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Post by MsAli on Apr 6, 2018 15:41:45 GMT -5
Ali........The saga continues.
I had my meeting, we looked at rocks and I was sent off to the Geology Dept. at Cal State U San Bernardino......my geo-tech guys could not specifically ID the material you and I like........But, we do know it has silver and magnesium properties, some quartzite and deep calcite runners......So much for the Galena aspect first considered due to what we thought was a "lead" property.......miss-diagnosed.
We also know that the trenches the material was found are indeed fault line tracing explorations....Prospecting Pirates we suspect.....I got that right, all of the material had been lifted by some type of action in the past, to expose some very very old volcanic stimulation. The techs confirmed that the fractures in my stones are the result of fault shifts and grinding action.......some almost platonic in formation.
Anyway, this is fun........I have sent two Geo Professors an E-mail with my story and pictures in the hopes one of them will be willing to examine the material with their "very special" tools (Niton XRF analyzer)........My buddy knows one of those Prof's and sent him an E-mail too..........So, we'll see if one of them is curious enough to invite me over.........!
To be continued......!
Thanks to you and a couple of other buddies, the interest in this has all of us motivated and stimulated..........! Is it sad that I've been waiting for an update all morning?
Couldn't get this stuff off my mind.
Cannot wait to hear what they find out, but now we know what it isn't.
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pizzano
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Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 6, 2018 18:17:33 GMT -5
I'm sorry Ali.......I hate waiting too....as you know......lol
Ya, one method for identification is to eliminate the" what we know does not fit".......in my case, not taking the metal property aspect further into detail left us guessing at a lead quartz related Galena....The techs mentioned that some of there testing methods occasionally confuse metal traits.
BTW........I did make it up to Cal State only to discover that Friday is a bad day to get a hold of many instructors.......seems these guys have side jobs working for mining operations and Geo labs locally.......so I have no idea if and when I'll hear from them........although one of them has "read" my mail....no response yet.
I'm at their mercy.......just hope they are available when I'm able.......the rocks aren't going anywhere and I'm not touching their samples until I know what they are.......lol
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Post by MsAli on Apr 6, 2018 19:38:36 GMT -5
How much of this stuff do you have? Any other pictures of momma? Or how they came out tumbled? Something keeps nagging me that I've seen this before
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pizzano
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Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 6, 2018 21:10:13 GMT -5
How much of this stuff do you have? Any other pictures of momma? Or how they came out tumbled? Something keeps nagging me that I've seen this before I have about 5lbs rough left of the unidentified......probably 30lbs of the other material that came from the other trenches.
Pic's.....were posted in another thread.......but just for you...:
The polished "unknown" and Chalcedony Cave Jasper......you've seen this and it's the only photo I've taken thus far....would you like another perspective..?
The other trench rough.
More other trench rough.
I have identified the various assortment of Agate and Quartzite material that came from the "other" trenches........It is a mixed bag of minerals all compressed into several layers of fault compression......hard enough to tumble....I've cut a few larger chunks, most stayed completely intact.
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Post by MsAli on Apr 6, 2018 21:29:41 GMT -5
Yes if it is not too much trouble, just some more of the unknown.
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pizzano
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Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 7, 2018 11:06:18 GMT -5
Ok.....here's three pic's of the material requested.....:
Polished
Rough Side
Cut Side
This rock is becoming a star.......rock star......lol
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Post by MsAli on Apr 7, 2018 12:08:45 GMT -5
It reminds me of some opal I've seen from there
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pizzano
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Member since February 2018
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Post by pizzano on Apr 7, 2018 13:53:56 GMT -5
I just got word back from one of the Prof's...........He did not invite me for testing but he mentioned that the other Prof. E-mailed might take me up on it since he is from or has spent time in Utah.........!
I was sent a link (PDF) from a mining catalog that he used to ID the stuff I sent him pictures of.........He was certain about most of the elements but thought the link would help me in the future.......:
Here's the link.....:
ugspub.nr.utah.gov/publications/misc_pubs/mp-05-5.pdf
Evidently this Professor has an extensive background in Geo Thermo, Petroleum and Gas mining......lots of field experience and exploration history.
