Chris, You are the man! I remember meeting you at Iowa Hill gold dig and detect put on by the Mining Journal, you gave me a poker chip with a piece of gold glued on the back of it that you got a day or two prior to the dig. You guys went in there a few days earlier to hunt it. Keep up the good work bud!
Thank you so much for sharing some of your obviously vast knowledge of minerals. I've always loved rocks and have hauled home vast amounts of them. I think many are really beautiful. I also love seashells. And I have alot of them. Some people don't understand why I'm so fascinated with rocks. They think I'm crazy. I don't care. I think that they're another of the creative beauty God gave us to enjoy. I thought about taking a course on rocks and minerals at a college, but I don't have the money. So I'm especially grateful to you for this. You're a great teacher and I can tell that you're very intelligent and also wise. So thank you again and God bless you and yours.❤️
I took one of those college courses and the 3 videos on mineral identification are my expression of some of the things I learned in those courses. Glad you enjoyed it.
I used lemon juice, I read online this would work on calcite, and I got a fizzing type reacton tha you mentioned. Which is exciting as I found a recently dug pit and there are thousands of these laying everywhere. Many have been hauled of with the dirt to other locations. But still thousands laying around. Already have a bucket full and plan on bringing many more home. Thank you.
These videos are educational and should be treated as such. There is so much knowledge in minerals. So much so that I always forget way more than I remember. I have been rockhounding for years and it never fails I will forget one or two steps in identifying. Like right now I have an amazing rock I found on a construction site. I know the rock came from a dig rich in calcite, iron, and red clay. The rock once cleaned(hydrochloric acid, vinegar, and water) steps, the mineral was shiny, sparkling in areas and was extremely heavy. The rock is fracturing in some areas closer to the edge, but not in the more solid areas. The weight feels like iron, but I get no markings on skin only on ceramics. It marks almost like lead but very fine. In this stone I have spotted pyrites, silver, and quartz crystals. The quartz travels into the grey shiny areas and around the rock itself. It is extremely hard. Drop test broke only the host. Hammer broke away the quartz and pyrites. I have been banking on iron, but the sheen is too sparkly. In the end, the rock is 8”x8”x6” and weighs just at 15lbs. I will wait on your next video to help me identify more. Thank you for this.
I was surprised atvhow much i knew about mineral identification. I mean based on your crash course. I looked at all three videos and i knew about 60 %. Im sure i forgot about some andva reference book would also help. Weighing the rock or specimen against a equal volume of water i knew about . Thanks for the videos.
That's cool, you can't quickly recall a mineral yourself. Thanks for being real. To me your the professor who realizes that his students may not know very much about the 101 course and really wants to help and teach. You would be very popular with your students.
Thank You so much for sharing all the wealth of information with us. I am super slow and the way you explain things makes it easier for me to understand and learn I will for sure buying your book. Can’t wait!!
Hi thanks for taking the time to share this video with us.!, Can you give us any recommendations on magnifying glass, magnets etc or any tools that can help our mineral learning journey?.
First, this is part 2 of a 3 part series, be sure to look at the others. Second, I show a hardness test kit that you can buy ones like it on Amazon. Also get a 10X loupe magnifier, also available on Amazon.
Mica was used as a clear window in old old pot belly stoves so as to watch fire as well as determine when to insert more wood. It has a high heat resistance!
Enjoyed the lesson Chris! I use to watch the "Prospectors" on the Weather Channel and be amazed at the different minerals/gems they would find in the field.
hey chris these 2 parts on mineral identification was really done well thanks for doing this keep up the great videos stay health stay safe and see you on your next vid
Another great video ! This is so important to know these tests while prospecting. Did you get that molly sample near Tonapah ? And the Galena/sphalerite from Missouri ? We have Galena/Hydrozincsite down here, near Goodsprings. Love that nice chunk of mica sample !! Thanks for sharing your knowledge Chris ! 🤠👍👍👍
The moly sample in the part 2 video did not come from near Tonopah, but one at the end of Part three (soon to be uploaded) did. But that one did not come from the Hall Moly-copper pit north of Tonopah, but from a small prospect west of it in the Lone Mountain area. Next time I am in Vegas, I might go out to Goodsprings to collect some Galena samples.....
