I have a piece of the rock

Whats this rock mean is it a sign from the godslol

You said you found it close to a railroad track? It looks like charred steak? It is silver inside? It is heavy?

It is most likely this stuff...meteorite-recovery.tripod.com...


Most "Slag Meteor-wrongs" are composed of Ferrosilicon alloys called Ferro-manganese and Ferro-chrome by the steel-making industry, but mineralogists prefer the term "synthetic silicides".

Tarnish developes on unprotected cut surface (right-side, left-side was protected) after just a couple weeks of exposure outdoors. The similarity of this man-made mineral to naturally occuring arsenopyrite is more than just a coincidence. [See in the "References: ", below, for the Slag piles contamination report.]
It didn't take too much detective work to track down the source of the slag used by the railway in their track-ballast. Nearly all of this slag comes from two huge slag heaps in Fontana (California) and was purposely dumped there by the Kaiser Steel Co.
[See the "References: ", below, for the Fontana Steel Mill.]

Conclusion:

The black-tarnished, manganese-rich rock, which is here termed, "ferro manganese", originated from a slag-heap at the former Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, California. This particular kind of slag is not produced in "steel furnaces", but was formed in the older "iron blast furnaces".

reply to post by Nomadmonkey




** Typical analysis:
**
** Mn 26-32%, present as MnO (33-42%)
** SiO2 approx. 24%
** Al2O3 max 12%, typ. 10%
** CaO approx. 18%
** MgO approx. 3%
** K2O max 2.5%
** P typ. 0.02%

Originally posted by Nomadmonkey
You said you found it close to a railroad track? It looks like charred steak? It is silver inside? It is heavy?

It is most likely this stuff...meteorite-recovery.tripod.com...


Most "Slag Meteor-wrongs" are composed of Ferrosilicon alloys called Ferro-manganese and Ferro-chrome by the steel-making industry, but mineralogists prefer the term "synthetic silicides".

Tarnish developes on unprotected cut surface (right-side, left-side was protected) after just a couple weeks of exposure outdoors. The similarity of this man-made mineral to naturally occuring arsenopyrite is more than just a coincidence. [See in the "References: ", below, for the Slag piles contamination report.]
It didn't take too much detective work to track down the source of the slag used by the railway in their track-ballast. Nearly all of this slag comes from two huge slag heaps in Fontana (California) and was purposely dumped there by the Kaiser Steel Co.
[See the "References: ", below, for the Fontana Steel Mill.]

Conclusion:

The black-tarnished, manganese-rich rock, which is here termed, "ferro manganese", originated from a slag-heap at the former Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, California. This particular kind of slag is not produced in "steel furnaces", but was formed in the older "iron blast furnaces".

Fantastic find Nomadmonkey. I second this conclusion. Slag waste is something I never even considered. But it is the one thing which ticks all the boxes. The picture in the link provided even looks more or less identical to copperhead's rock.

Byproducts of iron smelting would definitely look like a rock derived from an igneous origin as stated in charlyv's report. They would probably have a high proportion of of iron oxides in it as also stated in the report. However, the manganese is the key.

Manganese, or its mineral equivalent - pyrolusite (manganese oxide) is often added into iron ore as it makes it a little stronger (I think, my expertise is more on the finding of iron ore, not so much the processing side of things). However it also makes the iron more brittle. At the mine I work at manganese is considered waste as people who buy iron ore like to add there own manganese to it to get the proportions just right - it's a lot easier to add it as opposed to taking it out (kinda like salt to a meal). Manganese also streaks black like charcoal, not rusty red like most iron oxides, which would fit the description the mining museum gave. This is how we identify it at my mine. It also oxidizes to a black which would explain the outer coating of the rock - as I said before most regular iron oxides have a rusty red, brown or yellow brown coating.

My now revised guess is that when the rail road was being built (you did say your friends dad found on or near rail tracks didn't you?) the workers just need anything chunky to stick under the sleepers and used probably got the waste slag from a nearby iron smelt for very cheap or free. Then one day your friends dad was walking along, found one which had been split open, saw all the silver metallic inner core and thought he's struck it rich, so he came back with a pick-up truck and loaded up as much as he could carry. Possibly if you were to research past iron smelts within the vicinity of the rail tracks your friends dad found these rocks copperhead you'll be able to track down exactly where it came from

Once again charlyv's spectral analysis report will be the key. I would expect it to look quite similar to what Nomadmonkey posted above but possibly should have some proportion of Fe - iron - in it as well.

