# Need a second opinion⁉️



## 3Speed (Aug 25, 2022)

I'm going to request patience as I'm still learning proper etiquette as far as asking questions which I'm sure have obvious answers to those who have been working with precious metals for awhile or with as much knowledge on the subject as the members of this forum seem to have. So when I was a teen staying with my dad for the summer and he had been training a Tennessee walking horse he had rescued. Not sure of the whole ordeal on payment, but the man came to get the horse around a week after I arrived and I remember hearing him tell my dad he'd bring the remaining $500 he owed the following day after the bank opened. He returned the next day but didn't have the money, after a slightly heated discussion he offered my dad a large chunk of metal in exchange for the debt. After more heated discussion my dad reluctantly accepted the offer. I guess thinking something was better than nothing since he'd already received most of what he was owed. Then I saw my dad later that evening talking with a friend (I was ear hustling) about the chunk ... I couldn't hear much and thanks to my awkward clumsiness and falling off a bucket I was standing on and knocking over all the rakes and shovels I gave myself away and ran inside and hopped in bed, hoping to avoid a good ol fashing butt whipping for being nosey after I was told to stay inside. I fell asleep and when I got up I went outside to find my dad and saw him burying the box he'd put the chunk in out in the lower end of the garden. I just acted like I didn't see anything and we went on about our day... I went home after the Summer and I guess it faded from my memory until recently when he passed away..... I went out to his old place and just sat on the swing where we sat every evening after supper and just talked about any and everything that came to mind and as I recalled past conversations, I suddenly remembered the mysterious box that has plagued my mind that summer nearly 23 years ago.... I couldn't help but wonder if he ever dug it up..... The property was over grown where the garden had been, but I managed to figure out where the corner use to be. I dug down maybe 3ft when I hit the box...it was still there. I couldn't believe it...I took it out and opened it up and there it was..the mysterious chunk of metal....I brought it home with me and put it in my safe for awhile and recently pulled it out again and thought I'd see if I could find out what it was....I know it not Gold and I've did a lot of googling and searching YouTube and if I had to guess based on what I've read, I think it's possibly tungsten, but I also read tungsten can be hazardous if not handled properly so I thought I'd get some second opinions seeing as how I know very little about chemistry or about identification of metals. I figured better to ask and sound like an idiot than actually be an idiot and test it or cut it, and cause myself to get sick down the road. It's very dense and deceptively heavy, very hard, gets stronger when it's heated and after heating even to a glow, expells heat at an unbelievable rate, from going to cooled enough to touch after a minute or less. Any help would be appreciated...
Thank u in advance...


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## 4metals (Aug 25, 2022)

If you take exact measurements of length, width and thickness to determine volume of the piece. Then weigh it exactly and calculate the density. 

This will get you closer. From first look it looks like Silver. Tungsten is usually rolled flat with no imperfections and platinum is not cast into bars easily. 

And optimistic evaluation of mankind in general would think the man your dad was dealing with felt obligated to give him something of value, I’d bet on Silver. Then again if he was dealing with a Darth Vader type it may be tin. 

Since it is rather symmetrical a rough density calculation may give you an answer.


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## 3Speed (Aug 25, 2022)

It's a lot heavier than you'd expect by looking at it. And it it cools so rapidly it's mind blowing. I did manage to use a drill press (wearing a respirator just incase) to get a couple slivers off to do any testing I might be able to do. First thing I tried was using a butane fuel torch to see if it would melt, turn colors, or just how it would respond to heat. The piece was literally a couple millimeters thick and despite having it glowing red it wouldn't melt. And it looks like when it was melted it cooled so fast the air trapped inside it didn't manage to escape before it hardened. I also noticed when I heated the small piece to red hot, it took less that 5 seconds to be room temp. And last I tried putting an ice cube on it and to say it melted fast would be an understatement.... The only thing I am fairly certain of is that it's not tin....mainly because the metal box it was buried in was nearly rusted through and it was wrapped in nothing but one of my dad's shop rags (clean, no oils on it) and the pic I sent is what it looked like straight out of the ground after being there around 12-13 years.