Maybe Jeff W and can join you. My specimens came from the Root Mine. Jeff was thinking about visiting the Yellowpine Mine, which was the largest producer. 🤠
I just dont know when I will be down that way next. I have probably 15 pounds of galena (which is enough for now) that I will be fiddling with here shortly. Going to do some home smelting and then extraction of the silver. Jeff sort of did a video on this, but I will do it right and explain how it can be done on a small scale.I am generally hoping to drive down to Arizona this fall sometime. Maybe we can meet up if it works out. I have no firm idea of my schedule at this point.
Ok, 5 gold puffed buttons 7$ apiece, 2 Kentucky confederate police button's 50$ apiece! Not bad for a beginner, verdict is still out on nugget... Thank you again Cris for getting me off my duff!
Hey Chris, I've been watching and re watching your videos plus I bought fists full of gold. The information you give out is priceless! I was wondering how I can identify a placer mineral I panned in an area around where I'm from in Eastern Utah. I picked up a decent amount of black sands with what looks like silver or a "glittery" effect as it moves around in the sand. I am able to find in many difference test pans from up and down the stream in this particular area. I WANT to say I found titanium, but I have no idea what it would look like in very small placer form. Everything I have panned has been extremely fine..
Thank You I did learn a few things on all three of your videos! I don't know if you are still answering questions. I've watched a few different people teaching about identification of minerals. Some of them say if I just want to know about the rock building minerals for now there's only about 24 or so out of the 4000+ minerals out there that is used to build rocks do you agree with that? Thanks again
Most rocks are built of a limited number of minerals, but many rocks have tiny amounts of many rare minerals. So the statement is 98 percent true, the other 2 percent are the rare minerals also found in the rocks.
Hi Chris, I found a road cut that I think has exposed a pure white rock with a dark grey vein over an inch wide. I will have it assayed, just to see if it is silver, but I have a math problem. How much silver per ton does it take to make a mine profitable? Thanks in advance for your advice.
Its not that simple that one single number tells all. Depends also on how much you have. If you have a solid mountain made of ore you can run really low grade at a profit on a large scale. If you have only a little it must be high grade. You need access to some way of milling the ore and extracting the silver. How far will you haul the ore? Consultants do whole evaluations to determine if a deposit can be profitably mined. Find out what you have first, then start worrying about if it can be mined profitably. If its less than a couple ounces per ton, dont worry about it.
Hello Chris, thanks a million for your videos, I am learning a lot. I do think that "Color" when used as "streak color" is a very helpful tool to identify minerals (especially in the field) though. You did mention "Streak" in the first part of this video series, but not in this part. What do you think?
Chris, I was wondering, out of all of the hundreds of panning videos I’ve watched on CZcams, I’ve noticed that SILVER is hardly ever found in a placer form…Matter of fact, silver is hardly ever mentioned at all, within most of these gold panning videos. ..I’m surprised (in a way) that silver isn’t more valuable, considering how seldom it’s located in placer form. So, I guess when it comes to silver, it almost always needs to be smelted. How strange. 😀 and apparently, somewhat rare this element is. (IMHO)
Were you looking on a cell phone? Sometimes you need more than tiny phone screen to see things. You are right that silver is very, very rare in placer form. Most silver in natural deposits is in the form of silver bearing minerals, and these need to be smelted or leached to extract the silver.
Hey Chris, we’ve been out prospecting for Rh assuming it’s been left behind. Because it’s much lighter than gold and grey like everything else, how do you quickly identify it in the field? Seems like a chemical test would be the only way to sort it out, if so what chemical to use, how do we acquire or make it? And what is the reaction /result we are looking for? Using a That we eventuality
Do a Google search for "Rhodium ore deposits" to learn more. Rhodium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust. Rhodium is found only as traces in platinum or nickel ores together with the other members of the platinum group metals. There is no such thing as an ore that is mined mostly for its Rhodium.
If I am finding these calcite everywhere are there other minerals or things to look for in this location. Otherwords what else would be commonly found with calcite.
I don't see gold in pan, it's all mic, don't see nuggets in creek, or anything in rock until I use mic then I see confusing color along with gold. So I am assuming...
