got some balls of steel...... cannon balls???

chong2

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2 balls, ones smaller kinda crooked , like off center, and has a lump on it, like deformed. and the other is much larger,5 times the smaller ones size, and is kinda flaking away. sorta. the large one was about a foot down and the smaller one was around 1/2 mile away peeking above the surface. the large one im thinking cannon ball maybe, the thing is there were no squirmishes around here. one was 150 miles away. i read the papers about 40 miles from where it was found they dug up a civil war soldier by accident. the large one weighs 10lbs maybe a extra oz or 2, i weighed on a shipping scale. and is 4 1/4 inchs across. it has some sort of flaking, but not really, i would have to pry the flakes off with something. like it was made in a mold. i think it is too big to be a bearing for anything, and was found in desert region. i once talked to a guy whole dug up a bunch of balls with a cannon somewhere in the desert area. whats you alls opinion???? are they cannon balls?
 

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A while back on TN we had a member dig up several hundred of these milling balls in the West. I felt further research into the site would have revealed a mining history. Just the location in the west(desert) should be a red flag for milling balls- but CANNON BALLS are so GREAT TO FIND. I have found quite a few in old mining districts myself. Look for an old mining presence. Looks like some wear on one of those milling balls.

George
 

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Ball mill for crushing ore. Cooter
 

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i guess thats what they are. man, i give up, everytime i got a idea what something is its the opposite;) ya, i saw the post in best of, i didnt think they made them that big tho..... thanks everyone
 

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chong2mry said:
i guess thats what they are. man, i give up, everytime i got a idea what something is its the opposite;) ya, i saw the post in best of, i didnt think they made them that big tho..... thanks everyone

You learned something. Now any old ore dumps where you found them? They may have been crushing gold ore.

HH
George
 

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no dumps or hill around, that i could see, about 20 miles away, there are mines tho
 

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Mill balls are neat to find. Maybe not as hyped as cannonballs, but part of our history nonetheless. You might look for minerals in the area, even if there are no precious metals. Often the mine dumps and tailings piles will yield some nice crystals or other interesting finds that can be good to collect. I spent one early morning in Leadville, CO scrounging through mine dumps looking for good pyrite crystals. Found several nice specimens and sold them to a rock shop. It's all treasure, in my opinion.
 

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i have some nice pyrite crystals i got from in a mine awhile back, ill post some pics sometime, have you seen those ones that come from spain? HUGE square crystals
 

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