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 25, 2022)

My guess would be silver.
Pure silver is quite soft, but conducts heat and electricity very well.

The sliver you heated to red, how do it look when back to normal?

Silver has a density of 10.5 so if you measure it and calculate the volume and then weigh it you can easily see if it is Silver.

Edit spelling


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## Refining Rick (Aug 25, 2022)

Platinum bubbles like that when cooled if I remember correctly. I needs to be cooled in a reducing flame to burn out the oxygen that the molten metal holds when liquid.
My guess is a PMG or PGM alloy.


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## 4metals (Aug 25, 2022)

Yes Platinum does bubble but it requires specialized equipment to melt and cast into an ingot like the piece shown. Since Silver is much more "backyard refiner friendly", that is why I assumed Silver. But Silver wrapped in a rag and buried in a long rusted out box would not be that shiny anymore.


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 25, 2022)

I'm not sure regarding Pt but Pd do love Oxygen.
But a simple SG test will say if its Pt or Silver/Palladium.
Harder to separate Pd and Ag that way.

Edit added info.


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## 4metals (Aug 25, 2022)

*Alloys of platinum with rhodium or iridium tend to absorb oxygen from the air during melting* which can lead to the formation of pores in the cast ingot. For this reason they are normally melted under a protective atmosphere (nitrogen or argon) or vacuum.

But the density will help narrow it down. 

For the young lady's sake I hope it's Iridium or Rhodium!


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## Shark (Aug 25, 2022)

Several years ago a hobby prospector found traces of platinum in the Ironton area. He was working old mine tailings and claimed that it all came from only two specific mines. All that area is private now so no way to test it out for myself. Most gold in Alabama is flour gold and the only time I ever found any was to the south east of the Cheaha Mountain area. These are the only two metals of high value I have ever heard of around here.


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## 3Speed (Aug 26, 2022)

There are large amounts of both flour and complex gold in just about every creek in my area and to the south of i-20. I literally live maybe 15 mins from the overlook on Cheaha. I've found that a lot of flour gold can be found in layers of shape in my area specifically. Almost like some one took buckets of flour gold and mixed it into clay and then it was compressed for thousands of years. The trouble is separating it without going broke and polluting have the county in the process.


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## Shark (Aug 26, 2022)

I panned what I found in a very small stream. I noticed pockets of black sands after a heavy rain and used a pie pan to test them out. Never tried them again even though I was working just north of Wedowee(sp?) at the time.


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## 3Speed (Aug 26, 2022)

A lot of the flour gold has been in this type of ore and in the blue/gray clay that makes up a creek bank in the same area.


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## orvi (Aug 26, 2022)

3Speed said:


> I'm going to request patience as I'm still learning proper etiquette as far as asking questions which I'm sure have obvious answers to those who have been working with precious metals for awhile or with as much knowledge on the subject as the members of this forum seem to have. So when I was a teen staying with my dad for the summer and he had been training a Tennessee walking horse he had rescued. Not sure of the whole ordeal on payment, but the man came to get the horse around a week after I arrived and I remember hearing him tell my dad he'd bring the remaining $500 he owed the following day after the bank opened. He returned the next day but didn't have the money, after a slightly heated discussion he offered my dad a large chunk of metal in exchange for the debt. After more heated discussion my dad reluctantly accepted the offer. I guess thinking something was better than nothing since he'd already received most of what he was owed. Then I saw my dad later that evening talking with a friend (I was ear hustling) about the chunk ... I couldn't hear much and thanks to my awkward clumsiness and falling off a bucket I was standing on and knocking over all the rakes and shovels I gave myself away and ran inside and hopped in bed, hoping to avoid a good ol fashing butt whipping for being nosey after I was told to stay inside. I fell asleep and when I got up I went outside to find my dad and saw him burying the box he'd put the chunk in out in the lower end of the garden. I just acted like I didn't see anything and we went on about our day... I went home after the Summer and I guess it faded from my memory until recently when he passed away..... I went out to his old place and just sat on the swing where we sat every evening after supper and just talked about any and everything that came to mind and as I recalled past conversations, I suddenly remembered the mysterious box that has plagued my mind that summer nearly 23 years ago.... I couldn't help but wonder if he ever dug it up..... The property was over grown where the garden had been, but I managed to figure out where the corner use to be. I dug down maybe 3ft when I hit the box...it was still there. I couldn't believe it...I took it out and opened it up and there it was..the mysterious chunk of metal....I brought it home with me and put it in my safe for awhile and recently pulled it out again and thought I'd see if I could find out what it was....I know it not Gold and I've did a lot of googling and searching YouTube and if I had to guess based on what I've read, I think it's possibly tungsten, but I also read tungsten can be hazardous if not handled properly so I thought I'd get some second opinions seeing as how I know very little about chemistry or about identification of metals. I figured better to ask and sound like an idiot than actually be an idiot and test it or cut it, and cause myself to get sick down the road. It's very dense and deceptively heavy, very hard, gets stronger when it's heated and after heating even to a glow, expells heat at an unbelievable rate, from going to cooled enough to touch after a minute or less. Any help would be appreciated...
> Thank u in advance...View attachment 51871


