Got A Rock you Want Identified? Post it here! gimme a good picture or 3 or 4!

[Buckingham311]

I've had quite a few newbies under my wings; the role of thumb I give them as newbies: Examine anything that looks metallic.
Surely it'll take a lot more time then some other methods, I however would like to think it adds to their experience as well.
I try to teach them to not take anything for granted. Mother nature has plenty of tricks.

And I do appreciate the information. I have no issue with putting in the work, I'm just a big believer in work smarter not harder. So if there are some questions I can ask to gain better knowledge of potential signs that is my goal. And yes I am an extreme newbie, so I'm not going to know much of anything unless I ask experienced people or work with experienced people and seeing how I haven't met anyone in my area that does any prospecting I have to ask on these forums.

Once again appreciate the information.

 

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[Eu_citzen]

And I do appreciate the information. I have no issue with putting in the work, I'm just a big believer in work smarter not harder. So if there are some questions I can ask to gain better knowledge of potential signs that is my goal. And yes I am an extreme newbie, so I'm not going to know much of anything unless I ask experienced people or work with experienced people and seeing how I haven't met anyone in my area that does any prospecting I have to ask on these forums.

Once again appreciate the information.

You are welcome. Crush and pan some of that pyrite-rich quartz. Metallic minerals, "rust" are some typically good signs.
Or a smell of sulfur as you whack it with your hammer.

I also believe in work smarter, thing is, in this trade you get smarter by experience. Even books will only get you that far, IMO.

Last week or so I had a guy come in with a small rock that had some sphalerite (zinc-ore) on it. Upon ID, he wanted to throw it out.
I'm just setting up a small fire assay lab, so I said: leave it to me, good to practice on. Neither of us expected much of anything!
After assay results were in: 600g precious metals/metric ton. (which is exceptional!)
Believe me when I say we're getting more samples of that rock!

So the smartest thing is to assume you don't know until you tested it.

 

[Buckingham311]

You are welcome. Crush and pan some of that pyrite-rich quartz. Metallic minerals, "rust" are some typically good signs.
Or a smell of sulfur as you whack it with your hammer.

I also believe in work smarter, thing is, in this trade you get smarter by experience. Even books will only get you that far, IMO.

Last week or so I had a guy come in with a small rock that had some sphalerite (zinc-ore) on it. Upon ID, he wanted to throw it out.
I'm just setting up a small fire assay lab, so I said: leave it to me, good to practice on. Neither of us expected much of anything!
After assay results were in: 600g precious metals/metric ton. (which is exceptional!)
Believe me when I say we're getting more samples of that rock!

So the smartest thing is to assume you don't know until you tested it.

Yeah I've got a lot of time to put into the experience part. Need to get a good set up so I can test out material to see what I'm actually getting out of the ground and also educate myself on how to test material.

Thanks again for the help.

Good luck to your future.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Yeah I've got a lot of time to put into the experience part. Need to get a good set up so I can test out material to see what I'm actually getting out of the ground and also educate myself on how to test material.

Thanks again for the help.

Good luck to your future.

I suggest to start with the basics: goldpan, sieve, rockhammer, GPS/maps (to re-locate finds), mortar or a large piece of cast iron to grind the rock on.
Crushed rock can be panned to check for values.


Larger pieces are hammered to chips on what-ever first. I use the concrete floor.

 

[Mad Machinist]

@EU. I agree with your statement. I probably worded my sentence poorly. I've been finding a lot of Pyrite/Mica in the same area as this Quartz, just didn't know if that would be a good clue or a bad clue for the potential for gold?

Thanks for your response,
KB

ALL pyrite has some gold in it. It is just a question of how much and what will it cost to get out.

There is gold in the Carolinas. Oceana just opened a gold mine over there.

Along with what EU_citizen mentioned, I would recommend a good frame backpack, one that puts the weight on your hips not your shoulders, and some basic survival supplies in that pack along with your prospecting tools. Chit happens when you least expect it.

 

[Buckingham311]

ALL pyrite has some gold in it. It is just a question of how much and what will it cost to get out.

