Mineral/metal in a green quartz vein

[kyleoflyman]

Found a green quartz vein that has more of these "fans" of metal as I hammer deeper. Any ideas on what the metal may be?

 

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[Mad Machinist]

The green coloration is typically a sign of oxidized copper. PM a roundabout idea of where you are at, and I'll be able to give further details.

 

[l337scum]

I would need a clearer picture to be sure but that looks a great deal like Millerite by the classic needle-like formation. This is a form of Nickel Sulfide.
Millerite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Usually it is found in ultramafic rocks. Nickel also likes to form compounds that are green in color. Bunsenite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nickel Oxide tends to be the color you have there in the quartz. You may be onto something there with that vein. It may be a hydrothermal generated deposit based on what you have shown.

Good luck in your exploration!

 

[kyleoflyman]

Thanks for the response! I saw millerite in a book at the library and wondered if that were mineral content I had found. It does lack some of the brassy luster tho, some of the pieces ive collected have a little more silver shine to them. Perhaps thats the nickel coming out?

 

[3xflyfisher]

It may be a lower grade Chrysocolla, a hydrated copper silicate - CuSiO3 nH20 if I remember correctly.

 

[kyleoflyman]

That's a beautiful mineral 3xflyfisher! The vein is more green and white, not too many blues in it yet. I'm only about 8" into it tho. Ive got some photos of the vein but they wont upload, might be too large of a file.

 

[kyleoflyman]

I took a handful of the green quartz and ran it in my rock tumbler for 24 to start a polish on them (the girlfriend likes to make jewelry). When I opened the lid on the barrel after the run, I found this little guy embedded in the rubber seal. Its got a familiar glow, but some further tests are definitely going to happen. Ive also sent out some preliminary samples to an assay office. Fingers crossed!

 

[l337scum]

Thanks for the response! I saw millerite in a book at the library and wondered if that were mineral content I had found. It does lack some of the brassy luster tho, some of the pieces ive collected have a little more silver shine to them. Perhaps thats the nickel coming out?

Possible that elemental nickel is left. I believe the oxidation of the millerite via groundwater is what is causing your green quartz because it is creating nickel oxide which is green. In addition to making nickel oxide it will also create sulfuric acid which will further break down and possibly remove the luster on some of other pieces of the millerite. This process is very similar to when iron sulfide minerals break down and create iron oxide (rust) and sulfuric acid. This will create the rusty looking rocks like this.

I hope your assay runs well. What area is this vein located in?

l337scum

 

[kyleoflyman]

That makes sense since there was a slight reaction with muriatic acid test. Not all of the metallic pieces bubbled but the solutions did turn green. Im in the south western part of Washington.

 

[kyleoflyman]

Assay results came back on the surface samples I sent to get tested. Looks like the green coloring was caused by Nickel. Unfortunately it didnt return very high quantities of gold, less than .005 ppm. Here's some of the results;

Nickel= 1190 ppm
Chromium= 499 ppm
Magnesium= 15.25%
Manganese= 689 ppm
Strontium= 111ppm
Iron= 3.9%
Aluminum = 1900 ppm
Cobalt= 65 ppm

Is it possible for this numbers to increase as I go further into the vein/underground? Guess Im wondering if I should keep on it or move onto another vein.

 

[DDancer]

Impressive. I'll leave it to the real miners about digging in but from some of the specimens your showing you might find some interesting stuff in that vein. Surprised at the nickel

 

[l337scum]

Assay results came back on the surface samples I sent to get tested. Looks like the green coloring was caused by Nickel. Unfortunately it didnt return very high quantities of gold, less than .005 ppm. Here's some of the results;

Nickel= 1190 ppm
Chromium= 499 ppm
Magnesium= 15.25%
Manganese= 689 ppm
Strontium= 111ppm
Iron= 3.9%
Aluminum = 1900 ppm
Cobalt= 65 ppm

Is it possible for this numbers to increase as I go further into the vein/underground? Guess Im wondering if I should keep on it or move onto another vein.

