A bit of ore

[shivan]

G'day all.
Have just been going back through some photos and came across a heap of rock photos I took whilst at UNI.
There was also a heap of ore samples we got to look at. I had the names of them and the minerals associated with them written down, but have misplaced the page somewhere Though some I did get the labels in the photos.

The first few photos is of gold ore. Most of it was in sulphide form with very little visible gold, most of what is seen is pyrite/chalcopyrite:









The next few are Lead and Zinc ore from memory.





The next few I think were Chalcopyrite, Arsenopyrite and perhaps Pyrite.





The next few I get a little lost.... the second and third photos may be Galena or perhaps Bismuth





The next is Molybdenum ore and Nickel ore.






Some Magnesium ore, Lithium ore and Bauxite or aluminium ore.







Next tin ore, mainly Cassiterite





Tungsten ore with Wolframite and Scheelite and Iron ore with BIF(banded ironstone formation), hematite(which I forgot to photograph) and Gossan






Next Copper ore with Malachite, Azurite and Covellite





Next some Uranium ores, with Carnotite, davidite and Autunite








Last lot are Manganese ores, not sure of the first lot, but second is Cryptomelane and third is Rhodonite








Have a few other rocks if there is any interest.

[Andy]

Very interesting rocks Ian. Thanks for posting the photos of them. The Autunite is an especially unusual formation.

[joedigs]

fantastic pictures Ian, thanks for sharing and educating us. by the way did you have any chance running your detector over these specimens? would be interested to see how many of them trigger the detector

[mushmouse]

Great photos. Nice to see in such detail. That Galena? brought back memories. I use to get small matchhead size perfect cubes in the bottom of the pan every now and then a long time ago but haven't came across any for quite a few years now. I often wonder why I dont see them any more in the same creek.
I bought a paperback reference book called the MacDonalds Encyclopedia to Rocks and Minerals ( great book ). I think I ID'd those little cubic specimins as Galena

[shivan]

Glad you all enjoyed the pics, almost was not going to bother as it took quiet a while to upload... curse my internet speed.

Andy the Autunite was very interesting and looks really cool under UV light. Was a bit weird having radioactive samples that close, but we got to take readings and the levels were very low. I guess they were not trying to kill us after all.

Joe, I did not get a chance to run a detector over those samples as we only got to have a look at those ones in class. As most of the gold there was in sulphide form, I do not think the detector would have seen it. Are you thinking about your sample you found?

mushmouse, I assume I got a photo of the Galena... but there were soooo many rocks, but it is my first guess.
My reference guide is A field guide to Australian rocks, minerals and gemstones by Wolf Mayer. I was lucky enough that my dad gave it to me when I first started fossicking but it has come in very handy for UNI.

[Ric]

Thanks Ian, That is one very interesting and educational geology lesson.

Thanks for taking the time to post this.


Cheers Ric

[joedigs]

Dec 19, 2014 6:54:08 GMT 10 shivan said:

Glad you all enjoyed the pics, almost was not going to bother as it took quiet a while to upload... curse my internet speed.


Joe, I did not get a chance to run a detector over those samples as we only got to have a look at those ones in class. As most of the gold there was in sulphide form, I do not think the detector would have seen it.

I was thinking of your Falcon MD20 and how it reacts to the ore. My atx triggers on ore such as this one

[shivan]

I took the Falcon MD20 to an old mine site and got excited when it was sounding off on some of the old tailings. Then I started running it over the walls of the mine and it was sounding off everywhere....
I think as the rocks around the mine had been weathered they had been enriched in in iron oxide and possibly other minerals which were sounding it off. I did have a small sample waiting the dolly pot but not sure where it is.... must be hiding in a box from somewhere else.

Where we were given the metal ore kit from UNI I did have a bit of a play round with the falcon, there were a couple of ores that set it off, but did not make a record of which, I am guessing it would be the ones with higher magnetic suseptability.

[joedigs]

Thanks mate, good to know what other highly mineralised specimens trigger our detectors. One of the tunnel mines was full of this stuff and there was no way to successfully detect within.

[cronicbadger]

Thanks for the photos. They were definitely worth uploading for us to admire.

[labrador]

Shivan, I enjoyed your photos as well, and I can only imagine how long it took to past or what ever it is you have to do to attach them,

I have a question for you, Some one told me long ago that them minerals like Malachite, Azurite, Ilimite, vegemite etc. get the ite. on the end of there name as they found on this earth, as a meteor is still in space but becomes a meteorite when it hits the earth.
Is this a fact. ?
And one more Question, Why doesn't Gold, Talc, Silver, quartz etc. have the ite on there name.
I am going back to brows back over your pictures,
Thanks again

[shivan]

Well Labrador that is a really good question. I had it in my head that the ite would have something to do with a greek or latin word, but have had trouble verifying it. When I started to do some looking I found a similar question
"I’ve noticed that a very large proportion of the names of mineral species and mineral groups end in -ite and (less commonly,) -ine or -ene.
Here are some examples off the top of my head:
-ite: wüstite, haematite, fayalite, cristobalite, toblerite, chalcopyrite, hydroxyapatite, magnesite, wollastonite, zeolite.
-ine/-ene: cuspidine, olivine, nepheline, sapphirine, serpentine, pyroxene, spodumene.
Why is this the case, (is there an infrequently discussed or assumed common knowledge rule amongst mineralogists?), and from whence did the abovementioned endings originate?"
The answer that was given was
"The reason is in its etymology. I got this from a mineralogy site:
The suffix "ite" is derived from the Greek word lithos (from its adjectival form -ites), meaning rock or stone.
"ine" means :
suffix of adjectives of Greek or Latin origin, meaning “of or pertaining to,” “of the nature of,” “made of,”
So, minerals named that depends on the earlier part of the name. Olivine would be a mineral that pertains to olive, and so possibly has an olive colour."

Gold and silver may have different names because of their metallic nature? Gold was known as aurum and silver as argentum (latin names) why their chemical symbols are Au and Ag.
As for quartz and talc and any others that do not have an ite or ine it may have something to do with the person who discovered it as they normally had something to do with the naming. A quick wiki of quartz shows the name to be of German or Saxon origin
"The word "quartz" comes from the German Quarz, which is of Slavic origin (Czech miners called it křemen). Other sources attribute the word's origin to the Saxon word Querkluftertz, meaning cross-vein ore"

[labrador]

Thankyou for your reply and explanation, shivan,
Nothing is easy and straight forward when it comes to rocks,
You must have a very keen interest in the geology field to pursue it. And study it at university.
Thanks again, and I will continue to learn, all be it at a slow pace.