There is gold in the Carolinas. Oceana just opened a gold mine over there.

Along with what EU_citizen mentioned, I would recommend a good frame backpack, one that puts the weight on your hips not your shoulders, and some basic survival supplies in that pack along with your prospecting tools. Chit happens when you least expect it.

@Mad Machinist

Well there is no shortage of pyrite in the area I'm digging for sure, I've been panning a lot of the material back at my house and haven't seen anything yellow colored yet. I need to just plan on bringing back a few buckets worth of it and run it through my mini sluice. There have been a couple of older residents around me that have told me that there has been gold found within 3-5 miles of the area I live; so I can't imagine I'm to crazy for thinking there is a possibility. Good call on some survival supplies, I do need to get better with preparing for that. So far I usually just take a shovel, 5 gallon bucket, and my glock. Probably could choose some better supplies to add to the mix.

 

[sweetinsanty]

this is a piece of red shell rock out of a creek we metal detect. the creek is only 12" deep and clear for the most part. this was dead center in the creek, and the only one with these little round balls embedded in it. some are missing, yet I tried breaking some out.... but really couldn't without destroying everything.at first I thought it was a snail shell.... but its counter sunk into the rock! do you have any idea about this? its from Gettysburg Pa.

 

[millie99]

Sure looks like it to me. LOL!

 

[millie99]

This beauty weighs approx 33 pounds!!!

 

[Zack23]

I've had this rock for years an still have yet to exactly figure out what it is. I even had multiple second opinions, in other words not creditable. I found it in my front yard (I live in a suburb). Common minerals are florite, calcite, quartz, dolomite, geodes and pyrite. My hypothesis is that it's a opal triplet, but I'm no geologist.

 

[Eu_citzen]

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this is a piece of red shell rock out of a creek we metal detect. the creek is only 12" deep and clear for the most part. this was dead center in the creek, and the only one with these little round balls embedded in it. some are missing, yet I tried breaking some out.... but really couldn't without destroying everything.at first I thought it was a snail shell.... but its counter sunk into the rock! do you have any idea about this? its from Gettysburg Pa.

Concretions seem likely.

 

[Eu_citzen]

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This beauty weighs approx 33 pounds!!!

A granitoid with quartz-veins. Unable to see if it contains sulphides, which would make it interesting in terms of silver & gold.

 

[Eu_citzen]

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I've had this rock for years an still have yet to exactly figure out what it is. I even had multiple second opinions, in other words not creditable. I found it in my front yard (I live in a suburb). Common minerals are florite, calcite, quartz, dolomite, geodes and pyrite. My hypothesis is that it's a opal triplet, but I'm no geologist.

You've got yourself a piece of pegmatite. Opal triplets are glued together, don't occur naturally.

 

[GoldMine21]

Are any of these quartz ?

I am new here and wondering if any of these rocks have quartz in it ? I think the one in the middle is but I am not sure. I am not too sure what rocks are good indicators of where to pan for gold or which rocks to smash for it. I took these from numerous spots on the bend of a stream. Can you please tell me if any of these are good indicators ? Also one of the rocks has some black spots in it. Any idea what it may be ? Thank you !!

 

[millie99]

Definitely sulfides ....i put some in muratic acid and I could tell....

 

[millie99]

A granitoid with quartz-veins. Unable to see if it contains sulphides, which would make it interesting in terms of silver & gold.

I put some in muratic acid and I could tell it contains sulfides ....

 

[Kenmitch]

This one looks interesting too me. I think I'd examine it and carefully whack it with a hammer to split it just to see what's inside. The other on in the upper left also looks somewhat interesting.

 

[GoldMine21]

I went ahead and broke the rock in half. I am curious as to what the black parts are. There are also a lot of shiny glittery pieces in there. Some of the glittery pieces are in some of the black pieces. What can that be ?

 

[Ahousefavor]

What is this I found it at goodwill lol.

 

[mksmith44]

I created a rock project with this rock, and would like to know what it is so I can include it with the gift. Thanks.