GeologyRocks

Might need a little more info than just the pictures!

How hard is the mineral? Does is scratch with your finger nail? A steel knife? Do you know what the host rock is? Where did you find it?

Leah 

It sure looks a lot like Olivine to me, however, if it's Peridot, WOW!!! 

Very nice specimen!

As Leah says, we need a bit more info.  Where is it from?  Unless there are volcanics in that area it is unlikely to be olivinite/peridotite.

How hard is it?  It looks like fine acicular crystals, so it may be very difficult to get a hardness test.

Can you take a decent photo closer in, or give us some idea of the crystal shape?

At present it could be any one of around 200-300 different minerals, mainly copper based but not exclusively.

John

“Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” -  Will Durant

Can anyone explain why these stupid ads appear daily, for things totally unconnected with geology?

I can't see that there is any advantage in these numpties trying to sell us (if that is what they are attempting) these things.

I really am stumpted to know what they are about.

John

“Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” -  Will Durant

John, 

It's an automated spam bot thingy, It searches the web for forums etc with posts that have key-words assocaited with what it is trying to sell, and it posts. At least that's how I understand it.

Leah

Most crystals on the rock look like green broken glass minimized to the size of 1 mm or even less.The crystals were resistant both to nail scratching and knife cutting.

Thanks Leah.  Shame that - a good kicking is whats needed.

John

“Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” -  Will Durant

"Most crystals on the rock look like green broken glass minimized to the size of 1 mm or even less.The crystals were resistant both to nail scratching and knife cutting."

OK so it has a hardness above 6 to 7.   That certainly cuts down what it could be.

Where did it come from?  What geological features did you notice around you?  Was it a single piece or one of many pieces?

John

“Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” -  Will Durant

I found it in an abandoned mine, where Germans made nuclear tests (at small scale) in WW2.I don't really know if that's important, I mean it can't be radioactive or something , can it?

 Anyway i searched for green minerals but all had an olive green color.Mine has a strong darkish green. 

WHERE?

John

“Civilisation exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” -  Will Durant

It could be radioactive, if it's torbernite. Torbernite crystals do look somewhat identical to your specimen. At this point, my recommendation would be to take it to a local university or geology department to have it properly identified. I don't really know how things work over there, but If it's peridot, check the status of the mine and if it's not under claim, file one! Around these parts (Colorado, USA), a discovery like that would cause quite a stir and a mad rush to file a claim. I wouldn't tell the exact location to anyone until you find out what it is.

I went to the local geology museum where I'm also a partner, and I gave the rock to an old geologist.He told me that what I found was torbernite with little peridot crystals... 

(Mg, Fe)₂SiO_{4 +} Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂ · 12 H₂O + Cu(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂ · 8 H₂O.

I bought a metalic box with a hard plastic circle on one side so I can see the rock and block alpha and beta radiation and to avoid breathing radon.

I measured the radiation with the given geiger counter and measured 5 curies and 48.000 CPM.

 Well....I always wanted to add something radioactive to my collection which is more bright or colorful, I have thorianite and uraninite but never thought i would find Uranium for free ;D. 

5 Curies!?!

Are you sure? That's a big source! Do you have any idea what the gamma exposure is (mR/Hr) outside the box?

I would be a little nervous with such a large source, but I've read that even fist size samples of Uranium ore are safe to handle. Still, I would store this guy, in lead, or away from living quarters (or both) if possible. Continuous exposure to this sample may not be safe. Please be careful.

Thanks for the update on the identification.

approx. 160,0 mR/hr and 11,800,000 Bq. 

Yeah, I feel your sample deserves some respect.  I would keep it in lead or at least minimize time near it.

Very cool sample, but it's kind of hot.