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Is this potentially a meteorite? Dont look at the blue/green colours they are all reflections. Real colour is silver
- Thread starter Terry Warne
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The Widmanstatten pattern shown is characteritic of iron meteorites but also of some Western Australian vanadian magnetite iron ores - photo (and steel). The patches of earthy limonite in it worry me for a meteorite. You did not get it somewhere like Barrambie did you?
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Galena...???
LW...
LW...
Need to know hardness
Just going by the 'Crystal' structure and my samples here...
LW...
LW...
I don't think so. This looks like Widmanstatten structure (not found in galena) and there is a "layering" not found in galena.
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Thanks guys. I found this rock in an 825mm sewer main pipe in Cairns Qld about 17 years ago. I have no idea about anything to do with this sort of stuff but I really want to get into learning about fossicking. I have no idea if it's magnetic but I'll definitely find out this week. I appreciate the comments.
Thanks
Terry
Thanks
Terry
I'll have a stab at a nice example of Hornblende.
Found this reference on the net. https://www.minerals.net/mineral/hornblende.aspx
Hornblende is a major rock-forming mineral found in many different types of metamorphic and igneous environments.
Some of the checks you may be able to do yourself are.
Found this reference on the net. https://www.minerals.net/mineral/hornblende.aspx
Hornblende is a major rock-forming mineral found in many different types of metamorphic and igneous environments.
Some of the checks you may be able to do yourself are.
| Color | Usually black, dark green, dark brown |
| Streak | White, colorless – (brittle, often leaves cleavage debris behind instead of a streak) |
| Luster | Vitreous |
| Cleavage | Two directions intersecting at 124 and 56 degrees |
| Specific Gravity | 2.9-3.4 |
| Mohs Hardness | 5 to 6 |
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Probably not - lacks the characteristic cleavage and lustre. We need to start with hardness and magnetic properties. Very easy.
Hi Terry. Just revisiting your post and wondering if you have been able to carry out further tests mentioned to measure hardness, specific gravity and magnetic etc properties or maybe have had a chance to take it to a university or museum geology dept for an ID?
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I'm curious to know why in the first place, of all things, you were prospecting in a sewer pipe... did someone swallow the Xmas pudding coin?
I think someone gave you a bum steer
I think someone gave you a bum steer
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Perhaps he'd read this news report:I'm curious to know why in the first place, of all things, you were prospecting in a sewer pipe... did someone swallow the Xmas pudding coin?
I think someone gave you a bum steer
https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/11/news/gold-switzerland-water-sewage-waste/index.html
Terry, getting a vote on identification is meaningless when we don't know the properties. I asked if it was magnetic, its hardness (a couple of times) and also if I was correct that there was another light mineral present (#3,6 &10 above). Colour is pretty meaningless, appearance in a photo is usually meaningless - yet that is all that you have provided (my only comment would be that the cleavage, colour and lustre all make hornblende or galena a bit unlikely although they are intelligent gueses). For example, if it is magnetic it will pick up a steel needle (if not magnetite it is not a meteorite for other reasons of its appearance). A "gold" coin and certainly a needle will scratch sphalerite but not magnetite. Quartz will scratch magnetite. It is dead simple to do these things - it is almost certain that a vote will be of no real help whatsoever as people can only guess without any diagnostic info (although if I had to I would guess that it is not a meteorite - but that is still my unreliable guess despite half a century as a mineralogist including working with meteorites - if I am unsure I doubt if many other people can be reliably sure).
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Fusion crusts are only on the outside of meteorites, so if this was one broken open, that would not be diagnostic. Some don't even show much of a fusion crust (eg look at this one from Port Curtis Qld.)
I forgot to mention that the hardness of meteoritic iron is very variable because of the various proportions of nickel iron minerals that can be present, but is typically 4 to 5. Magnetite is 5 to 6.. Glass will commonlky scratch a meteoritic iron but not magnetite (but sometimes can scratch magnetite weakly) .
The first thing is to determine if it is even magnetic - which should take a few seconds once you find a needle and is fairly conclusive for iron meteorites being a possibility (i.e. in that all are magnetic). "Gold" coins are tricky - might scratch meteoritic iron but sometimes not, will not scratch magnetite (problem is coins used to be softer at 3.5 but are commonly ayt least 4 now.
Iron metorites do not have quartz and felspar (light minerals) as in post #3
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If I was a plumber digging sewer trenches in Ballarat, Bendigo or other GT towns, I'd ensure I had a detector in the back of the Hi Lux.I'm curious to know why in the first place, of all things, you were prospecting in a sewer pipe... did someone swallow the Xmas pudding coin?
I think someone gave you a bum steer
