Ok sorry for the long post, but am a little concerned, as I found this rock between Maryborough and Talbot, Victoria, and have never seen anything quite like it before. After I posted some pictures to a facebook site, their opinion was we think its arsenopyrite.
I prospect a fair bit, generally find nothing, but keep trying. And truthfully my love of the different types, shapes and textures of rocks is far greater than my knowledge of them! Gems are see through, and petty, is about my expertise and gold I would know!
Firstly its in quartz, and had a coat about 1 to 2 mm thick of what seemed burnt rock, on one side, the other just looked burnt black, but red bits of, I assume iron staining, could be seen as well, almost an uneducated guess volcanic in origin?
After chipping away a little bit I noticed some crystals then the extremely shiny bright stuff, so broke apart a few more pieces. I have seen a few pyrite bits in a pan before, but this has more faceted crystal structure to some of the shiny stuff, very bright almost like a tinfoil?
It seems harder than normal pyrite, figure nail and steel with a bit of force seems to make no impact, forced screwdriver crushes it, and some of the crystallised bits have very small lines.
Its overall structure is mostly like combined grains fused as blobs, around some crystalline structures, more like cube, with modified octahedral faces, but most is grained like hard stuck together material. It looks to have been deposited throughout the quartz in what I assume are, or were cavities. If ground up, it is a black, grey very dark colour, not malleable like a metal, and the streak colour is dark grey/ black.
I am almost convinced it is arsenopyrite, however all the information I have read makes me think the structure is not squared enough to be this? Nor can i see many example of similar structure for arsenopyrite. It has started to tarnish in a few places, and is turning into a blue almost like a sapphire colour, but not transparent, and another part looked like it was a copper rainbow colour, but most is still very bright or gaining a slight blue hue to it.
So question is, there another metallic looking substance similar to pyrite that is not. Or other, metalloid looking rock, that crushes with a force and leaves a black streak, or is pyrites ability to be crushed, the thing that defines it as pyrite?
And is there any place I could take it to, and find out what it is?
And if arsenopyrite how do I get rid of it safely? Figured returning it to the place I found it?
But truly would rather be able to keep it, IF it is safe to do so!
So any help would be fantastic!
I prospect a fair bit, generally find nothing, but keep trying. And truthfully my love of the different types, shapes and textures of rocks is far greater than my knowledge of them! Gems are see through, and petty, is about my expertise and gold I would know!
Firstly its in quartz, and had a coat about 1 to 2 mm thick of what seemed burnt rock, on one side, the other just looked burnt black, but red bits of, I assume iron staining, could be seen as well, almost an uneducated guess volcanic in origin?
After chipping away a little bit I noticed some crystals then the extremely shiny bright stuff, so broke apart a few more pieces. I have seen a few pyrite bits in a pan before, but this has more faceted crystal structure to some of the shiny stuff, very bright almost like a tinfoil?
It seems harder than normal pyrite, figure nail and steel with a bit of force seems to make no impact, forced screwdriver crushes it, and some of the crystallised bits have very small lines.
Its overall structure is mostly like combined grains fused as blobs, around some crystalline structures, more like cube, with modified octahedral faces, but most is grained like hard stuck together material. It looks to have been deposited throughout the quartz in what I assume are, or were cavities. If ground up, it is a black, grey very dark colour, not malleable like a metal, and the streak colour is dark grey/ black.
I am almost convinced it is arsenopyrite, however all the information I have read makes me think the structure is not squared enough to be this? Nor can i see many example of similar structure for arsenopyrite. It has started to tarnish in a few places, and is turning into a blue almost like a sapphire colour, but not transparent, and another part looked like it was a copper rainbow colour, but most is still very bright or gaining a slight blue hue to it.
So question is, there another metallic looking substance similar to pyrite that is not. Or other, metalloid looking rock, that crushes with a force and leaves a black streak, or is pyrites ability to be crushed, the thing that defines it as pyrite?
And is there any place I could take it to, and find out what it is?
And if arsenopyrite how do I get rid of it safely? Figured returning it to the place I found it?
But truly would rather be able to keep it, IF it is safe to do so!
So any help would be fantastic!
