# Could this be silver?



## ebp123 (Jul 17, 2011)

I took a backpacking trip way up in a mountain range in nevada that I know has tons of quarts. I walked a good 10 miles all over this mountain side for 2 days with my metal detector and didnt get a single tone. Finally when i finally got to a place with quartz all over the ground, i scanned the area thoroughly and got a real good tone on 3 small patches of ground. When i started scraping the surface i noticed it was a blue/gray clay on all the spots that set the detector off. Some of the material was very dark and some dark gray or blueish gray.

I took some pics, maybe some geologists or other experience people can help tell me what it is? I also bagged some of the stuff up and brought it home. One of the pics is with the darkest material and the other is with both the dark material and the blueish-gray material. The dark material acts like led and a small bit will spread over the entire piece of paper almost like pencil led.


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## butcher (Jul 17, 2011)

How does it react when panning?
Dissolve a bit in nitric acid add salt or HCL what is reaction?

Try testing a lot of things can be black, gray or blue and look like a duck, we just need to use the tools to see if that blue thing is a duck or not.


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## ebp123 (Jul 18, 2011)

butcher said:


> How does it react when panning?
> Dissolve a bit in nitric acid add salt or HCL what is reaction?
> 
> Try testing a lot of things can be black, gray or blue and look like a duck, we just need to use the tools to see if that blue thing is a duck or not.



Where can i get nitric acid and what type of reaction is suppose to take place?


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## stihl88 (Jul 18, 2011)

Just in case their are any PGM powder present careful breathing any in, fingers crossed that you do have PGM's though...


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## manorman (Jul 18, 2011)

Might try asking Richard or Cody in the prospecting section,'
looks like Blue Lead to me, it should have very high silver content, and some gold.

Mike


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## TigWiz (Jul 18, 2011)

I'm crossing my fingers for you.


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## Reno Chris (Jul 19, 2011)

Get an assay done - based on the photos all I can say is maybe.....

An assay will tell for sure.

Looks like northern Nevada, is the area open to be claimed by you?

Chris


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## ebp123 (Jul 19, 2011)

Reno Chris said:


> Get an assay done - based on the photos all I can say is maybe.....
> 
> An assay will tell for sure.
> 
> ...



Yes its northern nevada...the land is BLM land but is open to be claimed according to the pershing county court house. You wouldnt happen to know an assayer in reno would you?

Thanks


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## goldsilverpro (Jul 19, 2011)

ebp123 said:


> Reno Chris said:
> 
> 
> > Get an assay done - based on the photos all I can say is maybe.....
> ...



If Chris doesn't know a good assayer in Reno, call Mark Lewis here
http://www.lmine.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LMS&Product_Code=I004&Category_Code=

His company in Sparks is a big seller of assay equipment and surely he can direct you to someone local that is reliable.


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## ebp123 (Jul 19, 2011)

thanks, i called and they referred me to UNR bureau of mines to have it assayed but haven't gotten hold of anyone yet. Hopefully I can get the sample to them by tomorrow.


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## Reno Chris (Jul 19, 2011)

I use American Assay labs:

American Assay Laboratories
1500 Glendale Ave.
Sparks, NV 89431-5902
United States
Phone - 775-356-0606

The are recognized as doing good work, but there are others in Reno that are also good.

I didn't think the Bureau of Mines still did assays - I know they used to in the old days, but then Mark Lewis used to do assays in the old days himself (not just sell equipment) - it was Legend Metallurgical in those days. 

One possibility - the material could be graphite, which is soft and grey black, but the only way to know for sure is an assay.

Chris


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## ebp123 (Jul 19, 2011)

Reno Chris said:


> I use American Assay labs:
> 
> American Assay Laboratories
> 1500 Glendale Ave.
> ...




They provide a lot of different services...gold/silver assay only $10 http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/Departments/AnalyticalLab/index.html

Maybe its Silver Sulphide (Ag2S)--Argentite--occurs as a soft, malleable greyish-black substance, which is readily fusible. It
contains 87 per cent. of silver. Deposits containing it in a state of purity occur in Norway, Hungary, Saxony, Bohemia,
Mexico, and the United States. It is the principal ore of silver.


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## Reno Chris (Jul 19, 2011)

> *Maybe its Silver Sulphide (Ag2S)--Argentite*



It could very well be - I am not saying that it isn't. 

However, you are the one who compared it to pencil lead - and Pencil lead is graphite. 

Graphite is electrically conductive and will set off your metal detector. I don't know if argentite will do that or not. 

The little pocket of material in you picture does not appear to be in a vein. It appears to be part of the decomposed rock which has become clay. Argetite occurs in veins. Graphite occurs in the country rock.

Even so it well could be argentite, I would get it assayed if I were you. However, I would not go out and buy a new car until I saw the assay results, because it could also be graphite.


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## Richard36 (Jul 20, 2011)

I'm thinking along the lines of Antimony and Bismuth, 
which would more than likely contain some percentage of Gold and Silver.

If Iron was screened out with the detectors discrimination settings,
Then what it sounded on is of the non-ferrous variety, for certain.

You just need to find out what it is at this point.
Good find though.

You can always hope that it is some of the "Blue-Gray-Clay" 
that we've all read about in various prospecting, and mining magazines.

I'm pretty sure that we could all swing a shovel a for few hours to dig up clay with 200 oz per ton Silver content.
"Comstock Load" grade material. I've found similar pockets of material but could not identify what metal it contained.

Of interest to me is the fact that the stuff I found would turn sulfuric acid black, 
and I do not know what reaction that is.


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## ebp123 (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks for all the info from everyone. I'm having a gold/silver assay done today. I will post the results as soon as i get them.... 

Also, there were 4 small areas within 50yards of each other in the quartz pockets which were giving a good tone. The picture in my first post is of the darkest material, which was not present in the other 3 areas. The dirt im having assayed is from the picture below.


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## markmopar (Aug 18, 2011)

So, what was the result of the assay?


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## Dirtdiggaler (Sep 8, 2011)

markmopar said:


> So, what was the result of the assay?



He is probably busy claiming that area. It would be nice if he let us know.


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## TXWolfie (Sep 18, 2011)

I used to live in Las Vegas for about 7 years and drove for the bus company. I met a man who used to pan the dry river beds and he said he did well for himself. He did tell me that the better areas for gold was just around the outskirts of las vegas just as the mountains met the flat ground. He was also in a wheel chair and couldnt go to those areas any longer. He also mentioned the best places to look for gold was in the flash flood river beds that led towards the lake. Dont forget they dont call Nevada the silver state for nothing, and there is alot of dead mines out and about and alot of claims that are either in use or not in a long time I got bored several years ago and looked it up online. Ok but I am babbling and lets not drag it out further

Rich


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