Any ideas here? Need help identifying something.

[ProspectingForStone]

I could use some help here. This stone is white, and appears to have Iron/Copper veins running through it.

I know these are metallic veins due to some areas of green discoloration on the stone- looks like oxidization, and I have noticed these veins are capable if you will of being emptied. Or that is to say I washed the stone using a tiny bit of bleach- to experiment, and it does appear the brown coloration in the cracks of the rock is capable of coming out- is loose. It isn't dirt as there is a rust coloration to it, I believe they are iron, or copper veins.

What I can not for the life of me figure out, is what the stone itself is, the white? I've considered Quartzite, this is a very solid white colored stone. White quartz? I had found via searching on google some information on what is called white onyx, white onyx is capable of having metal veins through it, but then again, it also has parallel banding.

I showed the picture on a crystal/gem section of a spiritual forum to get their thoughts, and so far all anybody has said is it looks to them like howlite? How can that be? There is no gray bands, and these bands within this stone look to consist of metal deposits are brownish in color- rustic- like iron. How then can this be howlite? There isn't much for banding, any in the stone seems to be cracks filled with a metal- which I've determined by looking at it, is certainly not gold, so I am inclined to think iron or copper.

I am at a loss here for what this white of the stone is if anything.

Limestone?

Quartzite?

It looks very solidly white with a few areas with a touch of a more transparent look, not entirely transparent however, just a few areas that look more quartz like, but not very much.

I figured I'd come here and ask the experts you guys here. I fail to see how this stone is howlite. These are not natural bands like you'd find in an agate or jasper, they rather are metal filled veins (cracks).

Any ideas here?

Thank you.

 

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[stdenis_jd]

Seems to be somewhat conchoidal fracturing indicating quartzite, pretty blocky looking though. More than likely it is quartzite with iron oxide bands (if it was oxidized copper it would be greenish, not rusty), but to rule out howlite or marble, do a hardness test. Try to scratch it with a steel knife. If you leave a metal mark on the rock, that means the rock is harder than steel so it's quartz. If you get a "bite" into the stone, your knife is harder than the stone.

 

[stdenis_jd]

A closer photo would be helpful too, as long as it's clear...that way we can see the structure better (got too grainy when I zoomed in on the photo)

 

[ProspectingForStone]

A closer photo would be helpful too, as long as it's clear...that way we can see the structure better (got too grainy when I zoomed in on the photo)

Alright I've tried taking another photo, a touch closer. Patience, the only camera I currently have is on my tablet.

Here is another photo:



Thank you for the advice on testing hardness, I will do this later tonight or tomorrow and have an update with results from that.

 

[ProspectingForStone]

Seems to be somewhat conchoidal fracturing indicating quartzite, pretty blocky looking though. More than likely it is quartzite with iron oxide bands (if it was oxidized copper it would be greenish, not rusty), but to rule out howlite or marble, do a hardness test. Try to scratch it with a steel knife. If you leave a metal mark on the rock, that means the rock is harder than steel so it's quartz. If you get a "bite" into the stone, your knife is harder than the stone.

I tried the hardness test. The results are that it scratched up the rock a bit, but left indeed a gray colored streak from the knife.

Indicative of quartz.

Thank you for the help very much.

 

[stdenis_jd]

yeah that pic shows it better. Definitely quartz considering the hardness and structure. I was thinking howlite or marble was a slim possibility, but it's quartz. Strange there's veins of iron, but very little iron staining in the quartz. Tells me the quartz just fractured and filled in with iron that oxidized instead of the iron being part of the original formation

 

[ProspectingForStone]

yeah that pic shows it better. Definitely quartz considering the hardness and structure. I was thinking howlite or marble was a slim possibility, but it's quartz. Strange there's veins of iron, but very little iron staining in the quartz. Tells me the quartz just fractured and filled in with iron that oxidized instead of the iron being part of the original formation

Yes the hardness test confirms quartz. I wonder what variety? My first thought was quartzite, but I have heard as well of milky quartz, snow quartz, a very white variety of quartz. I am unaware of how quartzite is supposed to behave and how it differs from plain solid white quartz. All I really know of quartzite itself is that indeed it is used in the construction of countertops, like marble would be.

I am undecided exactly on what type of quartz it is, I mean the obvious is that it isn't clear, strawberry, rose, smokey, or any other very colored variety, but solid white. Snow? Quartzite. I forget exactly what snow quartz is.

I do know this was found locally in my area in the north east of the usa, right beside my house in fact. And was found generally as is, meaning this is raw stone and a seemingly larger chunk.

Yes the iron is not solid. It is very brittle and is able to fall out if scrubbed excessively (cleaning). The rock is stained by it in some areas, naturally, and there was a larger staining after the initial cleaning. Now after another cleaning with a combination of apple cider vinegar and bleach the stains appear to have lessened.

Thanks again for your help.

I will be doing a bit of looking into reading up on quartzite among other things and go from there.

Thanks.

 

[ProspectingForStone]

Alright, one final idea here. I asked my father as a individual for the final opinion on the stone, and he seems to think it is feldspar.

He started talking about when we used to go out to different rock quarries, and he mentioned where we went up North, and asked me if I remember the mountain face up there.. he was talking about how the mountain face was made up of feldpsar, and of the crystals that can be found within the structure of feldspar and the like.

Could this then be a possibility?

That the stone, which is rather hard, could actually be a chunk of feldspar?

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Feldspar has cleavage and as such is easy to tell from quartz, which lacks cleavage.

Cleavage is hard to describe, when broken, the rock often gets many "flat" shiny spots.
The flat breaking always occur in the same direction, sometimes several directions within a rock. (as opposed to being random)