✅ SOLVED Found this doing yard work. I believe it is natural platinum. But?????

[IAMKNOW1]

I was doing some yard work about a year ago and found what looked like a fossil to me and having always loved different rocks & minerals I brought it in the house. Doing some more yard work I began to notice there was A LOT of rocks in this yard. I can dig down 3 feet or so and have river rocks start filling my hole back up with little to no dirt. I started looking at some of these and I could see gold & pyrite, silver, gray to dark gray to metals in a lot of them. Now I am landscaping and breaking rocks. I picked up the old fossil & noticed gold & silver color in it so I decided to break it open and this is what I found. The nugget weighs 97.7 gr's & I tried your torch test. 20 minutes later & the tip of the nugget wasnt even red yet. I let it cool down & it looked like it had never seen a torch. I have a couple magnets that will really pinch your fingers & it just barely stuck to it. The complete piece weighs 1.74lbs. I washed it off after breaking it out of it's casing and glued it back together for the pictures. I have never seen anything like it in 50 years and was hoping someone on here could just verify what I think I have found. Thank you very much in advance, I can't wait to read your answers. T.

 

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[IAMKNOW1]

The University is closed today for President's Day, as I sit here shaking my head.

 

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[wvwildman]

never thought of that i forgot all about presidents day

 

[IAMKNOW1]

boris,
What are your grey looking nuggets? Mine appears to be very similar to yours.

 

[IAMKNOW1]

LOL, I never knew it was a real holiday. My bank is open, so?

 

[wvwildman]

be nice if it turns out to be platinum

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Hi,
Oh, flat one sided almost polished rocks that look like they have been cut are fairly common here. They are formed by glaciers cutting down the rock as it drags it along with it down a mountain.

I think I asked this question about 3 times "what happened to the other half?". . Are you saying the rock was flat on one side when you found it?

 

[IAMKNOW1]

I made a comment earlier about "gold dripping out". That may have been a little dramatic. Here is a pic of what I was talking about. Also this is my back yard. Very few rocks when we moved in. It seems I have a endless supply of riverbed rock approx 3ft down so I am using them to landscape & breaking a few neat ones open. Lots & lots of Iron, Quartz, various other minerals I have no idea their names. Lots of Gold or yellow colors & Silver colors. Some I have noticed are silver when I broke it open, but are now black in color, so they have obviously tarnished. "Just a whole lot of things that make ya go huh"?

 

[Broken knee]

boris,
What are your grey looking nuggets? Mine appears to be very similar to yours.

His are melted aluminum.
BK

 

[IAMKNOW1]

I think I asked this question about 3 times "what happened to the other half?". . Are you saying the rock was flat on one side when you found it?

Correct. It was flat on one side when I found it. It reminded me of a horses hoof, but fossilized. That's just what it originally looked like to me.

 

[smokeythecat]

The minerals that turn black when exposed to air are sulfides. That is, they contain sulfur. Must have a lot of sulfur in them to tarnish so quickly. Sulfide veins can (or even cannot) occur with precious metal veins.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Correct. It was flat on one side when I found it. It reminded me of a horses hoof, but fossilized. That's just what it originally looked like to me.

Im just a bit confused. If it was flat on one side, wouldnt the "platinum" be visible? And why would there be a need to break it?

 

[IAMKNOW1]

Im just a bit confused. If it was flat on one side, wouldnt the "platinum" be visible? And why would there be a need to break it?

If it would have stayed beneath the glacier, eventually it would have exposed the nugget inside. However that didn't happen & the nugget wasn't exposed until I broke it out.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

If it would have stayed beneath the glacier, eventually it would have exposed the nugget inside. However that didn't happen & the nugget wasn't exposed until I broke it out.

Im not going to keep going on about it but its obvious that you dont understand my question.

But I will try one last time.

In this picture the platinum is exposed. In this picture it is flat on one side. You told me this is the way you found it.... correct? The "platinum IS exposed...correct? Where is the rest of the mould/rock? Is that it laying on the plate that covered the platinum?

If you dont understand my question dont worry. Just tell us the test results. Thanks.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I think I understand. I think you are saying the nugget was hidden by a very thin layer of dirt/rock and you didnt see it so you broke it wide open. Correct?

 

[IAMKNOW1]

I think I understand. I think you are saying the nugget was hidden by a very thin layer of dirt/rock and you didnt see it so you broke it wide open. Correct?

I understand your question just fine. Maybe you were asking the wrong questions. Have you read everything posted on this nugget? that might possibly answer your questions as well. I said I glued it back together for the picture so you have to use your imagination and picture it sealed inside the rock out of sight. There is NO other piece. No I did NOT cut it, that occurs naturally in nature by glaciers(as in this case) If you dont understand this I'm sorry, maybe someone else can explain it to you better then myself.

 

[IAMKNOW1]

Im not going to keep going on about it but its obvious that you dont understand my question.

But I will try one last time.

In this picture the platinum is exposed. In this picture it is flat on one side. You told me this is the way you found it.... correct? The "platinum IS exposed...correct? Where is the rest of the mould/rock? Is that it laying on the plate that covered the platinum?

If you dont understand my question dont worry. Just tell us the test results. Thanks.

Yes, the rest of the rock is laying in the bottom of the pan

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I understand your question just fine. Maybe you were asking the wrong questions. Have you read everything posted on this nugget? that might possibly answer your questions as well. I said I glued it back together for the picture so you have to use your imagination and picture it sealed inside the rock out of sight. There is NO other piece. No I did NOT cut it, that occurs naturally in nature by glaciers(as in this case) If you dont understand this I'm sorry, maybe someone else can explain it to you better then myself.

Yes I read everything and yes maybe I didnt ask the question correctly sorry. And I said yes "I think I understand" now. I was referring to your picture that I keep re-posting. And Im not the only member that didnt understand this. In your pictures, it appears the nugget is level with the glacier flattened side of the rock and its not out of sight. Geez. I guess its an optical illusion. Pictures can be deceiving.

Keep in mind that we always study pictures that are posted. Its part of the identification process. I can use my imagination and come up with all kinds of scenarios but a better explanation would be that the nugget was originally deeper inside the rock.

Good luck with the testing. I also understand its sometimes hard to get the time to find a pawn shop or jeweler.

 

[lastleg]

Bcc, pawn brokers? If you want to get broker take something valuable to a pawn shop. Those guys aren't geologists and
I doubt one has ever seen anything like this.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Bcc, pawn brokers? If you want to get broker take something valuable to a pawn shop. Those guys aren't geologists and
I doubt one has ever seen anything like this.

He has already busted the rock with a hammer and glued it back together. Any pawn shop should be able to test the nugget. He doesnt have to sell it.

I think hes taking it to the Universitys Geology Dept today.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I apologize IAMKNOW1 for asking so many questions.
Whatever it turns out to be, its a very interesting find and thanks for sharing.