Arsenopyrite?

[Capt Nemo]

I recently picked up a pyrite sample. The sample is a greenish/yellow metalic color. All the iron pyrite I have seen has looked brassy to bronze in color. The field guide picture that most matches the sample is arsenopyrite. I'm thinking of having it analized at the university geology department.

Just wondering as I got this out of a childrens pan for gold kit that was made in China. If this is arsenopyrite sombody's got some splaining to do!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Clay Diggins]

Don't worry China won't sell you anything dangerous. It's probably just colored melamine.

Seriously though unless you allow your children to play with strong acids or open roasting fires of 1139 degrees Fahrenheit or more they are safe.

That arsenic is really tightly bound with the iron and sulfur and is going to require more energy to release than you would ever allow your children near.

Heavy Pans

 

[Jimmydolittle]

I bought 2 Chinese made 6" plastic pans from a dealer on eBay, with my 5 year old granddaughter in mind. They have a warning label on the bottom saying the material was a carcinogenic. Go figure!

 

[Oakview2]

Careful

Sometimes there is gold in that arsenial material

 

[KevinInColorado]

Here in the Colorado Mineral Belt, there is a few percent gold in the crystal matrix of most pyrite...it substitutes at the atom by atom level for other more reactive metals like iron. A few years ago i took a sample of pyrite from Trail Creek near Idaho Springs CO into a university lab and confirmed the presence of gold by using a scanning electron microscope. A fun exercise even though the gold amounts are too small to be worth trying to separate from the pyrite. I think I'll let Mother Nature do that the traditional way (weather and time).

 

[bakergeol]

Here in the Colorado Mineral Belt, there is a few percent gold in the crystal matrix of most pyrite...it substitutes at the atom by atom level for other more reactive metals like iron. A few years ago i took a sample of pyrite from Trail Creek near Idaho Springs CO into a university lab and confirmed the presence of gold by using a scanning electron microscope. A fun exercise even though the gold amounts are too small to be worth trying to separate from the pyrite. I think I'll let Mother Nature do that the traditional way (weather and time).

Yep Kevin you are correct about gold in pyrite here in Colorado. From one area I had some pyrite which reached the front line of a wave table(highest specific gravity material like gold form on the front line). It did not look like typical pyrite- more golden yellow and no crystals. I had some of it assayed. It ran about 1 ounce gold to the ton.
However, locked up in pyrite- means roasting and leaching (besides concentrating the pyrite) meant that it still was unproductive.

George