✅ SOLVED What is this nugget ???

[prospector101]

Hi,

Can anybody help me identify this nugget, it is more shiny than the pic shows,

It is not magnetic and it doesnt register on a metal detector, I found it while panning

It has just been cleaned by hand scrubbers and cola, as they are covered in a thick dark coating

Thanks

 

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[Rustynailsandscrews]

Slag from welding or a forge.

 

[prospector101]

Hi, I dont think there was a forge where I found it near the start of a very high mountain stream, I found alot of these in different shapes and sizes. I had a local jeweler look at it and he cant figure it out, he said it would have to be analyzed in a special machine he did not have. If I break a nugget it looks like platinum or silver on the inside, maybe a sulphide of some kind.

 

[prospector101]

Here is one other piece I have not cleaned, it is covered in mountain stream stuff, the tall part has six sides, its not slag

 

[Ant]

So it is not metallic... then it isn't a precious nugget, .

 

[prospector101]

It is very metallic looking when clean, but not solid metal, can anybody suggest a method for removing the crap completely off the nugget apart from cola.
A mineral of some kind maybe..... can anybody identify this if its a mineral. Could it be an ore of some kind, the jeweler didn't rule out a precious metal sulphide, he said it was not a pyrite

 

[Ant]

If it is metallic it would be detectable with a suitable metal detector or be attracted to a magnet. It looks like a water polished mineral, same as a cobble.

It is not magnetic and it doesnt register on a metal detector, I found it while panning

 

[prospector101]

Ok its definitely a mineral, can anybody Identify it

Thanks for your replys

 

[Ant]

I started out by familiarizing myself with the common minerals that are found in my area. That will save you time in the long run. Try this hardness test:
http://www.rocksandminerals.com/hardness/mohs.htm

 

[Ant]

Most of us don't have quartz crystals to preform hardness test instead we use a nail.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Not sure what cyanide capsules looked like that the old timers used for leach mining but I WOULDN'T do a taste test and definitely wash your hands.

 

[prospector101]

SOLVED water smoothed chalcopyrite