Need help identifying ore apparently found in oregon

[samuelbaldwin010]

So, i had someone that I know who has given me (more like pawned off onto me) alot of "suspected" of containing gold ore.
Honestly, I am new to ores, prospecting in general, and I admittedly don't know a ton I those areas, but here's what I DO KNOW, or atleast have learned so far:

This person had gotten this stuff from what he claimed was "a gold assayers office" somehow. Didn't ask a million and one questions and just took it at face value.
This ore has apparently been found somewhere in oregon at an undisclosed area of the state.
Or atleast this is what I was told, again taking it at face value.

This ore is not magnetic/ ferrous, so I don't believe it's pyrite or even containing much if any iron. However, it does appear to have some rust-like oxidation and color on it.

It is a very shiny almost white silvery, underneath the oxidation layer.

It is VERY conductive and relatively heat resistant since it would not melt after I got it red hot by means of running alot of electric current directly through it.

It does have some spots in it that are gold in color, but kind of remind me more of chalcopyrite more than of gold.

It doesn't seem to be effected significantly by sulfuric acid either dilute or concentrated doesn't make a difference.

It doesn't seem to be significantly effected by nitric acid either. And again concentrated or dilute doesn't seem to change much if anything.

I have not tried hydrochloric, Aqua Regia, or any of the other common acids we typically use, other than what's been previously mentioned. nor have I tried using any strong and/or caustic alkaline of any kind. So I am unable to tell if those would or wouldn't effect it in anyway.

And so I saved the most (in my opinion atleast) interesting fact about it for last, and this was discovered on complete accident, as it turns out this stuff is (if not only slightly) radioactive.

In case you are curious about the way I discovered this fact about it, I was taking a load of scrap metal into one of our local scrap yards in portland, I tried driving up to the scale as I usually do to get weighed in and before I could, a alarm started going off and they were yelling at me to get off the scale and that my load was coming up as hot for radiation.

And so I had to pull off to the side so that they could use their little radioactivity detector probe and the isolated the area hot for radioactivity as the area closest to my cab and I couldn't think of what it was that would have caused this to happen.

Then on my ride home, it all of a sudden dawned on me that the spot that was given out the radioactivity was where I had those buckets of ore located.

Needless to say, I removed those buckets and went back and didn't set off any radioactivity alarms and was able to get rid of my scrap without problems.

So now knowing all of this, can anybody out there identify what it is that I got here? Because honestly, the radioactivity aspect of this stuff has got me kinda nervous but since I discovered it was,I stopped messing around with it but I am still curious about what the hell it is.

If anyone knows anything or has any ideas based upon what I shared, please feel free to let me know what you think and I will post some pictures of it later when i am around it again.

Thanks for your help!

-Samuel

 

[Yggdrasil]

So, i had someone that I know who has given me (more like pawned off onto me) alot of "suspected" of containing gold ore.
Honestly, I am new to ores, prospecting in general, and I admittedly don't know a ton I those areas, but here's what I DO KNOW, or atleast have learned so far:

This person had gotten this stuff from what he claimed was "a gold assayers office" somehow. Didn't ask a million and one questions and just took it at face value.
This ore has apparently been found somewhere in oregon at an undisclosed area of the state.
Or atleast this is what I was told, again taking it at face value.

This ore is not magnetic/ ferrous, so I don't believe it's pyrite or even containing much if any iron. However, it does appear to have some rust-like oxidation and color on it.

It is a very shiny almost white silvery, underneath the oxidation layer.

It is VERY conductive and relatively heat resistant since it would not melt after I got it red hot by means of running alot of electric current directly through it.

It does have some spots in it that are gold in color, but kind of remind me more of chalcopyrite more than of gold.

It doesn't seem to be effected significantly by sulfuric acid either dilute or concentrated doesn't make a difference.

It doesn't seem to be significantly effected by nitric acid either. And again concentrated or dilute doesn't seem to change much if anything.

I have not tried hydrochloric, Aqua Regia, or any of the other common acids we typically use, other than what's been previously mentioned. nor have I tried using any strong and/or caustic alkaline of any kind. So I am unable to tell if those would or wouldn't effect it in anyway.

And so I saved the most (in my opinion atleast) interesting fact about it for last, and this was discovered on complete accident, as it turns out this stuff is (if not only slightly) radioactive.

In case you are curious about the way I discovered this fact about it, I was taking a load of scrap metal into one of our local scrap yards in portland, I tried driving up to the scale as I usually do to get weighed in and before I could, a alarm started going off and they were yelling at me to get off the scale and that my load was coming up as hot for radiation.

