Silver or Lead?

[wirelessworldinc]

We took a trip on the boat yesterday up the river near Cave IN Rock. We anchored and started walking the beach. My fiance' found a huge rock which had fallen away from the cliff many years ago. He decided to climb up and found a silver looking mound. I did not climb up it was to steep. He told me it was a hole, about 8 inch round which had all this silver coming up out of it. He went back to the boat and got a screwdriver and pliers (all we had) and proceded to work it loose. He got 3 small pieces gouged out each about the size 2in x 2in. When we got home, I tried to soak it in silver cleaner, did nothing. Got out a knife and started to scrap away all of the black stuff on it and it was shiny silver underneath everywhere I scraped. It is kinda soft cause I can make an indent with my fingernail. It also was in the pulltop range on the MD. Any suggestions? Got home to late to take pics of the silver/lead, will post tommorrow.

 

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[bazinga]

Sounds like lead or something similiar to me. Silver would ring up like a coin with your detector.

 

[whitesid]

sounds like lead to soft for silver

 

[Green1]

im going with an alien craft.............

 

[wirelessworldinc]

Thank you, we thought it may be lead to. When I would scrap the knife against it, it would peel up in shiny little sheets

 

[stoney56]

Sounds like lead or something similiar to me. Silver would ring up like a coin with your detector.

I would have thought lead would ring up higher as well with a piece that size.

 

[randall61]

I agree sounds like lead

 

[audigger53]

Cave in Rock was know as a counterfeiters' place as well. It may well be lead with a small silver content. Lead doesn't normally oxide black, white yes. Silver almost always oxidizes black. It would be interesting to see what happens if you were to melt it down and see if you have two metals.<G>

 

[Beechfork]

If it cleaves in sheets and it is black, it could be biotite mica.
Do you know if the rock it was found in is an intrusive igneous rock? This forms deep under ground from magma that cools slowly causing larger crystals to form. In this case sheets of mica.
Beech

 

[Rusted_Iron]

From the description and where you found it, I would guess it's Galena (lead sulfide, a major ore of lead). Cave In Rock was a big locality for fluorite, galena, barite, and a couple other minerals. Unlike lead, which oxidizes to white, galena tarnishes dark gray to black. On a fresh surface it looks shiny and strongly resembles lead. You can scratch galena very easily, as well.