Just goes to show you think you've got all the answers and someone comes in and throws you a curve ball. This threads definitely not done yet!!!

Just when you thing the ride is over...here comes another tight curve....woo hoo

Love this thread....

reply to post by Destinyone


I never believed that rock was worth a gazillion bucks, but it is fun to dream!! And maybe it is a meteorite from Mercury because they havent found many of them. But it will probably go back to it's regular job of guarding the flower bed. At least we know what it isn't. I am going to put up the pictures of the petrified water and also my petrified wing-nut. Because----- well because it is Sunday.

Originally posted by copperhead12
reply to post by Destinyone

 

I am going to put up the pictures of the petrified water and also my petrified wing-nut. Because----- well because it is Sunday.

Actually...I think there are quite a few petrified wing nuts here on ATS!!!!! And I'm not talking about this thread at all...lol

They'd still be pretty interesting pics though!

reply to post by webpirate

Second pic looks bling =D!!!

But on a serious note mica is said to be very sought after amongst um rock collectors? dunno what they like to be called so whatever.

as for the the rusty bolt deal with it like you would any other rusty bolts throw it out without a second thought.

Originally posted by copperhead12
reply to post by webpirate

 

The first pic - the wing nut - looks like what I'd expect a rock with a reasonably high iron content to look like. The second looks a bit like gypsum which is a little bit like salt, but has a different bunch of elements in it. Is it quite soft compared to your average rock? And if you scratch of some powder does it slowly dissolve in water? If not then I would guess it might be just regular old quartz, albeit a very pretty piece.

Originally posted by pasiphae
i just took a pic of my petrified water

i didn't have a ruler handy so i threw in my foot for fun and perspective... yes, it's real.

Pasiphae your mica is actually a specific variety called biotite

reply to post by 1littlewolf

The wing nut came from the ranch and there is alot of iron in the mountains of Colorado. Son was 7 when he found it and thought it was a wing nut.
Scratched the other rock and the dust is setting in water.It scratched very easily with a nail file. and yep it seems to be gone in the water.
I was wrong about that dragon rock, it was my mother's not my friends rock. Mom probably found it in that creek I talked about early on. I am tempted to crack it open and see what is in it but I would probably ruin it.

Ya know...the one thing I like about this thread is....people are posting photos of things they actually have in hand. Not something they found on some website, or yootoob. It makes it exciting, and yes, new.

Plus, it gives me an insight into the person posting that I wouldn't get otherwise. Some good stuff all around...

reply to post by Destinyone


Hi Des, did the rednecks go home? I worried about you on that mountain top, Our ranch is full of mountains and our house was built in the 1800's and last lived in in 1916. Alot of the spanish people who live there kinda took care of us because of the seven kids. Youngest was 4. No electric or water in the house and no phone. Nearest neighbor was three miles away (8 miles by road)
Five mexican men came to the house with deer meat and a promise to not party in the valley anymore. They loved to try hitting targets in the dark. We allowed them to use the lower meadow for their partys.

Originally posted by copperhead12

I was wrong about that dragon rock, it was my mother's not my friends rock. Mom probably found it in that creek I talked about early on. I am tempted to crack it open and see what is in it but I would probably ruin it.

I have dozens of cobble sized rocks with a real tiny pretty bit somewhere in the middle. The trouble with rocks is generally the really interesting part is also the point of natural weakness and I've learnt the hard way (multiple times) not to try and smash off all the uninteresting bits cos generally I end up ruining the whole thing. Gonna have to invest in a rock-saw one day.

The dragon rock looks pretty cool already though. Maybe next time a friend of yours is having some paving done you could get the guys's to slice the thing down the middle, or if you were to stick it in a 'tumber' you could knock off the pointy bits and end up with a reasonably round piece. Also that JJRichey is right, that rock is definitely dried up mud cracks.