And so I had to pull off to the side so that they could use their little radioactivity detector probe and the isolated the area hot for radioactivity as the area closest to my cab and I couldn't think of what it was that would have caused this to happen.

Then on my ride home, it all of a sudden dawned on me that the spot that was given out the radioactivity was where I had those buckets of ore located.

Needless to say, I removed those buckets and went back and didn't set off any radioactivity alarms and was able to get rid of my scrap without problems.

So now knowing all of this, can anybody out there identify what it is that I got here? Because honestly, the radioactivity aspect of this stuff has got me kinda nervous but since I discovered it was,I stopped messing around with it but I am still curious about what the hell it is.

If anyone knows anything or has any ideas based upon what I shared, please feel free to let me know what you think and I will post some pictures of it later when i am around it again.

Thanks for your help!

-Samuel

Ores equalize assay.
If not it is rocks.
You have been her long enough to know that acids and non assayed rocks do not belong together!

Edit to fix autocorrect.

 

[samuelbaldwin010]

Right you are. Lol. Can never get one passed you can I? Do I go back and change my post to "need help identifying rocks"? Now?

I don't know if I like it. Doesn't really sound interesting of grab anyone's attention that way. Then i will never get to find out who was the man under the mask on Scooby-Doo?! Man, i am going to cry myself asleep tonight.. again...;0

Joking aside though... I didn't have a way to assay it but also I was under the impression that it was already assayed before I got it based upon where it allegedly came from.

So, since I did get lucky and didn't end up killing or harming myself or others, glad we got that outta the way, I am still very curious about what it is, I will now post some pictures of it.

Honestly, I am not even sure it's considered even ore at this point since it looks like it's just metal crystals, maybe even just one type. So I don't think it would even fall into the category of rocks quite either.

I will let t

 

[samuelbaldwin010]

Right you are. Lol. Can never get one passed you can I? Do I go back and change my post to "need help identifying rocks"? Now?

I don't know if I like it. Doesn't really sound interesting of grab anyone's attention that way. Then i will never get to find out who was the man under the mask on Scooby-Doo?! Man, i am going to cry myself asleep tonight.. again...;0

Joking aside though... I didn't have a way to assay it but also I was under the impression that it was already assayed before I got it based upon where it allegedly came from.

So, since I did get lucky and didn't end up killing or harming myself or others, glad we got that outta the way, I am still very curious about what it is, I will now post some pictures of it.

Honestly, I am not even sure it's considered even ore at this point since it looks like it's just metal crystals, maybe even just one type. So I don't think it would even fall into the category of rocks quite either.

I will let t

 

[Yggdrasil]

Right you are. Lol. Can never get one passed you can I? Do I go back and change my post to "need help identifying rocks"? Now?

I don't know if I like it. Doesn't really sound interesting of grab anyone's attention that way. Then i will never get to find out who was the man under the mask on Scooby-Doo?! Man, i am going to cry myself asleep tonight.. again...;0

Joking aside though... I didn't have a way to assay it but also I was under the impression that it was already assayed before I got it based upon where it allegedly came from.

So, since I did get lucky and didn't end up killing or harming myself or others, glad we got that outta the way, I am still very curious about what it is, I will now post some pictures of it.

Honestly, I am not even sure it's considered even ore at this point since it looks like it's just metal crystals, maybe even just one type. So I don't think it would even fall into the category of rocks quite either.

I will let t

It might have been assayed a hundred times, but unless you have the result, consider it not done.
You need to know the numbers.

And that will also tell you if its worth pushing ahead.
Pictures of ores/rocks rarely gives a reason to conclude on anything.
On my screen it looks a bit like some mica like mineral with some inclusions.

 

[stella polaris]

Samuel, take your question to a mineral forum. Minedat.org is a good site for you to check up. Please understand we are no good at minerals. People here is so "bad" at minerals that they need an assay to say whats inside a rock.

 

[D-dog]

Samuel, take your question to a mineral forum. Minedat.org is a good site for you to check up. Please understand we are no good at minerals. People here is so "bad" at minerals that they need an assay to say whats inside a rock.

Just now tried going to
Minedat.org. It is offline and listed as for sale by owner.


Edited for typo.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Try mindat.org

Dave

 

[hoytSmith]

—“And so I saved the most (in my opinion atleast) interesting fact about it for last, and this was discovered on complete accident, as it turns out this stuff is (if not only slightly) radioactive.

