Chunky Rock - ID Needed

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Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
51
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181
Location
Adelaide, SA
Out walking today and found some interesting ground packed with rocky patches of this. Some nice chunky quartz loaded with what I'm guessing is pyrites or galena and ironstone, some nice clear crystals and plenty of rusty quartz also. I couldn't seem to locate actual veins still grounded though lots of scattered broken up chunks at the top of the ridge.

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Im thinking the black mineral in the top 2 pics is Tormaline. Or perhaps Stibnite. Stibnite will supposedly fuse / melt in a match flame giving off a blue white sublimate.
 
Thanks for your suggestions. These were found in the Adelaide Hills within a stone's throw of some old workings. Historical documents outline primary commodity being Gold with small amounts of Copper and Silver also dig up. I think I'll be back soon for further investigation. Fingers crossed!
 
Mine too.
Gold is associated with this mineral and also silver.
How much of it is lying around. ?
Keep an eye out for big black soft dark rocks.
They will be solid ore.
Not likely but quite feasible. :) :)

Heatho said:
My guess is Molybdenite.
 
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A great day out today with the family and in the same area as where my original rocks were found. Came across a nice vein of quartz that was what seemed quite foliated? It was heavily streaked with these lines of very red soft material running throughout. I took a sample and plan to crush tonight to see what pans out?
 
I think your sample rock up the top is galena as well mate. Will be interesting to see what comes out of the big chunk you got there! Im not totally positive of the soft red but possibly oxodised pyrites / sulfides turned to rust or a felspar decomposing. I think i can see some dots of malachite in there too! It could be a bit of slicken slide fault or more laminated, rather than foliated. Lets hope some nice stuff appears!
 
Almost certainly tourmaline, the variety known as schorl, and almost certainly not galena. You can scratch molybdenite with your fingernail, galena not with your fingernal but with a "gold" (i.e. $1, $2) coin, tourmaline not with a coin or a steel pocketknife but sometimes using quartz (with difficulty). Tourmaline also has a hardness that varies with the direction that you scratch (across or parallel to elongation). Powdered it (tourmaline) will probably turn a candle flame green (the others will melt and sputter). Molybdenite will leave bluish-black to black streaks when rubbed on the surface of broken porcelain, tourmaline will probably just scratch the porcelain rather than vice-versa.
 
goldierocks said:
Almost certainly tourmaline, the variety known as schorl, and almost certainly not galena. You can scratch molybdenite with your fingernail, galena not with your fingernal but with a "gold" (i.e. $1, $2) coin, tourmaline not with a coin or a steel pocketknife but sometimes using quartz (with difficulty). Tourmaline also has a hardness that varies with the direction that you scratch (across or parallel to elongation). Powdered it (tourmaline) will probably turn a candle flame green (the others will melt and sputter). Molybdenite will leave bluish-black to black streaks when rubbed on the surface of broken porcelain, tourmaline will probably just scratch the porcelain rather than vice-versa.

dam finally truck load of likes to you sir I was a bit slow on seeing this but you are 100% right on tourmaline for the tops images well done mate ;)
 
I've found loads of this tourmaline while looking for other gemstones you find it near granite also a great indicator or a vugh or pegmatite deposit nearby that could contain crystals
 
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