Found a silver metal gold panning.. need help identifying it please?

looks like a raw diamond or fools gold

Could be some type of Mica. Muscovite or Phlogopite.

Nice find.

Iron Pyrite

could be Magnatite? does it effect a compass or will a paper clip stick to it?

where in the world did you find it?

Thats what it really looks like. Fools gold like that guy up there said. Very cool.

Well It’s silver colour. So no on the diamond. Apparently fools gold will crack or shatter under pressure. Which it doesn’t. Plus it is magnetic. Which I understand fools gold isn’t usually?

I’ve just redone the pile and found a few more bits. I did say meteorite before, but on second thoughts that would be smooth if it were. One piece I found Is actually smooth though hmm. Odd one out

https://imgur.com/a/YR7kUpE

Pyrite like the others said.

Still, that's cool.

Thanks for the suggestion. But when rubbed magnetite leaves a black Mark. This doesn’t do that. It’s ‘proper’ metal.

It’s magnetic. Pyrite isn’t. Also pyrite would have a crystal look under the scope. This is bobbly. Also it doesn’t shatter as pyrite would. I’m happy accepting it is pyrite, but it isn’t meeting the criteria.

MIL suggested osmium. As it is a form of platinum that could be alloyed. Nickel and cobalt would be the only candidates that could be alloyed with it, as it is magnetic.

This is my first proper run doing this so would love to know if this is anything worthwhile.

Thanks for the input!

It isn't pyrite that's for sure... op what is the weight approx? and anyways to do a size comparison?

How about tin or nickel?

galena??

[link to www.nope?q=galena&rlz=1CAQRFK_enUS790US791&tbm=isch&source=iu​&ictx=1&fir=OZ7Ru7ImfakmqM%252CoWDm--JjFOWwHM%252C_&vet=1&usg​=AI4_-kQc3crQ-1jRjquJDBZyneKo3jc3OQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5rr6JweD​vAhWuMVkFHZ31A4MQ9QF6BAhUEAE#imgrc=OZ7Ru7ImfakmqM (secure)]

KRYTONITE !!!


.

Possible Chromium alloy. Chromium isn't magnetic in itself but readily alloys with things which are and will hold a shine even after long immersion in water and is quite hard.

no, that's lead based so not magnetic, looks close though!

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[link to www.novaelements.com (secure)]

"The common ferromagnetic metals include iron, nickel, cobalt, gadolinium, dysprosium and alloys such as steel that also contain specific ferromagnetic metals such as iron or nickel."
[link to sciencing.com (secure)]

My guess from picture comparison is that you found "Rare Steel Gray Metallic Skutterudite Crystal Nickel Ore"
[link to www.etsy.com (secure)]

Last Edited by TerraFirma's Esoterrorist on 04/02/2021 06:03 PM

Ferronickel Platinum

[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

Cool if it's this you have 50% platinum!
Don't sell until platinum goes back up to at least its 2008 high of $2000 an ounce.

agreed.. op, are you close to a university? Check with the geology department. I'd love to know for sure what you found!

definitely pyrite.

.

Is anyone going to mention the pubes in the photos?

Why does everyone keep saying pyrite? Read the post people lol... pyrite is NOT magnetic.

Do you have a microscope?

Taking it to the lab is a great idea, you'll also find out how old it is and much more.
I suggest the rock is worth more intact.
It's quite rare... Do some searching.
Don't tell anyone exactly where you found it.

Platinum is not as rare as you're led to believe. They just wanted to horde as much as they could first (review the price history).

I'd love to see more pics! Different angles, lighting etc. My nephew (not uncle) is a geologist so could confirm with better images.

Cool find!

Take a look at native Iron

Just demonstrating here that this stuff I found is magnetic.

https://imgur.com/JVVkXHi

Here is a lump of pyrite I have which isn’t. I mean google says that anyway. Also pyrite will shatter when crushed (which the stuff I found didn’t).

I will maybe heat it up and also pyrite will shatter and go black as opposed to melting.

https://imgur.com/msy564J

Definitely not pyrite

Thanks for the response! I said above I would maybe melt it. But actually I’ll hold fire on that. The fact that it is tricky in identifying could point to it being something unusual and maybe worth taking note of.

I’m not an adept at panning, what I did, was wait till I had my black sand then expected to see gold dust, which I did notice some dust but nothing to write home about.

The stuff I found was just before the back sand. I redone the material and this time was more gentle. This is when I found the other pieces. So it has a lower density than gold, well of course most things do.

The pics I took were under a scope. Just a crude loupe over the I phone. I’ll upload an app with a magnifying glass and see if I can get some better images and post them.

This spot I found was under a main road bridge, so not so secret to anyone that sees me lol, but I won’t go shouting about it from the rooftop. It could be platinum, I mean locally ten miles away silver and uranium is found, plus many other minerals. My MIL a suggested osmium which I’ve never heard of, But is related to platinum. It’s not a well known gold area, but the country as a whole has complex and varied geology, so I hear you can find gold in certain amounts most places.

I would love for this to be platinum. I can get more I’d imagine. I had my kids with me yesterday messing about, plus I fixed together a bodge job suction pipe out of a water hose for kids. Point being is I could do it much more thoroughly in future and likely fair better.

Thanks for reiterating lol

I hope he’s right you know hehe