In case you are curious about the way I discovered this fact about it, I was taking a load of scrap metal into one of our local scrap yards in portland, I tried driving up to the scale as I usually do to get weighed in and before I could, a alarm started going off and they were yelling at me to get off the scale and that my load was coming up as hot for radiation.”

—You could still poison yourself yet. You have radioactive material that set off a detector several yards away, if I read your post correctly. I’m sure the detector are set so that that alarm within a few seconds of detecting radiation above background. You still don’t know how “at least slightly” radioactive the sample is. If you’re going to be holding this material in your hand, or if you plan to crush it, you’ll be (potentially) contaminating everything that the rock touches and everywhere the dust goes — maybe your lungs.

Given the information you provided, I don’t see this turning out well. Radioactive controls is a set of skills that takes months to learn and years of practice under supervision to do safely. You don’t seem to have the equipment, tools, materials or skills to proceed safely.

This is not the right situation to “Wing it.”

 

[goldshark]

Samuel, take your question to a mineral forum. Minedat.org is a good site for you to check up. Please understand we are no good at minerals. People here is so "bad" at minerals that they need an assay to say whats inside a rock.

I wouldn't say that the forum is no good at mineralogy and ores. It is the questions and photos presented, and the immediate request for an answer, that irks the forum. I have been following the forum long enough, to see many members just quit responding to these requests. I myself, am about to quit responding to these requests. If we keep responding, the requests will keep coming. I would like to help people, but perhaps an immediate response by the moderators directing to either another mineral related forum, or the usual " read this if you think you have a valuable rock", can be posted immediately, short circuiting many redundant threads.

 

[nickvc]

I think I can speak for the moderators and most of the forum here when I say we know next to nothing about ores as raw specimens but the forum / members can help if you or anyone else has a proper assay which details exactly what elements it / they contain, that is the point the forum can possibly help and advise on how to recover any values it contains.
Asking what you have is like asking how long a piece of undetermined length string is…. We do not know.

 

[kurtak]

This ore is not magnetic/ ferrous, so I don't believe it's pyrite or even containing much if any iron. However, it does appear to have some rust-like oxidation and color on it.

Just because a rock is not magnetic does not mean it does not have iron in it

in fact - a rock can have A LOT of iron in it & not be magnetic

It depend on the state of the iron (its chemical composition - oxide, sulfide etc.) in the rock that determines whether the rock will be magnetic or not

A good example of this is the iron in black sands - black sands (for the most part) are made up of hematite (an iron oxide) & magnetite (also an iron oxide) so though they are both iron oxides not both of them are magnetic --- only the magnetite is magnetic which is why you can use a magnet to separate the magnetite from the hematite when cleaning up black sands that have fine gold in the black sand

Also - iron pyrite (fools gold) being an iron sulfide is not magnetic

https://yesdirt.com/is-pyrite-magnetic/
So if you have a rock that is a solid chunk (nothing but) hematite or iron pyrite then you have a rock that is all iron but it will not be magnetic

This person had gotten this stuff from what he claimed was "a gold assayers office"

Just because the rock came from an assay lab does not mean the rock actually assayed out to contain gold - that is the whole purpose of an assay lab --- to determine whether an ore (rock) has gold in it - OR NOT

Not only that but assay labs don't assay for just gold (or silver) the do assays for many metals - such as assays for chrome, nickel, tin, lead, copper etc. etc. etc. (the list goes on & on for most any metal you can think of) the whole purpose of assaying is to determine if the metal(s) in the ore are worth mining - whatever metal it maybe that is in the ore

as it turns out this stuff is (if not only slightly) radioactive.

That being the case - your rocks (ore) may very well have been in that assay lab to determine if the radioactive elements in the ore (& not gold) where worth going after (mining)

In other words - the rock (ore) may well have been in that assay lab - not for a gold assay - but to be assayed for the many other minerals that assay labs assays for - including assays for radioactive elements

Honestly, I am new to ores, prospecting in general, and I admittedly don't know a ton I those areas

And that is why YOU have to take it to an assay lab & have it assayed --- If/when you do that make sure you tell them it is radioactive

Until YOU have it assayed it is100% speculation as to what might - or not - be in it ??????

Kurt

 

[slsmp40]

Looks like massive uranitite. It’s pretty hot if it sets off the detector at a scrap yard. Especially if you had it in a bucket. That means it is not a alfa emitter solo. Danger will robinson.