My first guess is silver. It is very white in appearance, but this could be misleading as light conditions while taking photos could skew the colour.
Density measurement will distinguish platinum/platinum alloys apart from lighter materials such as silver or palladium. 
Then, if I was you - I will test with acid. Namely nitric acid. It is very easy to say if it is pure silver or palladium by the colour of the solution - silver gives you clear solution, palladium only dissolve in hot nitric (and slowly) forming reddish brown solution.
If you never handled chemicals such as nitric acid, and you want to proceed this way - we can guide you on how you can do it safely. Please, do not go to this head first if you do not have experience, since it could end up badly.
Maybe more suitable would be to go to the well-established gold/precious metals buyer to let it zapped with X-ray spectrometer to get the approximate composition. Some are willing to do it for free, some will charge you some fee for the measurement. Just ask beforehand 

Good luck with it, and I hope it would be more precious than silver


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## DaddyD (Aug 27, 2022)

I have been prospecting since 1968 90 percent of the gold I find is flower gold the clay is not toxic takes longer to process but a lot of fun


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

DaddyD said:


> I have been prospecting since 1968 90 percent of the gold I find is flower gold the clay is not toxic takes longer to process but a lot of fun


Oh no, maybe I misspoke. I know the clay isn't toxic I meant the chemicals used to separate the gold from other host material. I'm thinking vibration/resonate frequency. I think it will work on the flour gold....


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

orvi said:


> My first guess is silver. It is very white in appearance, but this could be misleading as light conditions while taking photos could skew the colour.
> Density measurement will distinguish platinum/platinum alloys apart from lighter materials such as silver or palladium.
> Then, if I was you - I will test with acid. Namely nitric acid. It is very easy to say if it is pure silver or palladium by the colour of the solution - silver gives you clear solution, palladium only dissolve in hot nitric (and slowly) forming reddish brown solution.
> If you never handled chemicals such as nitric acid, and you want to proceed this way - we can guide you on how you can do it safely. Please, do not go to this head first if you do not have experience, since it could end up badly.
> ...


I gotta be honest, I don't have to much experience with chemicals except hydrochloric acid and that's because I use it pretty regular on the job. And no worries as far as diving into something because I saw it on YouTube and think somehow I'm an expert. I'm definitely aware of what can happen when u just start throwing chemicals together. Made that mistake before. I do have a friend close by that does a lot of trading in gold and silver coins and jewelry who could test with nitric acid but she's on vacation til Monday. I'm confused more now than I was before.... Pulled out a rare earth magnet earlier and it sticks to it. Not a very strong bond, but it does stick. Which worries me just a little. Because precious metals are magnetic right? But at the same time I figured anything other than precious metals would have rusted given the time spent buried in the ground and exposed to the elements. It looked like the metal box it was in had been rusted for awhile. It was damp and muddy inside and it was wrapped in nothing but a shop rag. I have been hesitant about taking it to someone to have it checked out incase it's tungsten. I know there can be some nasty medical issues associated with it especially in larger quantities...if I handle it, I wear my welding gloves with latex gloves underneath. I would hate to expose anyone to something that could make them sick.


