Hematite?

[SteveDigsGems]

I went to the East Fork river, known for gold, silver, platinum, and an assortment of other things. These made it through my sluice, and were at the end of my pan with the black sands when I panned my concentrates at home. They have a nice luster, and leave a silver streak with maybe a little bit of grey. Some are attracted to my magnet, three are not. Any ideas?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[bigfoot1]

I would agree...hematite and magnatite

 

[AU Seeker]

Hematite will leave a red to brownish streak, Magnetite leaves a black streak, you need to use a white streak plate for both of these minerals.

Bottom rim of a white coffee cup on the unglazed portion works well for a streak test, or even the inside of a toilet lid.

Hematite: The iron mineral Hematite information and pictures

Magnetite: The mineral Magnetite information and pictures

 

[AU Seeker]

Streak color list. (I have a link to a much better one but can't find it at this time.)

DESCRIPTIVE MINERAL TABLE

 

[SteveDigsGems]

Awesome, thank you! I was just using the streak plate I got with my gold, silver, platinum acids, but it makes sense to use a white plate. This was an interesting batch of dirt, I found some red crystals, possibly proustite? Realgar is another suspect, but it doesn't seem as likely. Thanks for the help.