Waddya you guys make of this? (pics)

[Ragnor]

Well I crushed up some material I high graded some years ago in preparation for returning to working in that area.

My primary question: What is as heavy as gold and pans blue?

I can't get down to microscope level shots my camera for that is dead.
This is the best I can do.

I can see gold and copper under the microscope and it almost seams to be lighter than this material.

Here is some larger bits I suspect are the same material


I just thought this was really cool the wy all the different materials stratify

 

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[arizau]

Well I crushed up some material I high graded some years ago in preparation for returning to working in that area.

My primary question: What is as heavy as gold and pans blue?

I can't get down to microscope level shots my camera for that is dead.
This is the best I can do.

I can see gold and copper under the microscope and it almost seams to be lighter than this material.
View attachment 1253548 View attachment 1253549
Here is some larger bits I suspect are the same material
View attachment 1253544 View attachment 1253545 View attachment 1253546 View attachment 1253547

I just thought this was really cool the wy all the different materials stratify

View attachment 1253550

I don't know if you did this already but....You might see some different concentration/separation if you closely classify and only pan like sized material. At that point you may be able to separate the gold and maybe copper from the blue material especially in the minus 100 mesh fraction. As a guess that material may be galena which has a SG of about 7.4 and is described as steel gray in color but I also read that it is sometimes a bluish gray. Since you mentioned copper the blue may also be one of the copper minerals.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

That's cool stuff man, my guess is its covellite or maybe calcocite. The SG seperation is only really observed if gradated or classified.
So you should roast those con's and see if they are sulfides. If you can isolate just the blue con's and roast them you should notice a sulfer smell. That could be very rich in copper! Def worth an assay, or some simple refining!

 

[Ragnor]

That's cool stuff man, my guess is its covellite or maybe calcocite. The SG seperation is only really observed if gradated or classified.
So you should roast those con's and see if they are sulfides. If you can isolate just the blue con's and roast them you should notice a sulfer smell. That could be very rich in copper! Def worth an assay, or some simple refining!

Thanks for the reply. I looked up covellite and that shoe definitely fits. Much appreciated.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Try a magnet also. I've seen similar material which was very heavy and magnetic. An assay might be worth considering.

 

[pczim]

You need to sieve your material before panning I think....... Through a very fine sieve.

 

[Ragnor]

The crushed material is screened to 256 per inch. Does it need to be finer than that?

 

[KevinInColorado]

The crushed material is screened to 256 per inch. Does it need to be finer than that?

That's more than fine enough if you plan to separate by panning or even amalgamation.

 

[hvacker]

Tungsten is almost as heavy. Some have cast tungsten into things and gold plated them to sell as solid gold. I don't know what color it pans out as.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Tungsten metal is silvery gray. Of course it can be alloyed to other colors. It's so close to gold in density that the Chinese (and maybe other) have made counterfeit gold items with it.

 

[AU_Solitude]

That's cool stuff man, my guess is its covellite or maybe calcocite. The SG seperation is only really observed if gradated or classified.
So you should roast those con's and see if they are sulfides. If you can isolate just the blue con's and roast them you should notice a sulfer smell. That could be very rich in copper! Def worth an assay, or some simple refining!

This guy knows what he is talking about, I second his opinion.