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 27, 2022)

Can you find someone with a XRF?
Pawnshop, Jeweler or similar?
Then you can have it tested.

Still I would do the easy one first, measure the item and calculate the volume.
Weigh it and you can find the Specific Gravity.

None of the Precious metals are magnetic as far as I know, but some have paramagnetic properties and the alloys may also exhibit such properties.
There may also be magnetic elements in an alloy.
So if it contain Cobalt or Nickel it may be magnetic.

But step 1
Measure the item and find the SG.


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## DaddyD (Aug 27, 2022)

3Speed said:


> Oh no, maybe I misspoke. I know the clay isn't toxic I meant the chemicals used to separate the gold from other host material. I'm thinking vibration/resonate frequency. I think it will work on the flour gold....


To my knowledge there are no chemicals involve just a lot of work breaking up the clay


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 27, 2022)

DaddyD said:


> To my knowledge there are no chemicals involve just a lot of work breaking up the clay


That was what she said, wasn’t it?


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## orvi (Aug 27, 2022)

3Speed said:


> I gotta be honest, I don't have to much experience with chemicals except hydrochloric acid and that's because I use it pretty regular on the job. And no worries as far as diving into something because I saw it on YouTube and think somehow I'm an expert. I'm definitely aware of what can happen when u just start throwing chemicals together. Made that mistake before. I do have a friend close by that does a lot of trading in gold and silver coins and jewelry who could test with nitric acid but she's on vacation til Monday. I'm confused more now than I was before.... Pulled out a rare earth magnet earlier and it sticks to it. Not a very strong bond, but it does stick. Which worries me just a little. Because precious metals are magnetic right? But at the same time I figured anything other than precious metals would have rusted given the time spent buried in the ground and exposed to the elements. It looked like the metal box it was in had been rusted for awhile. It was damp and muddy inside and it was wrapped in nothing but a shop rag. I have been hesitant about taking it to someone to have it checked out incase it's tungsten. I know there can be some nasty medical issues associated with it especially in larger quantities...if I handle it, I wear my welding gloves with latex gloves underneath. I would hate to expose anyone to something that could make them sick.


If you cannot find any shop/pawnshop/precious metals dealer/scrapyard with XRF, and you have that friend who can test with nitric, go for it. It could resolve the problem - if it is something precious or not. Be aware of a fact that for example pure nickel does not react much in nitric acid, with warm aqua regia, it does, but also not very quickly - forming nice light green solution. But pure nickel is quite magnetic, and neodymium magnet will stick to it with quite a force. Not like iron, but pretty well.

Some PM alloys can be magnetic, for example white gold alloys - which contains some nickel. But this does not resemble white gold. Maybe there are some technological PGM alloys that are magnetic - but this I do not know personally. Maybe some knowledgeable member chime in and tell us 

It would be the best to XRF the chunk.


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 27, 2022)

orvi said:


> If you cannot find any shop/pawnshop/precious metals dealer/scrapyard with XRF, and you have that friend who can test with nitric, go for it. It could resolve the problem - if it is something precious or not. Be aware of a fact that for example pure nickel does not react much in nitric acid, with warm aqua regia, it does, but also not very quickly - forming nice light green solution. But pure nickel is quite magnetic, and neodymium magnet will stick to it with quite a force. Not like iron, but pretty well.
> 
> Some PM alloys can be magnetic, for example white gold alloys - which contains some nickel. But this does not resemble white gold. Maybe there are some technological PGM alloys that are magnetic - but this I do not know personally. Maybe some knowledgeable member chime in and tell us
> 
> It would be the best to XRF the chunk.


Platinum alloys for springs, clasps and such are often alloyed with Cobalt.
Which may end up slightly magnetic?


