you know the chemical composition. You can google him.

 

[spaghettigold]

I see fire damage, whether it's from a Budweiser can or some other metal object. This item I am holding is what happens to lead wheel weights after going into a bonfire and then being gilded with with 23K gold leaf. Some times things aren't always as they appear. View attachment 1741321

slowly but surely i'm getting convinced that the thing i found is a piece of metal that was in a bonfire.
In other news i will put your "1ounce of gold falling in a pan"vid on repeat if i have problems getting to sleep,right along with the hypnotical vid 's and voices of bob ross and doc from goldhog. The sound of gold falling in a plastic pan is so satisfying.

Cheers

 

[spaghettigold]

John Attard in San Diego provides an SEM and XRD service. He can take a rice sized piece and let you know the chemical composition. You can google him.

Thanks smokey,but that would be quite an effort as i'm in the hart of europe.Since i used up all my holydays for this years prospecting ,crevicing -dredging trip i have time to figure it out around here.I have to work 11 months now to be able to work the job of my dreams for 1 month

But you are probably right that only a lab can tell me whats upwith the thing.Thanks

 

[spaghettigold]

meanwhile i cutted together footage from the prospecting part of my trip.I will try later also to make a little youtube film of all the footage together.
But my movie maker application skills are limited and the old go pro doesn't record sound well.
Will be a basic info video.
This is from vein 3

 

[smokeythecat]

If you send an expedited sample, he can email you the results. Would take less than 2 weeks and take the guesswork out of it. I haven't used his services in a couple years but it's a sure fire process. I'm sure there are other folks who can do it, but I had a hard time finding anyone. Colleges can take months, if ever.

 

[spaghettigold]

I take note of it for now. Thanks smokey

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Weigh the specimen oven dry.

Then soak it for a few hours. If you have a balance beam scale, you can position it so it is hanging over a table. Tie a piece of sewing thread around the specimen. Hang it from a zeroed scale, then take your cup of water and bring it up under the specimen and while it's suspended in water, zero your scale again and read your weights.