✅ SOLVED Found in River while Gold mining / what is it?

[WesternMassGold]

Have i have found this today in a gravel bank while gold paning. It 2 and 1/2 inches long , 2 inches wide and 3/4 inches high. and has lots of red and green krystals in it . Any idea what this could be ? thanks

 

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[WesternMassGold]

very cool. scroll down to the geological forums and post in the Rocks/gems - you'll get more responses there.

Already did that , pretty much same responses no definate answers

 

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[Ant]

The specimen that you found seems to be worth more than I thought, try looking around the link that I posted below:

Garnet Minerals: grossular, andradite, melanite, uvarovite, almandine (almandite), spessartine (spessartite), demantoid, topazolite, essonite, hessonite

 

[Ant]

melanite multi color garnet specimens california.


melanite garnet:
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrTcX3K4EJVgMIAc3OInIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTc4NARfcgMyBGJjawNmNzRsbmpkYWdsMDFwJTI2YiUzRDMlMjZzJTNEaDcEZnIDBGdwcmlkAzloQ3hwRFE5Uy5TaE1la253aXNkaEEEbXRlc3RpZANudWxsBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNpbWFnZXMuc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMxNgRxdWVyeQNtZWxhbml0ZSBnYXJuZXRzBHRfc3RtcAMxNDMwNDQ2NDE2BHZ0ZXN0aWQDbnVsbA--?gprid=9hCxpDQ9S.ShMeknwisdhA&pvid=CBhaXTIwNi7zkrebVQqAOQH3NjYuMgAAAAC6i4ph&p=melanite+garnets&fr=&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt

 

[WesternMassGold]

melanite multi color garnet specimens california.
View attachment 1155165

melanite garnet:
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrTcX3K4EJVgMIAc3OInIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTc4NARfcgMyBGJjawNmNzRsbmpkYWdsMDFwJTI2YiUzRDMlMjZzJTNEaDcEZnIDBGdwcmlkAzloQ3hwRFE5Uy5TaE1la253aXNkaEEEbXRlc3RpZANudWxsBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNpbWFnZXMuc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMxNgRxdWVyeQNtZWxhbml0ZSBnYXJuZXRzBHRfc3RtcAMxNDMwNDQ2NDE2BHZ0ZXN0aWQDbnVsbA--?gprid=9hCxpDQ9S.ShMeknwisdhA&pvid=CBhaXTIwNi7zkrebVQqAOQH3NjYuMgAAAAC6i4ph&p=melanite+garnets&fr=&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt

Ok thx ANT i think you are on the right track here, I'm starting to get a little excited. My specimen is perfectly oval and no fractures. Maybe thats a good thing. Still trying to catch that professor.

 

[WesternMassGold]

The specimen that you found seems to be worth more than I thought, try looking around the link that I posted below:

Garnet Minerals: grossular, andradite, melanite, uvarovite, almandine (almandite), spessartine (spessartite), demantoid, topazolite, essonite, hessonite

Well i got curious and put it on a scale . It weights 454 carats . If it is Andratoid then i have seen them sell for $3 to $5 per carat and if u add the green stones embedded which could be Demontoids i could be looking at a gemstone worth between $ 1000 to maybe as much as $ 20.000. but i'm not getting my hopes up yet because with my luck its probably only worth $ 50 bucks lol.

 

[WesternMassGold]

The Mystery deepens. I just today had 4 Geology professors and their staff look at this thing and the result was baffeling:>> They have never seen anything like it and have no idea what it is. the only thing they agreed on was , that it is NOT a rock.
The told me to try a Gem/Rock show and hope for identification.But they all loved to look at it and said it was very cool.
I'm slowly starting to lower my expectations about the value and the possibility of anybody knowing what the heck this thing is.

 

[tamrock]

This rock or ? have gains that almost seems fused together, kind of like Trinitite from the result of a atomic blast.

Could be from the result of the Sudbury impact 1.85 billion years ago. I'm thinking the origin of this thing came a ways from where you found it during the ice age



It's pretty neat what ever it is you found and I hope it gets solved, as I'm dying to know what the heck you've got.

 

[Broken knee]

Well not that I want you to destroy it. But if you try to break off a piece you might get a better idea of what it could be from looking at the inside. The dark color of your specimen I believe is due to environmental conditions. I still believe that it could be Eclogite aka the "christmas tree rock" as it is associated with basalt. And we have quite the intrusion of basalt in our area! HH
BK

 

[WesternMassGold]

Well not that I want you to destroy it. But if you try to break off a piece you might get a better idea of what it could be from looking at the inside. The dark color of your specimen I believe is due to environmental conditions. I still believe that it could be Eclogite aka the "christmas tree rock" as it is associated with basalt. And we have quite the intrusion of basalt in our area! HH
BK

I'm glad you mentioned Basalt. The professor said its definately not Basalt. grrrr

 

[DrJoePrime]

Purely wild guess here: It seems to be a man made grind stone (as someone else suggested). It wore down to oval shape?

Perhaps investigate grind stone making?

Very interesting find.

Joe (Ca)

PS: Unable to resist a bit of Googling...I think the lack of a hole is a bit of a problem..but perhaps used as a hand held grind stone?

 

[WesternMassGold]

Like you said NO hole in the middle . And 5 different colors of stones in it doesn't sound like somebody would put them in on purpose.
Oh yeah and i posted it in Rocks/Gem section too and somebody found a few just like it in Pennsylvania and they can't figure it out either.

 

[WesternMassGold]

I cant believe nobody has seen anything like this. It cant be a 1 of a kind.

 

[Ant]

Well it could be a special asphalt formula that used glass.

 

[Doubter in MD]

Well it could be a special asphalt formula that used glass.

This was discussed in the other thread on this same topic. It was dismissed as unlikely.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/r...d-while-gold-paning-please-help-identify.html

But welcome to the party.

 

[Ant]

We have red, blue, green and purple roads around here, even a few test section marked with Caltrans signage, this is nothing new.

Glassphalt has been used in other parts of the U.S. and across the world in the twenty years since. In fact, it first arose in the 1970s as a potential way to recycle the considerable volume of amber, blue, yellow, green and clear glass bottles in the waste stream. Annually, approximately seven million tons of glass are disposed of in landfills.

Glassphalt: Have Roads Made with Recycled Glass Changed Pavement?

 

[Ant]

glassphalt - Google Search

 

[Doubter in MD]

We have red, blue, green and purple roads around here, even a few test section marked with Caltrans signage, this is nothing new.


Glassphalt: Have Roads Made with Recycled Glass Changed Pavement?

Post some pics. I haven't really seen any glassphalt (or asphalt) that fine but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

 

[AU Seeker]

Post some pics. I haven't really seen any glassphalt (or asphalt) that fine but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

If it's glassfhalt simply heating it with a flame would help to ID it as such, it will soften with heat.

 

[Ant]

I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong, I'm trying to be part of the investagtion in figuring out what the what is it is, lol. We work together, .

 

[WesternMassGold]

I was thinking the same thing , i will try to remove a little piece of the black material and heat it . After seeing Ant's picture of Glassphalt i see 1 big difference. your Asphalt doesnt sparkle,neither does it look crystal like in shape.