❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here

Dihusky said:

This is an unusual one, the stone weighs 3.35ct, has an SG of 3.24-3.40, I'v measured a few times and being small get a bit of variation on my scales, 0.05ct can make a bit of a difference in the SG figure, it's gold to coffee colour and can be scratched by quartz.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/10304/1550047806_bronzite.jpg

This is pointing me in the direction of Enstatite, maybe a clear version of Bronzite? It was found in Australia and according to Mindat there are a few recorded meteorite craters where Enstatite can be found.

Anyone got any other ideas?

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Enstatite and bronzite (almost the same thing) are widespread throughout Australia. Although they and axinite might broadly fit the bill, so do many other things. And those minerals have strong cleavage, which I do not see here.

Not sure what these are. I found them while panning for gold amongst the heavies and black sand in the bottom of the pan. These are tiny, (using my macro lens) Like large grains of sand. Thinking maybe Garnet.

That would be my guess.

Recon you're on the money with your thoughts Sandbagger

They look exactly the same as what we found often in certain areas around Coffs Harbour, about the same size too... They were Garnets....

LW.....

I found these smooth surfaced irregular shaped stones in my screenings when working a Gippsland creek recently. They are pea-sized, and many have surface nodules. They are attracted to a magnet, and that is the golfball-sized cluster seen in the pan. They are, however, not magnetically attracted to each other but there must be some ferrous content to be magnetically attractive.

What are these stones?

They must be some sort of magnetite if they are magnetic in my experience, there must be, or must have been a decent outcrop in the vicinity.

Gippsland - Nowa Nowa?

goldierocks said:

Gippsland - Nowa Nowa?

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..... no, it's Baw Baw Goldfield.

Hey casper i usually prospect around west gippsland and have collected a few of these stones also. To me they look like a conglomerate of iron stone or something similar that for lack of a better term "rusted together". Im still a novice and thats just my guess

Sandbagger said:

Not sure what these are. I found them while panning for gold amongst the heavies and black sand in the bottom of the pan. These are tiny, (using my macro lens) Like large grains of sand. Thinking maybe Garnet.

https://i.imgur.com/cSkj3n3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/r72R18P.jpg

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If only they were big enough to facet...........

They are lefty, with a multi million dollar computerised faceting machine, :money: like the ones they use for very small diamonds....
They look good in a nice little jar with Baby oil..
The ones we found around coffs were about 2mm in size... and clear as...

LW....

LoneWolf said:

They are lefty, with a multi million dollar computerised faceting machine, :money: like the ones they use for very small diamonds....
They look good in a nice little jar with Baby oil..
The ones we found around coffs were about 2mm in size... and clear as...

LW....

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I've showed this before but it's a national geographic article about diamonds. One section covered cutting small diamonds. These were cut in cutting houses in India with two operators at each machine. The author set out to buy a caret of this diamond melee, he got approx hundred hand cut diamonds for $90 (US?)
If you come across the mag. Great read and worth buying - early 2000's IIRC.

No need to bother buying multi million dollar machines for diamonds at least. But I do know what you are referring to LW.

casper said:

I found these smooth surfaced irregular shaped stones in my screenings when working a Gippsland creek recently. They are pea-sized, and many have surface nodules. They are attracted to a magnet, and that is the golfball-sized cluster seen in the pan. They are, however, not magnetically attracted to each other but there must be some ferrous content to be magnetically attractive.

What are these stones?

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...043_screen_shot_2019-02-17_at_10.44.44_am.jpg

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Must be ferruginous as you say, and probably contain magnetite but are not massive magnetite. If they were from the Eastern Goldfields of WA I would have said ferricrete containing maghemite. However the Baw Baw goldfields don't contain many iron-rich rocks. I did wonder if they were pebbles and lumps of conglomerate from some hihly weathered lava that contains a bit of magnetite. What do they look like individually if you crack them open?

Thanks folks. I'll keep digging. Perhaps I'll find some larger pieces.

(I posted this earlier but I think it was in the wrong section.)

Hi all,

I recently found some rocks and crystals I was hoping you all could help to identify.

The first is a stone with a dark blue tinge:


Second, a big heavy whitish rock:


With this last one, Google image search kept saying it was Turkish bread:


Any help would be appreciated, thank you .

Regards,
Ky.

1st I would say an Agate?(would look good cut in half)......2nd and 3rd are Quartz Crystal Vughs(caves)...

I will keep an eye out for that issue Mr Magoo...

LW....

LoneWolf said:

1st I would say an Agate?(would look good cut in half)......2nd and 3rd are Quartz Crystal Vughs(caves)...

I will keep an eye out for that issue Mr Magoo...

LW....

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2nd and 3rd sound correct but I am doubtful about the first one being agate (I suspect it might be a rock - a collection of minerals). It is impossible to identify from its outside, so I suggest that you do what you proposed and cut it. Do it as if it is agate, and that way you will have a nice stone, regardless of what it is,

A bit hard to tell unless it's cut, that's why I put the ? after Agate... Looks interesting tho...

LW.....

LoneWolf said:

A bit hard to tell unless it's cut, that's why I put the ? after Agate... Looks interesting tho...

LW.....

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Thanks folks.

So I gather the larger pieces are a common thing to find, even in large amounts? I bought a thin stone cutting blade for my angle grinder, any tips or pointers before I start? I'll also check YouTube.

Though hours later I'll come-to and realise that I'm watching a spiky haired, pepped-up clustertard who calls himself 'The Scent' open 5k surprise box's purchased from the dark web.