Titanium (Ilmenite)

[goldog]

I've been prospecting in this spot for twenty plus years. Always, this heavy, nearly black rock has been tossed aside. Here's some with lodestone properties.


Always assumed it's magnetite. Most of it is magnetic and some is magnetized. But a good portion is not. Ok,so it's hematite. All just heavy nuisance waste rock.

I noticed last night a point on the map. A geologic report.



Wow !! That's a lot of titanium! Now, I don't believe I can start a mine but just wow. Four billion pounds give or take. I gotta get me some.


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[Jim in Idaho]

I find it in western Wyoming, too. Nearly black, shiny, with sometimes a bluish tint.
Jim

 

[DDancer]

Interesting. Never thought to test for that mineral and I've tossed plenty of simular stuff. What color is the streak test for it?

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Interesting. Never thought to test for that mineral and I've tossed plenty of simular stuff. What color is the streak test for it?

Dark streak...usually grayish black to reddish brown. Sometimes has white (titanium oxide) streaks within the rock. A lot of the lava flows near here, around Craters of the Moon National Monument, have a mettalic bluish sheen on the surface, which I'm told is titanium. I assume it isn't really rare, though mineable deposits may be.
Jim

 

[DDancer]

Titanium would be pretty hard to extract I'd think. Thanks for the streak info Jim pretty sure I've run across it before now just chucked it though.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Titanium would be pretty hard to extract I'd think. Thanks for the streak info Jim pretty sure I've run across it before now just chucked it though.

Yup...chucked a lot of it, myself. Finally had a diamond prospector from South Africa show me what it was. Apparently it can be one of the kimberlite indicator minerals. It must come to the surface in igneous pipes? Here a pic of a piece of basalt from about 9,000' in one of our local mntn ranges. You can see the blue tint on the surface of everything...including the embedded quartz crystals. The backside has no blue. I have no clue why the tint seems to rise to the surface. The tint on the lavas near Craters is much shinier, and metallic-looking.
Jim

 

[goldog]

The latest outing. A lot of candidates.



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[Eu_citzen]

Dark streak...usually grayish black to reddish brown. Sometimes has white (titanium oxide) streaks within the rock. A lot of the lava flows near here, around Craters of the Moon National Monument, have a mettalic bluish sheen on the surface, which I'm told is titanium. I assume it isn't really rare, though mineable deposits may be.
Jim

The blue is possibly titanium, my mind thinks of Anatase.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Yup...nice finds. I wish there was a more definitive test for titanium, Goldog.
Where I got the blue being titanium, EU, is from one of the geologists out at the nuclear site. The blue on the rock from 9,000' may be something else, but probably is part of the Challis volcanics, which may have contributed to the late eruptions at Craters. Those eruptions were only 1,800 years ago. Those eruptions being so new is why the blue is still visible. The blue on those volcanics is a really shiny, metallic blue. I should probably go collect a couple of those specimens, and post a pic.
Jim

 

[Jim in Idaho]

After looking into Anatase, EU, I think you are correct...especially pertaining to the sharp, metallic blue near Craters. All three of those Anatase, brookite, and rutile) are titanium dioxides. From what I read, it appears that Anatase is more metallic-looking. Usually ilmenite has white areas in it, which is titanium oxide. If blue is seen on ilmenite, it's pretty faint, from what I've seen.
Jim

 

[Eu_citzen]

Correct, it has a nice metallic luster to it. Sometimes even bordering on adamantine, if memory serves. I have a few small, neat Anatase crystals from Sweden.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Possible Rutile?

OK guys. I was walking the dog tonite, down the canal bank. A walk I've made a thousand time. I look down, and there's an interesting stone. I pick it up, and it feels dense. The color is right for hematite, or ilmenite. Check the magnet on the end of my pick when I get back to the shop, and it's slightly magnetic. Check the hardness on my hard Arkansas stone, which is probably some type of quartzite, and it slides across leaving barely
visible scratches. I think the hardness is around 6.5. Makes me think it's rutile. Has longitudinal cleavages. Some white pockets and veins. Not detectable with the Goldmaster2. The end view shows a sort of crystal shape. Obviously really river-worn. What say you?
Here's pics:

 

[DDancer]

To my knowledge rultile does not exhibit any magnetic characteristics. For what I see and what your describing it appears to be an iron rich banded silicate akin to a jasper.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Interesting. I had no idea that silicates could have enough iron to be attracted to a magnet. I'm surprised, with the iron content that high, that the detector doesn't "see" it.
Jim

 

[DDancer]

I have come across them from time to time here in the US when I'm prospecting, usually stuck to my pick magnet, but in Western Australia its a common material akin to what they call Iron Stone generically Jim. Just saying that is what it looks like to me. Detector would probably cancel it out as very low ferrous ground noise.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Many thanks, DD. You nailed it, again! I dug out the scale (should have done that to start with) and did an SG test. It is 2.61, which fits the quartz zone perfectly. I knew it was pretty hard. That made me doubt the rutile, but thought I'd ask since we were talking about titanium oxides, and dioxides. This has been a good thread, and I've learned some things.
Jim

 

[goldog]

Many thanks, DD. You nailed it, again! I dug out the scale (should have done that to start with) and did an SG test. It is 2.61, which fits the quartz zone perfectly. I knew it was pretty hard. That made me doubt the rutile, but thought I'd ask since we were talking about titanium oxides, and dioxides. This has been a good thread, and I've learned some things.
Jim

I’m getting a SG mostly around 4.25.

 

[goldog]

I’ve really ramped up the rockhounding. There are a lot of nice specimens in my gulches and hillsides.

In fact I’m extremely overwhelmed by all the metal. Iron ore outcroppings all around. Other complex ores. Much unidentified.

Also lodestone properties in many samples.

.

I devised a field tester.

It’s just an aluminum cup and a bit of black sand. But gives a nice “picture” of the magnetic signature.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

I’ve really ramped up the rockhounding. There are a lot of nice specimens in my gulches and hillsides.

In fact I’m extremely overwhelmed by all the metal. Iron ore outcroppings all around. Other complex ores. Much unidentified.

Also lodestone properties in many samples.

View attachment 1622169 .

I devised a field tester. View attachment 1622170 View attachment 1622171

It’s just an aluminum cup and a bit of black sand. But gives a nice “picture” of the magnetic signature.

THAT is a great idea, dog! Some of the handiest tools have to be made instead of purchased. I'm going to borrow that one.
Jim

 

[DDancer]

Thats pretty savvy thinking there goldog.