Lead Nugget?

[MEV]

Hello its MEV again, well as you know i went to the desert last week 0 nuggets, but i think i found 2 lead nuggets, its not from human activity i know that , i have found hundreds of pieces of lead and i know that it was melted before or its a piece of a bullet ect. This lead nuggets are exactly as a gold nugget it weights about 20 grams and the other 17 grams , Ive heard its extremely rare to find one of this lead nuggets , that 99.9999% found on the ground comes from human activity.


At first i didn't know what they were but in my stupidity i got a hammer putted one on the floor and bamm i hammerd it and it broked like a rock( liltte pieces) , what was my surprise, inside of the nugget i broke the color was beautiful shiny silver really shiny , forgot to say that outside was kind black and gray , i said to my self what is this? o got a spoon putted on fire and it melted in 20 seconds , that's how i found out it was lead.

Don't have a camera to take a picture, i will try with my web cam , but are these nuggets valuable? i know lead doesn't cost much but as i told you before Ive herad they are extremely rare and that's telling me it could cost some money.

 

[GTzer]

Unique that it "broke" instead of just being flattened. 20 seconds to melt- that's really quick. Watch the fumes and try to look up a way to give it a positive ID.

 

[MEV]

Yes it broked like a rock , remember it has never been melted before its natural, and yes took 20 seconds to melt it was only one piece of that nugget that i melted about 1 gram so that why it was that fast.

 

[crazybill]

MEV, just a few thoughts on this subject.
When trying to identify a mineral there are a few things to look for: hardness, color, shape especially if it is a crystal, what color streak does it leave if you mark a UNGLAZED ceramic tile or piece, what kind of soil you found it in, is it paramagnetic (is it attracted to a magnet?) and a few others. There are a few online guides and very good books to help you.
You should bear in mind that it can be very dangerous to heat an unknown sample without very good ventilation. I mean a good airflow that eleminates ANY possibility that the fumes can be inhaled. Mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and others can be very bad juju.
Also, don't rule out the possibility that anything you find can be manmade. I have detected in many desert areas and have yet to find a place that doesn't have at least some small pieces of lead and other metal trash.
-Bill-

 

[Mtnmn]

If it shattered , it sounds like fool's gold or iron pyrite, but there are various kinds of pyrite. One is comprised of arsenic and could be lethal, if the fumes of it were inhaled. By the way the specimen of arsenic pyrite that I have, has a very shiny metallic silver appearance, not the gold color of iron pyrite or as it is better known as fool's gold. I can't get a reading on my XT-70 from my specimen of arsenic pyrite even though it looks very metallic, but my research says that it is often found in conjunction with other minerals (metals), which is why your detector was probably hitting on it in the first place. It might pay to be a little more careful in the future before attempting to melt down any unknown compounds as the fumes of many can be very toxic.

 

[TURNMASTER]

Someone may have mentioned this already but don't breath the fumes.

Love to see a pic.

Jeff

 

[MEV]

ok i will take a picture

 

[MEV]

well here it is would like to here your opinions

 

[MEV]

as you can see on the last picture theres a penny behind it just so you can see the size and the picture on the left theres one piece that i broked from the other nugget and you can see that its just like silver , i know its kind of dark buy it really shines

 

[Blank Planet]

does it stick to a magnet?

BP

 

[MEV]

No it does not stick to a magnet

 

[MEV]

n/t

 

[Blank Planet]

only real way to find out what it is is to take it to someone who knows about rocks and metals.

good luck with it i have no idea what it could be.

BP

 

[TURNMASTER]

Mev, Get your self a mineral streak test plate. That would be a white unglazed porcelain plate used to rub a streak of your mineral on. The color of the streak will help you determine what you have. The rock book I have has cinnabar (mercury ore) and it looks kind of like what you have. However it does not look like the cinnabar I see online. Anyway the streak test will give you a better shot of finding out what you have. If needed the back of a porcelain tile or bottom of a porcelain vase can also be used. Keep us posted I am interested in what you find out.

Jeff