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

4metals said:


> *Alloys of platinum with rhodium or iridium tend to absorb oxygen from the air during melting* which can lead to the formation of pores in the cast ingot. For this reason they are normally melted under a protective atmosphere (nitrogen or argon) or vacuum.
> 
> But the density will help narrow it down.
> 
> For the young lady's sake I hope it's Iridium or Rhodium!


Me to...I'm aware of the nasty medical issues that can come from handling it if it's tungsten...that's my biggest concern. Mainly because I handled it the first day I dug it up. It never crossed my mind it could be tungsten. Once I got back to Alabama I was doing some reading on different metals and other than precious metals the only thing that had similar properties was tungsten. Not knowing much about it, I did more reading and found the stuff on medical issues associated with it....... Praying that it's not.


3Speed said:


> I gotta be honest, I don't have to much experience with chemicals except hydrochloric acid and that's because I use it pretty regular on the job. And no worries as far as diving into something because I saw it on YouTube and think somehow I'm an expert. I'm definitely aware of what can happen when u just start throwing chemicals together. Made that mistake before. I do have a friend close by that does a lot of trading in gold and silver coins and jewelry who could test with nitric acid but she's on vacation til Monday. I'm confused more now than I was before.... Pulled out a rare earth magnet earlier and it sticks to it. Not a very strong bond, but it does stick. Which worries me just a little. Because precious metals are magnetic right? But at the same time I figured anything other than precious metals would have rusted given the time spent buried in the ground and exposed to the elements. It looked like the metal box it was in had been rusted for awhile. It was damp and muddy inside and it was wrapped in nothing but a shop rag. I have been hesitant about taking it to someone to have it checked out incase it's tungsten. I know there can be some nasty medical issues associated with it especially in larger quantities...if I handle it, I wear my welding gloves with latex gloves underneath. I would hate to expose anyone to something that could make them sick.





Yggdrasil said:


> Can you find someone with a XRF?
> Pawnshop, Jeweler or similar?
> Then you can have it tested.
> 
> ...


Will do, the only scales I have at the moment are small jewelry scales and it's way to heavy for that, and of course I have normal bathroom scales, but I'm sure the accuracy wouldn't be that great so I'm picking up some food scales on my way in from work and I'll update y'all when I get the math worked out. I should do ok on that part at least . Thank everyone for all the help. I really can't say that enough.


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> Platinum alloys for springs, clasps and such are often alloyed with Cobalt.
> Which may end up slightly magnetic?


I live in a fairly small town, but checked around and most of the pawn shops in my area just to see and the closet XRF is a little over an hour away. I could make the trip but I'm going to see about getting a specific gravity on it before I go that route, not only is it an hour drive but they charge $100 to do the test. Which is fine if it's likely to be valuable, not so much if it's a cheaper alloy. Gas is redicoulus here and leave it to me to have a 4x4 gas hog!


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## Shark (Aug 27, 2022)

I go about 50 miles for an xrf but they never charge me. I do sell them a little gold from time to time though.


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

Ok, my math may be rusty because the density seems to be to high as far as metals I know of. I'm getting 36.27g/cm3?


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

Ok


Shark said:


> I go about 50 miles for an xrf but they never charge me. I do sell them a little gold from time to time th





4metals said:


> *Alloys of platinum with rhodium or iridium tend to absorb oxygen from the air during melting* which can lead to the formation of pores in the cast ingot. For this reason they are normally melted under a protective atmosphere (nitrogen or argon) or vacuum.
> 
> But the density will help narrow it down.
> 
> For the young lady's sake I hope it's Iridium or Rhodium!


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

4metals said:


> If you take exact measurements of length, width and thickness to determine volume of the piece. Then weigh it exactly and calculate the density.
> 
> This will get you closer. From first look it looks like Silver. Tungsten is usually rolled flat with no imperfections and platinum is not cast into bars easily.
> 
> ...


Ok I did the math to get the density, but I'm thinking I may have made an error. I double checked the mass and the measurements I used to get the volume but the number seems high. Maybe u can tell me did I miscalculate something or miss a step?


