Got A Rock you Want Identified? Post it here! gimme a good picture or 3 or 4!

[Jennbaker]

 

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[Morphy82]

Hi i have a few...heheH]

 

[Morphy82]

 

[RTR]

I've got a lot of several types of rocks / minerals. This is just one of them. All are very heavy, a lot are all gray, some like these with copper (green) Even some Heavy granite. What's your opinion of these green / gray samples? Also, do you know a cheap way of pulverizing rocks that doesn't cost $3500?
Thanks, BAView attachment 1596049

A 6 pound sledgehammer is about as cheap as you can get.Cover the rock with a rag so it dosent go all over the place.Especially in your eyes.

 

[Eu_citzen]

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View attachment 1598124

Drop some vinegar on it; does it bubble and fizzle? If so, limestone.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Hi i have a few...heheView attachment 1598360View attachment 1598360View attachment 1598361H]

Might be calcite, "dog tooth" is what this look is often called. Dolomite might also be possible.
Take a knife and try scratching the bottom, if it has no crystals there. It should get a scratch from the knife.
Just be 100% sure to do it in a place not obvious for a viewer; hence bottom is often handy.

 

[Eu_citzen]

View attachment 1598362View attachment 1598365View attachment 1598363View attachment 1598364

Pointers for the future:
1. Take pictures of rocks dry. Always.
2. Chip a corner; I want to see a fresh exposed surface.

That said, most appear to be silica-related. Quartz or chalcedony. Pic #2 might be breccia.

 

[Ainera]

Found lots in closed limestone quarry

Hi everyone! I hope I'm doing this right. I don't know for sure if these "embed codes" will work. There a bunch of these rocks in a closed limestone quarry. Possibly also dolomite? I tried vinegar to see if it'd fizz but nothing happened. I also included a (hopefully helpful) map of where I found these rocks! It's the area in the red circled spot. If this doesn't work, any suggestions on how to get pics from my phone onto this forum would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Oh! And it's soft enough to leave marks on cement.

https://ibb.co/d6DtF8
https://ibb.co/dAuB2o
https://ibb.co/iXfjNo
https://ibb.co/gBEpoT
https://ibb.co/gHPB2o
https://ibb.co/fiG28T
https://ibb.co/bLF12o
https://ibb.co/f9eiF8
https://ibb.co/hwuuNo

 

[Eu_citzen]

Hi everyone! I hope I'm doing this right. I don't know for sure if these "embed codes" will work. There a bunch of these rocks in a closed limestone quarry. Possibly also dolomite? I tried vinegar to see if it'd fizz but nothing happened. I also included a (hopefully helpful) map of where I found these rocks! It's the area in the red circled spot. If this doesn't work, any suggestions on how to get pics from my phone onto this forum would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Oh! And it's soft enough to leave marks on cement.

https://ibb.co/d6DtF8
https://ibb.co/dAuB2o
https://ibb.co/iXfjNo
https://ibb.co/gBEpoT
https://ibb.co/gHPB2o
https://ibb.co/fiG28T
https://ibb.co/bLF12o
https://ibb.co/f9eiF8
https://ibb.co/hwuuNo

Could be quartzite or marble. See if a knife will scratch it.

 

[Ainera]

Non-serrated kitchen knife produced this result
https://ibb.co/d9Ro08

 

[Eu_citzen]

Non-serrated kitchen knife produced this result
https://ibb.co/d9Ro08

I'll go with marble then. If so, typically vinegar will react to it; bubble and fizzle.

 

[Ainera]

Thank you kindly! I'll try the vinegar again. Quick response too!

 

[Eu_citzen]

Thank you kindly! I'll try the vinegar again. Quick response too!

That can happen depending on the strength of vinegar; i.e. 30% vinegar or 12% or..?
In a typical test, a geologist would use a 10% solution of muratic acid. But most peps don't have that at home..

But vinegar is widely available, yet can be a little hit-and-miss.
To work around that, scratch again with the knife and test the powdery residue.
Needs a good eye, but works. A drop or two of vinegar. In a pipette or syringe is ideal to drop it onto the powder. A toothpick can also work.

If it does not react, it might be dolomite marble. It's marble either way, IMHO.

 

[BBFlinger]

What rock is this? Does it tumble polish?

