Steve Herschbach Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Would not be surprised if an assay showed some gold values. Looks like a typical mixed sulphides, probably with some copper, gold, and silver values. In Alaska you could also count on some lead and zinc. I used to have a garage full of the stuff but left most of it up north with the local rock club when I moved. But normally it is minimal ounces per ton stuff, nothing to get excited about unless you have a mountain full of it, and in California even that would not matter. But fun nonetheless. Common pyrite is just iron sulphide but there are various other "pyrites" that all have a similar hackly golden appearance. Chalcopyrite is a common copper ore that looks a lot like regular pyrite and with the copper staining that may be some of what you are looking at. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indianbullet Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Well I took a nail to the specks and tried to dig hell out of them, but nothing came off and nothing turned black. Then I cut these slabs off of the little piece and I think I could engrave my name in the stuff and it is gold in color and dense. and with I scratch it, it shines up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasong Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I'd go with chalcopyrite but hard to tell from pics. Does it smell like sulfur when you cut it or scratch it? If it was gold, pieces that big wouldn't crush up, it'd pancake out and flatten and form fairly large pieces. If it all crushed up then it's probably not gold. But as Steve said, there might very well be gold in the ore. Even the presence of sulfides in the same rock doesn't mean that some of the ore might not be free milling too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Maybe some grayish pyrites with the goldish pyrites? That would be arsenopyrite. Again, very common in gold ores and also very conductive. Arsenopyrite will often signal strongly with a VLF detector. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indianbullet Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Man I should have paid more attention in my geology class 40 years ago, if they even had one.. lol. I tired to engrave it no luck, took my carbide scribe to it and got some dust off of it and couldn't really detect an odor at all. I did put my tongue on it and could get the metallic feeling that would make your filling's sing. I'm interested to see if it will take a polish as It could make some very cool cabs if so.. Thanks for the feed back guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulder dash Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Definitely a pyrite!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hard Prospector Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 That stuff was meant for crush n' panning. If you find values in that sample and have access to a whole lot more.....Time to buy a impact mill. BTW, I wouldn't put any ore into my mouth (arsenic, lead, copper sulfate....) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featherdfishead Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Pyrite type for sure - theres a local mine that was primarily Copper but Gold secondary. The dump piles are riddled with chalco and arseno pyrites that hit in the 40 - 60 on my GB Pro and register as Tin on my buddies MXT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indianbullet Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 ^^^^ Yeah Head I looked this mine up and it was Gold primary and Copper secondary so that's probably the case. I will have it looked at. Then slab a bit more and maybe cut come cabs to see how they polish up. Who knows? It looks cool none the less Like I used to always say. "Don't take much to entertain some kids." lol I'm at the bottom end of the State right now so it will have to wait a few days.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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