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## 3Speed (Aug 27, 2022)

3Speed said:


> Me to...I'm aware of the nasty medical issues that can come from handling it if it's tungsten...that's my biggest concern. Mainly because I handled it the first day I dug it up. It never crossed my mind it could be tungsten. Once I got back to Alabama I was doing some reading on different metals and other than precious metals the only thing that had similar properties was tungsten. Not knowing much about it, I did more reading and found the stuff on medical issues associated with it....... Praying that it's not.
> 
> 
> 
> Will do, the only scales I have at the moment are small jewelry scales and it's way to heavy for that, and of course I have normal bathroom scales, but I'm sure the accuracy wouldn't be that great so I'm picking up some food scales on my way in from work and I'll update y'all when I get the math worked out. I should do ok on that part at least . Thank everyone for all the help. I really can't say that enough.


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 28, 2022)

3Speed said:


> Ok I did the math to get the density, but I'm thinking I may have made an error. I double checked the mass and the measurements I used to get the volume but the number seems high. Maybe u can tell me did I miscalculate something or miss a step?


Tungsten is not especially dangerous, it is quite inert and used in Tig welding all the time, even alloyed with Thorium

There is nothing that heavy in our solar system

If you are using Kg you need to use dm3 which means divide by 10.
10.16x10.16x2.54= 262.2cm3
1474g/262cm3 =5.6 g/cm3

This is too light for any PMs and too heavy for Aluminum and Titanium.

Zirconium is about 6.5 Radium 5.5
So it may be a alloy with Vanadium, Zirconium and a anything else in that region.


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## 3Speed (Aug 28, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> Tungsten is not especially dangerous, it is quite inert and used in Tig welding all the time, even alloyed with Thorium
> 
> There is nothing that heavy in our solar system
> 
> ...


 I was pretty sure I must have calculated something wrong. And I was pretty certain that there wasn't anything that heavy...at least not on this planet. Surprised on the tungsten info because it was from an OSHA safety manual I got the info on it not being a safe material to handle. My friend and her husband will be home from vacation on Monday and I'm sure she has everything to do a chem test on it just to be a little more certain. Also, I went back and looked at one of the pieces I heated to a glow and it turned black with almost an iridescent rainbow tint. Was going to see if it would buff out but the pieces are a little to small for that. They aren't much thicker than notebook paper.


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## 3Speed (Aug 28, 2022)

Found the info I read on tungsten posing a health risk and it wasn't OSHA it was EPA. I read a lot and from time to time I read from so many sources I forget what came from where ...


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## Yggdrasil (Aug 28, 2022)

It is too light for Tungsten anyway.

Regarding toxicity, one need to keep in mind the state and form of the elements at hand.
Platinum group metals are completely non allergenic and non toxic.
But its dissolved Ionic salts are extremely toxic and may cause serious allergies many years after exposure.
The metal of Tungsten can be handled and ground in everyday welding operations with not much danger.
But if you get it into fine dust and inhale it the story may change.


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## Shark (Aug 28, 2022)

Years ago I needed what I thought was a piece of aluminum sheet cut and had an old highway sign, that when trying to cut it, it would destroy hacksaw blades in one pass. Hit it with a cutting torch and it would only turn a iridescent blueish color. Cutting disk on a side grinder would last long enough to cut maybe a 1/2 before being worn out. We never did learn what it was made of. I don’t recall what it said but was green and maybe 4x6 foot. Maybe came of the interstate at some point. I do recall that I could pick it and easily carry it is why I assumed it was aluminum.


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## Lou (Aug 28, 2022)

Looks like a piece of nickel cathode to me!

Tungsten isn’t that toxic.


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## 3Speed (Aug 28, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> It is too light for Tungsten anyway.
> 
> Regarding toxicity, one need to keep in mind the state and form of the elements at hand.
> Platinum group metals are completely non allergenic and non toxic.
> ...