 

[jazzygirl]

My husband and I were walking along the river and I found this rock. I loved the colors of it and thought I could figure out what it is. I haven't had a lot of luck. It looks like there is a red and silver in side the rock.

 

[Eu_citzen]

View attachment 1600105
What rock is this? Does it tumble polish?

Break one open with a hammer. Use gloves and protective glasses.
Then get back with a new pic. Will a knife scratch it?

 

[Eu_citzen]

View attachment 1600317View attachment 1600318
My husband and I were walking along the river and I found this rock. I loved the colors of it and thought I could figure out what it is. I haven't had a lot of luck. It looks like there is a red and silver in side the rock.

Appears to be quartz.

 

[ThermoCat]

What is it?

 

[bonafideslacker]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post outside the 'introduce yourself' thread, and I'm sure you've all seen more exotic things than I'll be posting from my new home in coastal Southern Oregon, but I'm just fascinated with the gorgeous colors I've found in every stream, river, and beach and would love to know more. Even my own property contains a steep, rocky creekbed we've not yet been able to access. I've always been looking down...watching for dropped keys, shiny things, and most especially 'pretty rocks'. Well I've hit the motherlode of pretty rocks here and cannot imagine how I'll ever stop picking them up now.

On identification: while I've done a lot of internet sleuthing, the thing that comes up most often is that - obviously - the majority of the stuff I'm finding here is chalcedony (jaspers and occasional agates and quartz I think). However there seem to exist more names for these stones than exist the stones themselves. I've read about picasso jasper and fancy jasper and brecciated jasper and agatized jasper and opalized jasper and....jeez with the different names. So here's my main query: are they all basically the same damn rock that folks name arbitrarily based on visual appeal or is there some classification of Actual Names for these different stones? If there is, can someone please direct me to it? Whew.

I'll attach a few pics of my 'chalcedony, I think' . Also found this seemingly-fossilized-bone thing on my property. Large, extremely heavy, hopefully not human.

Anyone want to try and enlighten me as to the myriad differences in chalcedony, and tell me I've not dug up part of someone's old auntie?

Thanks!
Dana


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So many thanks to all who've helped steer and educate me on my first 'what are these' post. I'm still just as confused as before (and out of vinegar, dammit) but am having a great time trying to figure it all out.

Again, gratitude.

Dana

 

[theblade]

I posted this in the what is it thread as well and they suggested I come post in the gold section too. I’m new to the forum and after seeing this thread had 194 pages I decided it led probably be quicker to just post so sorry if these types have been posted before.

I live in the slate belt in NC around ALOT of gold mines and grew up panning for gold with my dad. We never found more than sand size pieces of gold and it was always more of a father son thing to do.

Those memories have never left me and even though I haven’t panned in years I always pickup interesting rocks and things. Recently I found an area with rocks not as typical around. There’s obviously a lot of slate and clay in these areas as well but this area seems to be a melting pot of every rock and geologic formation that exists in these parts. The deeper I dig the bigger and more interesting the rocks get. I could only get so many and did not have a lot of time but the clay(?) I think is what it is, that these are trapped in is almost like rock itself. It’s littered with Little Rock’s and is mineral stained. The bigger rocks are maybe softball to football size and probably weigh between 5 and 15 lbs. I’m sure if I had a day and better tools I could really get down to what is below but I hoped to get some more answers before I really got into it.

These are only a tiny sampling of what I’ve found. I’ve included a picture of the clay or whatever it is for help with what that is in hopes it could help point to if this area is worth further digging. Then I have two rocks which I’ve cracked open. These were separate rocks not the same and a small representation of the broad range of rocks there. The dark rock I think is maybe schist? Based on the dark bands that are easily seen and break off at those areas. The other more quartz like rock has lots of veins of some mineral. I’m very skeptical to think any of it’s gold but even with a jewelers magnifier it’s hard to tell. It doesn’t easily flake and doesn’t look blocky under magnification. But it seems to be fairly thin so I can’t get it to dent or anything like gold would. I also tried to take the picture in the shade to give a more accurate representation as it doesn’t glitter like pyrite either. Some of it’s also surrounded by some very dark blue or purple not sure I’m color blind mineral which I’ve never seen. Even if it’s not gold I wondered if it’s worth spending more time digging around and investing time and money in to it further.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!