 

[gulottamichael58]

So, i had someone that I know who has given me (more like pawned off onto me) alot of "suspected" of containing gold ore.
Honestly, I am new to ores, prospecting in general, and I admittedly don't know a ton I those areas, but here's what I DO KNOW, or atleast have learned so far:

This person had gotten this stuff from what he claimed was "a gold assayers office" somehow. Didn't ask a million and one questions and just took it at face value.
This ore has apparently been found somewhere in oregon at an undisclosed area of the state.
Or atleast this is what I was told, again taking it at face value.

This ore is not magnetic/ ferrous, so I don't believe it's pyrite or even containing much if any iron. However, it does appear to have some rust-like oxidation and color on it.

It is a very shiny almost white silvery, underneath the oxidation layer.

It is VERY conductive and relatively heat resistant since it would not melt after I got it red hot by means of running alot of electric current directly through it.

It does have some spots in it that are gold in color, but kind of remind me more of chalcopyrite more than of gold.

It doesn't seem to be effected significantly by sulfuric acid either dilute or concentrated doesn't make a difference.

It doesn't seem to be significantly effected by nitric acid either. And again concentrated or dilute doesn't seem to change much if anything.

I have not tried hydrochloric, Aqua Regia, or any of the other common acids we typically use, other than what's been previously mentioned. nor have I tried using any strong and/or caustic alkaline of any kind. So I am unable to tell if those would or wouldn't effect it in anyway.

And so I saved the most (in my opinion atleast) interesting fact about it for last, and this was discovered on complete accident, as it turns out this stuff is (if not only slightly) radioactive.

In case you are curious about the way I discovered this fact about it, I was taking a load of scrap metal into one of our local scrap yards in portland, I tried driving up to the scale as I usually do to get weighed in and before I could, a alarm started going off and they were yelling at me to get off the scale and that my load was coming up as hot for radiation.

And so I had to pull off to the side so that they could use their little radioactivity detector probe and the isolated the area hot for radioactivity as the area closest to my cab and I couldn't think of what it was that would have caused this to happen.

Then on my ride home, it all of a sudden dawned on me that the spot that was given out the radioactivity was where I had those buckets of ore located.

Needless to say, I removed those buckets and went back and didn't set off any radioactivity alarms and was able to get rid of my scrap without problems.

So now knowing all of this, can anybody out there identify what it is that I got here? Because honestly, the radioactivity aspect of this stuff has got me kinda nervous but since I discovered it was,I stopped messing around with it but I am still curious about what the hell it is.

If anyone knows anything or has any ideas based upon what I shared, please feel free to let me know what you think and I will post some pictures of it later when i am around it again.

Thanks for your help!

-Samuel

Samuel, if you have a blacklight [UV] put the buckets under blacklight. If it's Uranium or some other radioactive ore it will glow [yellow or green or any other assortment of colors]. I wouldn't worry too much about its danger though. Such emissions are generally, quite small. Also, you need to crush some of the ore if you want to assay it, etc...

 

[minero74]

Many members of the forum want to help You.

But the first step is do an assay.
some labs are not expensive and You can have the report in days.

Why is an assay in a lab necessary? Because it is very difficult to know what a rock contains by seeing pictures.
Many rocks contain minerals that often with the naked eye cannot be noticed.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Samuel, if you have a blacklight [UV] put the buckets under blacklight. If it's Uranium or some other radioactive ore it will glow [yellow or green or any other assortment of colors]. I wouldn't worry too much about its danger though. Such emissions are generally, quite small. Also, you need to crush some of the ore if you want to assay it, etc...

Welcome to us by the way

 

[9999au]

Hi

My 2 cents worth which is the same as what previous posters have indicated. Get it assayed. It will cost you 40 bucks or so and you will be certain. There are reputable labs in Oregon. Give them a pound or so of rock chips.

I am actually a uranium geologist and it is impossible to ascertain actual chemical grade via a picture or description without assay. It is impossible to get an approximate equivalent grade without indirect methods such as scintillometers or gamma ray spectrometer, etc. Just guessing does not count.

And at the end of the day, though, if it is radioactive, especially higher grade that a truck scanner will pick up----you don't want to have anything to do with it. Unless you want to try and go to exploration and find the source. But uranium is the easiest mineral to discover and the source has likely been found already—duhhhh--the samples in the bucket! A couple of buckets is not saleable, there is no market for this for the independent person. Bring it back to the guy who gave it to you. I have worked on uranium deposits on most continents, have discovered many different deposits at different grades, and do not have one uraniferous rock in my basement. Just all downside to this.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi

My 2 cents worth which is the same as what previous posters have indicated. Get it assayed. It will cost you 40 bucks or so and you will be certain. There are reputable labs in Oregon. Give them a pound or so of rock chips.