Thanks for that info, relieved is an understatement. I'm sure it's just  obvious that I'm new to most of this as far as anything outside of panning goes..
It's still somewhat odd to me why, if it's not valuable or dangerous, why my dad kept it buried all these years. I'm sure it wasn't because he simply forgot because although he passed from cancer, his mind was still as shart as it was when he was in his 30's. I did get in touch with my older brother and asked if he remembered the guy that my dad trained the walking horse for and he did. Then again he wasn't hard to miss. U could tell he definitely wasn't in his element on a farm. I asked my brother what he knew about him and he could only remember his last name and that he worked for the government in the lab at The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oakridge, TN which is about 30 mins or so from my dad's farm. So who knows, but he didn't seem like the type that would rip my dad off, mainly because my dad trained at least 2 more horses for him. It's probably going to sound crazy, but I'm not really sure if it was valuable that I'd sell it. Now it's more of the mystery of it I guess.


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## Palladium (Aug 28, 2022)

It may be radioactive. Hence the metal box and being buried in the ground. I had a bunch of stuff from NASA years ago i scraped. It was when they first started using scanners at scrap yards to check radioactivity. I sent a whole tractor trailer load of scrap and it lit that thing up like a Christmas tree! They called me and said... we took that one, but we can't take anymore.


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## 3Speed (Aug 28, 2022)

[email protected]! Well the cancer my dad passed away with was mesothelioma so I'm pretty sure that it wasn't anything to do with the mystery box challenge. Also I don't think the guy would have brought him something that would make him sick, unless he had a grudge and considering he came back and did business with him at least 2 times I know of, I wouldn't think that was an issue. At least I hope not.


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## AustAuScrap (Aug 29, 2022)

Hi,
Attention "Shark" regards your experience I have had similar events with Titanium or titanium alloys I have scrounged from the scrap dump at Woormera Weapons test Facility, -seems they actually heat and vibration hardened. Even Sulphuric, or Nitric hardly did anything. Sheets were so light everyone assumed them to be aluminum, but they sure were not


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## Shark (Aug 29, 2022)

AustAuScrap said:


> Hi,
> Attention "Shark" regards your experience I have had similar events with Titanium or titanium alloys I have scrounged from the scrap dump at Woormera Weapons test Facility, -seems they actually heat and vibration hardened. Even Sulphuric, or Nitric hardly did anything. Sheets were so light everyone assumed them to be aluminum, but they sure were not


Thanks. I have wondered for several years what that could have been. Far as I know that thing may still be laying behind that old shop building. Never did find a way to use it for anything.


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## orvi (Aug 29, 2022)

Palladium said:


> It may be radioactive. Hence the metal box and being buried in the ground. I had a bunch of stuff from NASA years ago i scraped. It was when they first started using scanners at scrap yards to check radioactivity. I sent a whole tractor trailer load of scrap and it lit that thing up like a Christmas tree! They called me and said... we took that one, but we can't take anymore.


From my personal experiences similar to yours, I am very cautious about material that came from old research apparatus or old military appliances. I had 2 very significant events regarding radioactive material in my life and I am not willing to undergo third one unnoticed. 
Living in post-Soviet country, where even 30 years ago nobody cared about such stuff and let it laying around like nothing- it may be even worse than in the US.
That is why I insist on quick Geiger scan of these batches for my own safety - and also for the insane toll refineries can impose on the material, which they find to be radioactive after recieving. And I do completely understand them.
_We had one story when in one unnamed place, they dismantled old lab where they used various radiation sources for experiments in the late 60s and 70s. There was one very very heavy copper rectangular "box"  with one tiny small slit on the side. Workers were attracted to it like a magnet (for obvious monetary reasons  ), but something was raking inside... So one of them grabbed the angle grinder to dismantle it and collect the heavy copper casing. We nearly ran late to them, halting the whole operation... It was old radioactive nickel emmiter...  I was for like month after imagining how he saw this in half, producing massive, heavily radioactive cloud, contamining whole neighborhood... Oh man  Also, I personally halted everyone from picking and using glassware from that floor - as significant portion of beakers and flasks screamed on Geiger  Then, we left the stage for geared-up proffesionals hired to mark and properly dispose all the contamined things. What a day..._


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