Originally posted by copperhead12
reply to post by Destinyone

 

Hi Des, did the rednecks go home? I worried about you on that mountain top, Our ranch is full of mountains and our house was built in the 1800's and last lived in in 1916. Alot of the spanish people who live there kinda took care of us because of the seven kids. Youngest was 4. No electric or water in the house and no phone. Nearest neighbor was three miles away (8 miles by road)
Five mexican men came to the house with deer meat and a promise to not party in the valley anymore. They loved to try hitting targets in the dark. We allowed them to use the lower meadow for their partys.

Probably not...Monday is a holiday, so they maybe passed out late this afternoon. Will find out tomorrow. As long as they don't shoot one of my goats, I'll leave them alone. Don't get them close to my place often, the only way to where they are hunting is by foot up the back side of the mountain, or through my land with a 4-wheeler or on foot. They did not get access through my property.

Very interesting history you have there Girl. The movie Deliverance was shot about 30 miles from here, as the crow flies. The author who wrote it lived 7 miles from here, and he played the Sheriff at the end of the movie.

Des

Its Pewter, most likely salvage the old man was scraping in his iron kettle from old cookware. when you acid test silver it will turn white, if its pewter it turns black

Originally posted by sweetnlow
Its Pewter, most likely salvage the old man was scraping in his iron kettle from old cookware. when you acid test silver it will turn white, if its pewter it turns black

See.....I just can't keep up with this thread anymore. Copperhead did you not test your rock with vinegar and it turned black like silver cutlery? I actually completely forgot about this until I saw sweetnlos's post

Like I've hopefully made fairly clear by now I don't know a hell of a lot about any rock that isn't an iron oxide - partied too hard at university. What I do know however is that iron oxides - at least ones that don't contain a hell of a lot of other things mixed in - do not turn black with acid. In fact they are on the whole fairly nonreactive with most things. This again makes me doubt the analysis that the guys charlyv sent the rock too.

Still gonna have too wait for that spectral analysis report from charly though. Like I said this would have come from a completely unbiased machine and should simply spit out a list of elements/minerals in various percentages.

sweetnlow - do you have a source regarding this silver- white/pewter - black acid test or is it something you've done yourself before? It's just I would have guessed silver would've turned black as well....

I still think the best thing you could do copperhead in lieu of charlyv's report is get your hubby to melt it alongside say maybe some some iron or steel to see if it melts as easily, or more easily than the iron/steel. If it melts much more easily then maybe it is silver, or even pewter as sweetnlow suggests. I wouldn't have a clue what temperature iron smelter slag would melt at as it could be composed of anything depending on the impurities associated with where the original ore was mined from. However, whether it's manganese, silver or whatever, chances are it would melt at a lower temperature than steel, iron, or iron oxide....

Maybe you are rich after all.....

reply to post by 1littlewolf


Littlewolf, this damn rock has been such a headache. For twenty years I have heard oh it's this and No it must be that and It's junk and it's something great. Personally, I think it moves molecules around in the night and morphs into what ever it feels like being.
Ive never heard the pewter mentioned before. I have little pewter girl statues and they never tarnish. Maybe they are coated with something. But the color of the rock is pewter colored.
My silverware turns black not white.Is pewter an ore? I never heard anyone strike pewter. Gold and silver,yes but I think pewter is man made.
We will have to hang loose until charlyv comes in with a readout.
I really get the feeling that the rock really doesn't want us to know what it is. At the start of this thread someone told me to talk to the rock. I really don't know how to talk to rocks!! I don't think this rock speaks English.

reply to post by copperhead12

Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C (338–446°F), depending on the exact mixture of metals.[1] The word pewter is probably a variation of the word spelter, a colloquial name for zinc.[2]

Wiki link

You don't strike pewter...lol..but maybe you came across some that was discarded before being made into anything. But if that's the same rock the report earlier was on the elements in it don't match the pewter elements.

You're prolly right thought...it's an alchemy rock that is made to change it's molecular structure when tested, or it's just flat out alien rock that does the same thing to keep us from reverse engineering it...lol.

reply to post by 1littlewolf


little wolf, do you work at the Prominent Hill mine? googled iron-oxide ore and they had a pic of that mine in Australia.