Anyway, here's a sample list of (more than likely) what I brought home from Faust...:
Malachite Banded/Common Opal Aurichalcite Smithsonite Hemimorphite
It was also suggested that since tin and silver have been mined in near by "metal" mineral districts, due to what we found being within a fault, it is highly possible that my material is a "reflection" of what others had mined in the past.........you may be dead-on with the Opal suggestion since all of the elements exist to form Opal banded and common, within other material inclusions......!
Now I know why the material was a bear to polish.......I assumed it was an Agate due to it being hard enough to qualify (I thought).......makes sense now since the Mohs for Opal seldom exceeds 6.0........here I'm polishing it like a 7 to 7.5.....lol
Also, it was mentioned that the many color variations within the other samples pic's I sent him may be due to organic matter and trace metals.........maybe that's why some of the material I cut crumbled along the fringes........wow, there's so much to learn here.
I'll keep you informed if the other Prof. contacts me for testing........I'd still love to do that.
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Post by MsAli on Apr 7, 2018 16:32:59 GMT -5
Please do. It's fun trying to figure something out. And I want to know what it is.
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Post by MsAli on Apr 7, 2018 16:44:37 GMT -5
pizzano out of curiosity have you used a uv lamp on it?
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pizzano
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Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 7, 2018 17:32:43 GMT -5
Yes....I have short and long wave "blue" lamps and a hand held UV.......The Malachite crust does fluoresce a green/yellow. Pretty bright. The "opal" and surrounding stone does not. A few other chunks show streaks of fluoresce throughout, some pinkish and most a green.
One of the first things I did after scrub was hit them with the lights......did not mention it because nothing to write home about. Been through this with many calcite finds out here....not always a good indicator of actual stone properties or elements, but fun to have around.
Without UV
With Long Wave UV
My short wave "black light" bulb gave up the ghost.....it worked the last time I used it.....?.......My handheld UV field lamp did not photo well at all, not bright enough and my cell phone camera has it's limitations.........but under short wave everything that glowed under long wave and three other pieces in that bunch showed up much more yellow and a few blue/pink streaks........!
I'm pretty much done with this exercise for now.......really need to start sorting and cutting........gotta find out how much of this stuff will tumble and how much will be just prettied-up exhibits........now that I have a good idea what I'm dealing with.
Thanks for all of your guidance Ali.......made the adventure more satisfying.
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pizzano
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Member since February 2018
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Post by pizzano on Apr 14, 2018 0:31:17 GMT -5
Ali, if you're checking in........I was contacted by Prof. Lazar again. He apologized for not being able to help me more with actual testing, but gave me a few more clues about my material. He is convinced, like yourself, that your favorite is an opalized quartz/smithsonite based (metal tracings) of tin or zinc. The other material is what he would classify as Sphalerite. He said it comes in various forms and common in the region.
Seems after Easter break things get real busy with mid-terms and finals. He also mentioned that he is kinda the low man on the "totem" pole at Cal State and seldom has access to the XRF analyzer (I assumed he would use). Evidently Dr. Leatham is the over-seer of the equipment and is not a very social guy. He never responds to E-mail and seldom returns calls.....as I have discovered.
Anyway, it was nice of Lazar to get back to me........Thanks again for your curiosity, it motivated me to dig deeper.
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Post by MsAli on Apr 14, 2018 8:12:01 GMT -5
Ali, if you're checking in........I was contacted by Prof. Lazar again. He apologized for not being able to help me more with actual testing, but gave me a few more clues about my material. He is convinced, like yourself, that your favorite is an opalized quartz/smithsonite based (metal tracings) of tin or zinc. The other material is what he would classify as Sphalerite. He said it comes in various forms and common in the region.
Seems after Easter break things get real busy with mid-terms and finals. He also mentioned that he is kinda the low man on the "totem" pole at Cal State and seldom has access to the XRF analyzer (I assumed he would use). Evidently Dr. Leatham is the over-seer of the equipment and is not a very social guy. He never responds to E-mail and seldom returns calls.....as I have discovered.
Anyway, it was nice of Lazar to get back to me........Thanks again for your curiosity, it motivated me to dig deeper. Thank you for the update. It was nice of him to get back to you. I find it to be some really cool stuff. Hopefully you'll get it 100% identified one day. Cannot wait to see what you do with the rest of it
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