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Identity HelpFound NE Afrcia By Locals

27th Feb 2012 22:37 UTCAnonymous User

Hi All

I am totally new to rock collecting the attached were found in NE Afrcia by locals, given to a friend of mine & then given to me as a gift , I am looking for help to identify them , any help as to were i should futher my research or hints as to what they maybe be welcomed, i have been searching last few week now with Google images etc.

Thanks in Advance

27th Feb 2012 22:48 UTCAnonymous User

More for You

27th Feb 2012 23:02 UTCAnonymous User

28th Feb 2012 01:26 UTCD Mike Reinke

Eamon,

welcome aboard!

It is very hard to tell what you have, some are rocks, that is, mixtures of minerals, so they don't define real easy. The top one of the nine is iron stained, limonite, i'd guess, have to clean it to see what is under it. The fourth down has some crystals, pyrite is extremely common, so that would my first guess. Go to the library too, and thumb through some of the mineral books there, take a few home.

Does your friend know more specifically where in africa, and is he into minerology at all? Some of these look metamophic to me. Is the 9th down attracted to a magnet? i'd guess magnetite, if so. Which ones are unusually heavy for their size; do you know what 'specific gravity' is? We need a little more background to help, I think.

Hope this helps

Mike

29th Feb 2012 22:46 UTCAnonymous User

Can anyone help me any futher here? I am trying to find a N52 magnet here & have ordered an accurate scales to work up the SG

Thanks in advance

1st Mar 2012 01:24 UTCNoah Horwitz

"Rock 4" looks like a piece of granite (or maybe granitic pegmatite). You can see large mica crystals along with feldspar and quartz.

"Rock 1" looks like a pyrite nodule (inner, gold color) that has oxidized around the edges to limonite (rusty). It might also be just a thin layer of pyrite on top of some rock...

1st Mar 2012 04:57 UTCD Mike Reinke

Eamon'

A very old, and even dearer friend used to tell me, about every complicated mess I (or whoever) faced, "These things take time." You will find that is true of mineralogy, too. Very complicated, sometimes very messy. (especially in the definitions-arena!). I've only been into it a few years, checked out a lot of library books, looked at lots of mindat photos, but i'm still so green. But each time I go back to places I've rockhounded awhile before, I see it w/ 'new eyes', a feeling that I've grown a little, and appreciating more what I'm noticing. That is a beautiful high to be on, but again, that takes time...and will keep taking time. Enjoy it. If someone could tell you everything you have, that would be handy, but you'd miss out on a lot.

I hope you don't feel I'm down on you,I'm not, and I can only guess at the intonation of what you type. I was in an awful hurry to make up for lost time when i got into this. I remember Clarences' words, (the old man) maybe others can appreciate his perspective.

Mike

PS mentioning the example of definitions is a nod to Amir, Reiner, Norman, and not a few other threaders...