Warning to all Florida Gulf Hunters!

[Crispin]

Please be careful what you throw away. With my most recent finds I got a lot of feedback that it was melted Aluminum. I started to doubt myself so I ran some further testing. It was also brought to my attention that it could be solder, a silver alloy. That was a very good point I had not thought about before. Here are some further tests I ran.

Muriatic Acid in two shot glasses:




unknown metal in left shot glass and aluminum foil in right shot glass just after I dropped them in:





15 seconds later:





Brand new soldering iron that will melt ALL silver solder alloys, heats up to 900 degrees F:





Melted lead fishing weight that I will attempt to solder to my metal:





Completely failed attempt to solder:



I've run some other tests that I posted in a couple of other threads. This is definitely silver!

I'm not posting this out of some desire to be right. I'm posting it to warn other hunters to hesitate before throwing away that big blob of metal. Yes, the vast majority of the time they are Aluminum nuggets. I have found and thrown away 100s of these. But every once in a while...it is something else. So if anybody needs help figuring out that silver blob then please mail it to GIB. He will get it to me and the two of us will determine if it is silver or just Aluminum. If it is aluminum we will throw it out and if it is silver we will mail it back to you.

Keep in mind that this blob I have found holds very little value. It only weighs 5.7grams. However, it does tell me A LOT about the area I am hunting and the potential to make other great finds there.

In conclusion, thanks to everybody who has looked at these threads. I have done a lot of research and it has really got me excited. I learned a lot about metals.

 

[lost items recovery]

Be careful with melting that lead as working without a chemical / lead respirator is very dangerous. I'm sure you already know this but mentioned it for those who may not be aware in order to prevent anyone from being lead poisoned.

 

[Bumpstick]

Where do you speculate all these different aluminum alloy nuggets originate from?
I find them at the beach, out in the lake with scoop shovel, at the park, no rhyme or reason.
Are they natural or man made? I was thinking Bon Fire beer cans but the blobs I found do not look like the nuggets I find ??

 

[Crispin]

Be careful with melting that lead as working without a chemical / lead respirator is very dangerous. I'm sure you already know this but mentioned it for those who may not be aware in order to prevent anyone from being lead poisoned.

Thank you for pointing this out. Yes I was working with a respirator. Also, I use a respirator when working with muriatic acid as the chemical reaction releases a poisonous gas. Just mail the samples to GIB. We will take care of it.

 

[releventchair]

Careful too of letting G.I.B. around shot glasses.

 

[G.I.B.]

Where do you speculate all these different aluminum alloy nuggets originate from?
I find them at the beach, out in the lake with scoop shovel, at the park, no rhyme or reason.
Are they natural or man made? I was thinking Bon Fire beer cans but the blobs I found do not look like the nuggets I find ??

What aluminum nugget?

There is not an aluminum nugget in any of the photos.

 

[Crispin]

Here is a safety site on melting lead. My soldering iron can heat to 900 F max, very little fumes are produced unless heating to higher temps. Common sense and a chemical ventilator is safe to work with.

Lure Making Tips - Working with lead

 

[Crispin]

Where do you speculate all these different aluminum alloy nuggets originate from?
I find them at the beach, out in the lake with scoop shovel, at the park, no rhyme or reason.
Are they natural or man made? I was thinking Bon Fire beer cans but the blobs I found do not look like the nuggets I find ??

I really don't have a good theory outside of the Gulf. Due to the currents in the Gulf of Mexico random pieces of metal can be deposited from all over. Old shipyards, old shipwrecks, old Crackers... Who knows. If lightening were to strike a Spanish ship way back in the day that would certainly produce enough heat to melt any caches of Spanish coins. Who knows? Any theory is as good as mine. I can tell you this much...

All that glitters isn't gold. All the blobs pulled from the Gulf are not Aluminum.

 

[lost items recovery]

Here is a safety site on melting lead. My soldering iron can heat to 900 F max, very little fumes are produced unless heating to higher temps. Common sense and a chemical ventilator is safe to work with.

Lure Making Tips - Working with lead

Good info for those who are unaware.
I was at one time. Not everyone knows all things...