Tom T Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 My buddy brought by some small rocks that he found with his goldbug and we ran them in front of a Falcon which indicated they were non ferrous so we ran them through my sample mill and were really surprised when we found these little balls of ore inside…. They’re soft and when pounded with a hand sledge they start to flatten until they start to split open… they seems lighter than lead… any ideas??? The big rock on the right is a similar rock of the ones crushed but doesn’t indicate metal with the detector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted June 15, 2023 Author Share Posted June 15, 2023 FWIW, these balls could easily be mistaken for birdshot… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redz Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Are they attracted to magnet? Also when they split open are they silvery or copper colored? If you hit them with a propane torch do they melt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted June 16, 2023 Author Share Posted June 16, 2023 4 hours ago, Redz said: Are they attracted to magnet? Also when they split open are they silvery or copper colored? If you hit them with a propane torch do they melt? Non magnetic the inside when split is gray. I’m not gonna torch them just yet… I do have a smelter though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCR Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 Very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasong Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 What kind of mill, impact mill? If so then the mill itself will turn anything malleable into tiny bb-sized balls as a result of the chain/flail rotating everything around inside. Seem like lead from your description. Is that rock really pinkish or is that the lighting? Looks like some kind of diorite, but it's usually not pink unless it's real high in feldspars, and I'm not sure what sorts of ore minerals occur in that type of rock. It doesn't really look like typical ore though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redz Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 If gray inside my bet is lead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Diggins Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 If you share information about where it was found, how hard/soft the rock is etc. we would have a better chance of helping you. Soft but lighter than lead and gray? Graphite comes to mind. Just going by appearance in the photo it looks like you may have dolomite marble with included graphite as the parent rock. It could also be diorite with hornblende but I'm not seeing any biotite in your sample. It might be granite but I'm not seeing any orthoclase. Graphite balls are sometimes found in these metamorphic rocks. Here are some examples: https://www.mindat.org/photo-275232.html https://www.mindat.org/photo-279666.html https://www.mindat.org/photo-279665.html Graphite in Dolomite: https://www.mindat.org/photo-1269724.html That's just going on the appearance in your photo. I guess it could actually be bbs or birdshot or really really tiny rock burrowing rabbit pellets? I like the mill balls idea. Depends on the mill and the ore but balls are not uncommon with a chain mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted June 16, 2023 Author Share Posted June 16, 2023 The mill is a “Mighty Mill”, I only run it a couple seconds to pulverize just about anything to powder, because it’s powered by a cheap angle grinder from Harbor Freight that spins at about 7,000 rpm. Looking at the balls, they look like they were fairly spherical before they were released from the rock because they all have small indentations which I would expect. The rocks were found (I was told) in woods creek in Jamestown Ca. Just west of Sonora…. The graphite photos are interesting… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Bach Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 Fascinating stuff for sure and good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.JPG.b46839319dc8de4aefe1f42407094dbd.JPG)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now