Well if you are looking for Au exclusively, this is highly unlikely to be a paying vein period and I would move on. However, the only way to be sure is to take a sample from another part of it or maybe deeper in or from a different spot further away and assay that. Most likely this isn't going to yield much of the yellow stuff because that is a very low gold measurement and barely above the background.(In fact the assay method may have limits to detect gold that low so it will be referred to as lower than x because it cannot detect quantities lower than x.) I would get excited about things in the 1-2ppm range and up. Anything above 2-3ppb I believe is above background gold quantities depending on the surroundings. Keep in mind you usually need to see readings of 30ppm to see any visible gold.

On the other hand if you wanted to start a Nickel mine there may be good ore in there if you find a bunch of those fan looking structures on top each other. It may be worth sampling the host rock around that vein to see what the content is of it as well but if that is cost prohibitive I would just move on.

 

[kyleoflyman]

Thanks guys! I think I'll spend another day or two up there when I can.


Ddancer, the nickel came as surprise to me too! Since there was some aluminum content to it as well, I hoped for a higher Beryl count. It came in around .5 ppm. It'd be an exciting chase after some emeralds I'll do some more investigating to see if I can find a vug or nice crystal structures.

I337scum, thanks for the advice on the numbers. I'll definitely try and find the vein at a lower and higher elevation and do some investigating. While we are talking numbers, what would you say a minimum ppm number for copper would be? I sent in another sample from a different peak in the same range. It came back with 26 ppm. I'll list some more of the occurrences from sample 2 below;

Copper= 26 ppm
Silver= .2 ppm
Aluminum= 1.02 %
Barium= 40 ppm
Strontium= 2370 ppm
Chromium=950 ppm
Iron= 2.75%
Nickel= 1130 ppm
Sulphur= .83%

 

[l337scum]

Thanks guys! I think I'll spend another day or two up there when I can.


Ddancer, the nickel came as surprise to me too! Since there was some aluminum content to it as well, I hoped for a higher Beryl count. It came in around .5 ppm. It'd be an exciting chase after some emeralds I'll do some more investigating to see if I can find a vug or nice crystal structures.

I337scum, thanks for the advice on the numbers. I'll definitely try and find the vein at a lower and higher elevation and do some investigating. While we are talking numbers, what would you say a minimum ppm number for copper would be? I sent in another sample from a different peak in the same range. It came back with 26 ppm. I'll list some more of the occurrences from sample 2 below;

Copper= 26 ppm
Silver= .2 ppm
Aluminum= 1.02 %
Barium= 40 ppm
Strontium= 2370 ppm
Chromium=950 ppm
Iron= 2.75%
Nickel= 1130 ppm
Sulphur= .83%

Min ppm for Cu in regards to Au mineralization? From what I know that depends on the deposit type and I am not very familiar with the pacific northwest. I am pretty sure that it is a good sign to have significant copper and silver readings though. I know there have been economical amounts of gold in a type of deposit called a Copper Porphyry. If you give me a county or a nearby city and the type of host rock, I could look up what type of mineralization is in the area. Also it should be noted that 26 ppm Cu is not a high amount. Take a look at this chart that gives you an idea by average of the abundance of each element in the earth's crust. This information should be put into perspective though as the average concentrations would vary depending where you are. It is always a good idea to see what the DNR of your particular state has published in reference for previous geologic surveys. You can determine what your area has for a background amount by reading these and then determine what may stand out in your assay.

 

[augoldminer]

If you can find a number of nice specimens you could make some money at gem and mineral shows.
Specimen collectors do buy unusual one like yours.

 

[kyleoflyman]

Hoping I can find some nice specimens up there soon! Im assuming its Chrysoprase based on the nickel content.

 

[l337scum]

That latest picture looks a bit purple which could indicate the presence of Fluorite. I am not sure if it is an artifact of the photo or not. Good luck finding some nice specimens!

 

[kyleoflyman]

That was our first guess too! But it doesn't react under UV/black light. I think it's just a low quality camera shot. I'll try to get some better camera shots soon!