I haven't lost sight of big pic, I have mag sand, gold stuff all in and around, looks fools... Not sure. But I don't think passing up burn spot is wise, got 3 beads, one is green gemstone
I think you are the 1st person to ever explain density in the most simplistic terms and nail it. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent video as always. "Fists Full of Gold" is worth its weight in gold. Thanks again Chris.
Thanks for the kind words.
@Hello Dale Duffy, How are you doing?
@Rowan Mohammad Oh! Okay, Can we talk on hangout if you don't mind
Chris,
You are the man! I remember meeting you at Iowa Hill gold dig and detect put on by the Mining Journal, you gave me a poker chip with a piece of gold glued on the back of it that you got a day or two prior to the dig. You guys went in there a few days earlier to hunt it. Keep up the good work bud!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Another great video , thanks for sharing your knowledge 🍀
Glad you enjoyed it, hope your back is feeling better.
@@ChrisRalph I think I'm good to go again !!!!!
Wonderful presentation of Identify minerals. I have really learnt a lot .
Glad you enjoyed it
Even after a year these videos are still helping. Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge ✨
Happy to help!
Thank you so much for sharing some of your obviously vast knowledge of minerals. I've always loved rocks and have hauled home vast amounts of them. I think many are really beautiful. I also love seashells. And I have alot of them. Some people don't understand why I'm so fascinated with rocks. They think I'm crazy. I don't care. I think that they're another of the creative beauty God gave us to enjoy.
I thought about taking a course on rocks and minerals at a college, but I don't have the money. So I'm especially grateful to you for this. You're a great teacher and I can tell that you're very intelligent and also wise.
So thank you again and God bless you and yours.❤️
I took one of those college courses and the 3 videos on mineral identification are my expression of some of the things I learned in those courses. Glad you enjoyed it.
I used lemon juice, I read online this would work on calcite, and I got a fizzing type reacton tha you mentioned.
Which is exciting as I found a recently dug pit and there are thousands of these laying everywhere.
Many have been hauled of with the dirt to other locations. But still thousands laying around.
Already have a bucket full and plan on bringing many more home. Thank you.
Best of luck to you.
These videos are educational and should be treated as such. There is so much knowledge in minerals. So much so that I always forget way more than I remember. I have been rockhounding for years and it never fails I will forget one or two steps in identifying. Like right now I have an amazing rock I found on a construction site. I know the rock came from a dig rich in calcite, iron, and red clay. The rock once cleaned(hydrochloric acid, vinegar, and water) steps, the mineral was shiny, sparkling in areas and was extremely heavy. The rock is fracturing in some areas closer to the edge, but not in the more solid areas. The weight feels like iron, but I get no markings on skin only on ceramics. It marks almost like lead but very fine. In this stone I have spotted pyrites, silver, and quartz crystals. The quartz travels into the grey shiny areas and around the rock itself. It is extremely hard. Drop test broke only the host. Hammer broke away the quartz and pyrites. I have been banking on iron, but the sheen is too sparkly. In the end, the rock is 8”x8”x6” and weighs just at 15lbs. I will wait on your next video to help me identify more. Thank you for this.
Good luck to you and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
I was surprised atvhow much i knew about mineral identification. I mean based on your crash course. I looked at all three videos and i knew about 60 %. Im sure i forgot about some andva reference book would also help. Weighing the rock or specimen against a equal volume of water i knew about . Thanks for the videos.
No problem, and I'm glad you found the info useful
THANK YOU Chris you’re doing a great job man love your videos learning a lot ❤❤❤❤
Glad to hear it!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
You're Welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Thanks! I* really enjoyed your video.
Glad to hear that!
That's cool, you can't quickly recall a mineral yourself. Thanks for being real. To me your the professor who realizes that his students may not know very much about the 101 course and really wants to help and teach. You would be very popular with your students.
Thanks for the kind words.
Thank You so much for sharing all the wealth of information with us. I am super slow and the way you explain things makes it easier for me to understand and learn I will for sure buying your book. Can’t wait!!
Glad it was helpful!
Gud vidio sir👌
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Please enter your phone number
With people like you I will never need to go to high learning institution. I home school, learn all I need to know from people like you.
Thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
I did enjoy.
