stumped need help please

BC1969

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Sep 4, 2013
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Hey I really need some help on a rock/mineral I found, the pics do not show it well.
It is extremely dense and heavy, it is a little over 300 grams, in direct sunlight the gold color is very bright and beautiful, no tarnish of any kind, the gray and blackish parts have almost a rectangular structure, it's not galena.
Everybody that I have showed it to ( rock hounds ) has never seen anything quite like it, at least not a combination of materials that look like it.
It is not pyrite either, and this is the part where I get stumped and confused, it is NOT magnetic, but the real kicker is a all metal, metal detector makes not a sound on it, nothing..
The gray/black areas are either very shiny like mica, but its not flaky, or completely matte.
Was found here in Michigan, but that probably does not matter, as we know the great lakes were carved out by glaciers, which means it could have come from anywhere.
I know there are a lot of smart educated folks who browse this forum, and I am hoping for some possible identification, before I take it to a university, I greatly appreciate any replies.
Mike
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I think you should email a collage that specializes in minerals and give them your info.youll get to many guesses here.Try penn state I know they has a building specializing in minerals but I donot know any email to contact them.
 

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Ya, the images are not very helpful but could it be lead? I know galena & lead are intertwined, but we have rocks here in MO that are covered in a layer of lead. good luck with I d
 

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Hey Mike, have you tried to check some of it's other properties? Like streak, I'm thinik the streak will be green-black, you say it's got a metallic lustre, it looks goldish/brassy in the sun?
I would bet it's specific gravity is about 4.6. It looks like you got a little chalcopyrite there, it's a sulfide mineral, has a brittle, uneven fracture. The hardness should be around 3.5-4.
CuFeS2, Chalcopyrite, that's what I'm thinkin. imho. From just the pics and yer description. Oh, and the greenish would be oxidation, you see when pyrite oxidizes, it turns to a reddish/orange color,
it will oxidize literally into limonite, because it's just sulphur and iron-S2Fe, but chalcopyrite will eventually oxidize when exposed to atmosphere and turn green because of the copper content.


RH
 

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