UNIDENTIFIED MATERIAL

[ghostminer]

Located some of this on a bluff above a creek on our mining property. Anyone have a guess as to what it is?

 

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[Capt Nemo]

Is it salty? Might be manganese in halite.

 

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[ecmjamsit]

Looks like crushed fluorite, a well known flux material for smelting.

 

[Assembler]

Looks like crushed fluorite, a well known flux material for smelting.

View attachment 1534109

Good point there ecmjamsit and thanks for posting.

You may have to pay for a fire assay to find out what it is.

 

[winners58]

potassium mixing with iron, potassium ferrate? might try a basic soil tests from like a farm/Ag store

fire ******ants contain phosphates? the color could be just stain from oxidized copper or bornite.

it wont let me type re ta rd ant

 

[Clay Diggins]

it wont let me type re ta rd ant

That's just cruel. They are mentally challenged ants. You aren't allowed to call them ******ed ants anymore.

Heavy Pans

 

[Reed Lukens]

Not going to tell you what this is. View attachment 1534034

I can tell you that it is not blue lead channel, though the rest is obvious

 

[ghostminer]

Mystery solved. It's fluorite.

 

[Goldwasher]

with no crystals and on the surface of mud/clay?

 

[ghostminer]

Specimen grade I was told. Could be sold by the flat > 14" X 10". Somewhat rare in northern Cal.

 

[Goldwasher]

a specimen like that is rare anywhere

 

[Bodfish Mike]

https://www.mindat.org/min-1576.html

 

[SunshineMiner]

The middle of this specimen(google purple fluorite) kind of matches your specimen, albeit this one has large crystal formations

 

[Goldwasher]

"Unique"

 

[Goldwasher]

would be nice to see under a light

 

[winners58]

black light, is it hard, soft? the yellow stuff looks the same only a different color. whats it look like under magnification.
Fluorite has a hardness of 4 and crystals are cubic. maybe its powdered and got wet or the building blocks that form fluorite.
I still think it looks like some mineral oxide, supergene enrichment or even microorganisms or fungus.

 

[Crabs]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery–Vautin_chlorination_process
Leaves purple residue.

 

[winners58]

all kinds of cool things in your area.
https://www.google.com/search?q=las...lcXYAhVHwYMKHcxbCaQQ_AUICygC&biw=1340&bih=803
.

 

[ghostminer]

So I had this material checked by a large scale gemstone dealer who does warehouse size business. He said it is specimen grade fluorite. Very unusual to find in our area but more commonly found in certain areas of Utah & Colorado. It doesn't have a great value. It would be gathered & sold on slab board size of 14 inches by 12 inches for around $50 each. No, I won't stop mining gold or even bother to disturb the site where the fluorite sits. Just wanted to find out what it was. There have been some good people on this thread trying to help & as usual a few snarky comments from the usual people. I am not sure why everything I post gets that type remark from Clay. I am asking you to knock it off. I thank God I am privileged to live in the greatest country in the world where a man can work hard & achieve his dreams. I am living mine.

 

[Goldwasher]

you asked for I.D. and got some.

It doesn't look like a fluorite specimen period.
There are members here who have been rock hounding and prospecting for decades. So, people with many many more years of experience than you are gonna chime in it's what you asked for isn't it?
You are right it is very rare in your area because of the geology.
It's a public online forum no rules were broken your just gonna have to deal with comments you don't like.

 

[ghostminer]

As I said, most of the comments were people trying to help. Others like dredernaut"grape koolaid on a turd" & clay's disparaging comments meant to embarrass are not helpful. There is an agenda with that guy & I don't know why. I will take the assessment of a professional gemstone seller as he should know what he is talking about.