Hi thanks for taking the time to share this video with us.!, Can you give us any recommendations on magnifying glass, magnets etc or any tools that can help our mineral learning journey?.
First, this is part 2 of a 3 part series, be sure to look at the others. Second, I show a hardness test kit that you can buy ones like it on Amazon. Also get a 10X loupe magnifier, also available on Amazon.
Mica was used as a clear window in old old pot belly stoves so as to watch fire as well as determine when to insert more wood. It has a high heat resistance!
It was used industrially for the same thing - to see into furnaces, etc.
Enjoyed the lesson Chris! I use to watch the "Prospectors" on the Weather Channel and be amazed at the different minerals/gems they would find in the field.
Cool, thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Great material! Thank you 🙏
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
hey chris these 2 parts on mineral identification was really done well thanks for doing this keep up the great videos stay health stay safe and see you on your next vid
Staying safe at home but itching to get out.
You have put me on an 1800s burn spot!. Today it's a new York city transit fare coin, looks like gold
Congrats.
Great video. Have you studied Shungite? Thanks for sharing so much knowledge.
Its basically an altered form of coal, and so not really a mineral. Mostly valued for crystal healing uses.
Wow, now it's silver button with shield and eagle!!!
It is?
Another great video ! This is so important to know these tests while prospecting. Did you get that molly sample near Tonapah ? And the Galena/sphalerite from Missouri ? We have Galena/Hydrozincsite down here, near Goodsprings. Love that nice chunk of mica sample !! Thanks for sharing your knowledge Chris ! 🤠👍👍👍
The moly sample in the part 2 video did not come from near Tonopah, but one at the end of Part three (soon to be uploaded) did. But that one did not come from the Hall Moly-copper pit north of Tonopah, but from a small prospect west of it in the Lone Mountain area. Next time I am in Vegas, I might go out to Goodsprings to collect some Galena samples.....
Maybe Jeff W and can join you. My specimens came from the Root Mine. Jeff was thinking about visiting the Yellowpine Mine, which was the largest producer. 🤠
I just dont know when I will be down that way next. I have probably 15 pounds of galena (which is enough for now) that I will be fiddling with here shortly. Going to do some home smelting and then extraction of the silver. Jeff sort of did a video on this, but I will do it right and explain how it can be done on a small scale.I am generally hoping to drive down to Arizona this fall sometime. Maybe we can meet up if it works out. I have no firm idea of my schedule at this point.
Ok, 5 gold puffed buttons 7$ apiece, 2 Kentucky confederate police button's 50$ apiece! Not bad for a beginner, verdict is still out on nugget... Thank you again Cris for getting me off my duff!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Hey Chris, I've been watching and re watching your videos plus I bought fists full of gold. The information you give out is priceless!
I was wondering how I can identify a placer mineral I panned in an area around where I'm from in Eastern Utah. I picked up a decent amount of black sands with what looks like silver or a "glittery" effect as it moves around in the sand. I am able to find in many difference test pans from up and down the stream in this particular area. I WANT to say I found titanium, but I have no idea what it would look like in very small placer form. Everything I have panned has been extremely fine..
I get many, many requests for personal help. Its almost always impossible to ID stuff from photos.
Hey….I’ll take a leap, and tell you it’s more than likely either pyrite, or sulfides, or a combination of the two.
Thank you!
You bet!
Thank you very much Sir For this Experience video.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Hello Chris thanks alot for this information it helps me alot forever grateful keep them coming 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Will do! In fact I just released a new one.
@@ChrisRalph wow thats awesome let me catch up on you 👏👏
Thank You I did learn a few things on all three of your videos!
I don't know if you are still answering questions.
I've watched a few different people teaching about identification of minerals.
Some of them say if I just want to know about the rock building minerals for now there's only about 24 or so out of the 4000+ minerals out there that is used to build rocks do you agree with that?
Thanks again
Most rocks are built of a limited number of minerals, but many rocks have tiny amounts of many rare minerals. So the statement is 98 percent true, the other 2 percent are the rare minerals also found in the rocks.
@@ChrisRalph Thank You that makes a lot of sense
Excellent video as usual.. Cheers!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I'd like to find some of that rubysilver you had the other week!