I am actually a uranium geologist and it is impossible to ascertain actual chemical grade via a picture or description without assay. It is impossible to get an approximate equivalent grade without indirect methods such as scintillometers or gamma ray spectrometer, etc. Just guessing does not count.

And at the end of the day, though, if it is radioactive, especially higher grade that a truck scanner will pick up----you don't want to have anything to do with it. Unless you want to try and go to exploration and find the source. But uranium is the easiest mineral to discover and the source has likely been found already—duhhhh--the samples in the bucket! A couple of buckets is not saleable, there is no market for this for the independent person. Bring it back to the guy who gave it to you. I have worked on uranium deposits on most continents, have discovered many different deposits at different grades, and do not have one uraniferous rock in my basement. Just all downside to this.

Welcome to us.
Good to hear from you.
Since we don't know you I will give you the strandard links anyway.

We ask our new members to do 3 things.
1. Read C.M. Hokes book on refining jewelers scrap, it gives an easy introduction to the most important chemistry regarding refining.
It is free here on the forum: Screen Readable Copy of Hoke's Book
2. Then read the safety section of the forum: Safety
3. And then read about "Dealing with waste" in the forum: Dealing with Waste

Suggested reading: The Library

https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/gold-refining-forum-rules.31182/

 

[wccurtis89]

Hello, I am brand new to this forum, but I figured I would add my two cents worth. Pictures of rocks are a mixed bag... As everyone has stated, you can't positively ID anything based on a picture, but they can be helpful in some cases. Isn't this what the textbooks that trained Geologists used? There is much disdain on the internet for people sharing pictures of rocks and asking for help identifying them, and albeit difficult to be sure, it can sometimes be massively helpful. Coming for personal experience, I have dedicated countless hours educating myself about the geology of Silver, and without pictures, it would be a much less complete understanding. People are so afraid of the one's with experience judging them for asking for help that a lot of people just don't do it. I understand this is a Gold, and precious metal's refining forum, but that has to start in a rock somewhere, at some point. I for one have scoured the internet looking for an assay service for Gold, Silver, and PGM's and cannot find one. I have made numerous phone calls, only to be told that (so and so place) doesn't do it, and they don't know anyone who does.

That being said, the main reason I joined this forum was for exactly that purpose. Can anyone here recommend an assay service?

Based on the pictures, it somewhat resembles Rhodium ore, which if I'm not mistaken is also somewhat radioactive. Probably not enough to set of the detectors though. And as many others have pointed out, sulfide minerals (like chalcopyrite) are non-magnetic, and don't sound off a metal detector. Keep on digging!

- Casey

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hello, I am brand new to this forum, but I figured I would add my two cents worth. Pictures of rocks are a mixed bag... As everyone has stated, you can't positively ID anything based on a picture, but they can be helpful in some cases. Isn't this what the textbooks that trained Geologists used? There is much disdain on the internet for people sharing pictures of rocks and asking for help identifying them, and albeit difficult to be sure, it can sometimes be massively helpful. Coming for personal experience, I have dedicated countless hours educating myself about the geology of Silver, and without pictures, it would be a much less complete understanding. People are so afraid of the one's with experience judging them for asking for help that a lot of people just don't do it. I understand this is a Gold, and precious metal's refining forum, but that has to start in a rock somewhere, at some point. I for one have scoured the internet looking for an assay service for Gold, Silver, and PGM's and cannot find one. I have made numerous phone calls, only to be told that (so and so place) doesn't do it, and they don't know anyone who does.

That being said, the main reason I joined this forum was for exactly that purpose. Can anyone here recommend an assay service?

Based on the pictures, it somewhat resembles Rhodium ore, which if I'm not mistaken is also somewhat radioactive. Probably not enough to set of the detectors though. And as many others have pointed out, sulfide minerals (like chalcopyrite) are non-magnetic, and don't sound off a metal detector. Keep on digging!

- Casey

It has been done as a reply to your question in another thread.
And of course your general location will make it easier to recommend someone.

And the pictures in the textbooks are way more detailed than most of the out of focused cellphone pictures posted here.

And you are right, good pictures accompanied by detailed information can have good value.

Rhodium ore is not a one thing.
Rhodium is a bi product of other PGMs mined, and I'm wondering if you mean Radium?
A totally different beast all together.