# identifying rocks



## glondor (Oct 2, 2010)

I wonder if any one can help me identify these rocks that i found 20 feet down in an excavation. 

Space rock looks like a meteorite to me. Shiny , slightly magnetic purplish look to it.

Soft rock 3 was totally white when it came up in my bucket, but i got dirt on it. very soft almost sandy moist, feels heavy for its size.

Rock 2 just looks cool, very smooth, looks like ceramic.

rock 1 is also very smooth and also feels kinda heavy for its size, very hard to break looks stratified somehow.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v697/23224/rocks/

thanks


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## Richard36 (Oct 2, 2010)

Hello glondor,

Rock 1 looks like Quartz, with a little Albite mixed into the Quartz.
Rock 2 looks like a piece of Jasper, which is a silicate rock.
Rock 3 looks like it could possibly be Kaolin, the details in the photo are a little rough.

As for the possible "Space Rock", your guess may be right. Will a magnet stick to it?

Aside from that Guess, the oxidized blue patches are indicative of either Ferro-Magnessian content, or Copper content.

I hope that this has been helpful.

Sincerely; Rick."The Rock Man".


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## glondor (Oct 2, 2010)

Thank you Rick. is there any value in the jasper or kaolin?


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## Richard36 (Oct 2, 2010)

Hello glondor,

Yes, there is a market for both.
Jasper is a lapidary material sought by Rockhounds to polish and carve into various ornamental objects. It has a value of only $0.25 a lb in Oregon, ... only because it is so common, but on the World Market, it is worth $3.00 a lb.

The Kaolin has several industrial applications.
Paper, rubber, water purification, drill mud, and other uses.
I'm not sure of it's market value, but value it does have.

From what I was told by my Mineral Market contact, 
the market is somewhat flooded at the moment, so it's value may not be as much as we would like. (I've located a pretty good deposit of Kaolin as well.)

I hope that this has been helpful.

Sincerely; Rick."The Rock Man".


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## glondor (Oct 4, 2010)

Thank you Rick. I was curious about the values however I have not found a deposit of any kind. I work in southern Ontario and all the ground here is glacial till for the most part, I always keep an eye for unusual or good looking rocks just for fun, I always hope to dig up a big nugget one day! lol not likely tho. thanks for your time and if I find any more good lookers I hope I can post them here for your input.


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## Richard36 (Oct 5, 2010)

You're welcome Glondor.
Good luck with you're search.
If you find anything further, make a post. I will reply.

Sincerely; Rick."The Rock Man".


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## g_axelsson (Oct 20, 2010)

glondor said:


> I wonder if any one can help me identify these rocks that i found 20 feet down in an excavation.
> 
> Space rock looks like a meteorite to me. Shiny , slightly magnetic purplish look to it.
> 
> ...



"Space rock" is a piece of slag. There is a very distinct layer of vesicles that probably was the surface of the slag. Vesicles in meteorites are extremely rare and never occurs in a single layer.

/Göran


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## glondor (Oct 20, 2010)

Thanks Goran. I came to that conclusion myself just yesterday as my son brought home a very similar piece that he found by the railroad tracks. I believe the rail companies used slag from the steel mills for track ballast. looks cool tho!


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