Its really nice stuff!
Hi Chris,
I found a road cut that I think has exposed a pure white rock with a dark grey vein over an inch wide. I will have it assayed, just to see if it is silver, but I have a math problem. How much silver per ton does it take to make a mine profitable?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Its not that simple that one single number tells all. Depends also on how much you have. If you have a solid mountain made of ore you can run really low grade at a profit on a large scale. If you have only a little it must be high grade. You need access to some way of milling the ore and extracting the silver. How far will you haul the ore? Consultants do whole evaluations to determine if a deposit can be profitably mined. Find out what you have first, then start worrying about if it can be mined profitably. If its less than a couple ounces per ton, dont worry about it.
Chris, a potential mine is looking for professional gold explorers. Pls recommend. Thank you.
I do not understand your statement - something is lost in translation.
Hello Chris, thanks a million for your videos, I am learning a lot.
I do think that "Color" when used as "streak color" is a very helpful tool to identify minerals (especially in the field) though. You did mention "Streak" in the first part of this video series, but not in this part. What do you think?
I ended up talking in more detail about the streak test in part 3, which you will see soon.
Very much looking forward to it!!! :-) Thank you!
You know , the info was great Chris…however, I couldn’t see Jack sh**! Lol
Chris, I was wondering, out of all of the hundreds of panning videos I’ve watched on CZcams, I’ve noticed that SILVER is hardly ever found in a placer form…Matter of fact, silver is hardly ever mentioned at all, within most of these gold panning videos.
..I’m surprised (in a way) that silver isn’t more valuable, considering how seldom it’s located in placer form.
So, I guess when it comes to silver, it almost always needs to be smelted. How strange. 😀 and apparently, somewhat rare this element is. (IMHO)
Were you looking on a cell phone? Sometimes you need more than tiny phone screen to see things. You are right that silver is very, very rare in placer form. Most silver in natural deposits is in the form of silver bearing minerals, and these need to be smelted or leached to extract the silver.
Hey Chris, we’ve been out prospecting for Rh assuming it’s been left behind. Because it’s much lighter than gold and grey like everything else, how do you quickly identify it in the field? Seems like a chemical test would be the only way to sort it out, if so what chemical to use, how do we acquire or make it? And what is the reaction /result we are looking for?
Using a
That we eventuality
Do a Google search for "Rhodium ore deposits" to learn more. Rhodium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth's crust. Rhodium is found only as traces in platinum or nickel ores together with the other members of the platinum group metals. There is no such thing as an ore that is mined mostly for its Rhodium.
If I am finding these calcite everywhere are there other minerals or things to look for in this location.
Otherwords what else would be commonly found with calcite.
Calcite is a very, very common mineral, one of the 4 or 5 most common of all. So many, many different minerals might possibly be found with Calcite.
I don't see gold in pan, it's all mic, don't see nuggets in creek, or anything in rock until I use mic then I see confusing color along with gold. So I am assuming...
Glad you enjoyed it.
Are the pegmatites associated with gold? I mean the lapidalyte and the muscovite?
generally not, especially lithium rich pegmatites with Lepidolite.
I haven't lost sight of big pic, I have mag sand, gold stuff all in and around, looks fools... Not sure. But I don't think passing up burn spot is wise, got 3 beads, one is green gemstone
Glad you enjoyed it.
Moly b is also used as a hardener for steel! Let’s not omit that!
Yes, that's true.
what can you tell me about mercury where dose it come from ?
There are mineral deposits rich in mercury. The chief ore mineral is Cinnabar.
Does impurity change the meniral density ?
Slightly.
4:21 you can weight it
OK.
I put my rocks on utube Chris under A I think I dont know it's my first try it out there though if you see maybe you can comment
Well, I am glad you liked the video...
i just found a for sure meteorite like a 20 pound one anyone know a place that buys them
Not really.
You may want to Google that they are worth good money I here I found one to .ask where to sell .
My luck Cris, gonna bury me 6 in. from mother load!
Right, Not 7 inches, but only 6.
Greasy look, harder than corrundum, triangular ? cleavage= diamond?
Could well be.
The thumbnail and the actual video are unrelated.
Maybe you dont speak English. Yes, they are related.
No.
Yes.