[meteorite-list] Metallic Rock Baffles Experts

[ken newton]

Hi,
This appears to be sulfide slag.
Bob Verish has been trying to track down the source of this road fill 
for some time.
http://home.earthlink.net/~magellon/hotrocks.html
Best,
Ken Newton
IMCA #9632

Sterling K. Webb wrote:


> Hi,

>

>    Can you tell that yesterday it was 100.4 F.

> (previous record 98 F.) and today it's 102 F

> (previous record 93 F.) with 94% humidity?

> A nice day to sit in front of the computer at

> a balmy 82 F (with 40% humidity) and worry

> about odd metal rocks probably not from

> space...

>

>    Meteorite? No way!

>

>    Is this another contest? If so, I vote for

> Molybdenum. Yup, Molly Be Damned gets

> my vote!

>

>    Here's the photo:

> http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/photo/18667900_ddn073006mysteriousrocksp2.html 

>

>

>    This is naturally occuring molybdenum ore:

> http://www.edzone.net/~tzielask/molybdenum_-_no_label.jpg

>

>    Molybdenum metal in two states of fusion:

> http://www.krdnet.com/EBAY/Galleries/october/DSCF2836.JPG

> It can be quite granular.

>

>    Polished molybdenite:

> http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photomoly.html

>

>    What's "Molly Be Damned" doing in Ohio?

>

>    Any real experts (not me) on The List?

>

>

> Sterling K. Webb

> -------------------------------------------------------

> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Baalke" 

> <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

> To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>

> Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 11:20 AM

> Subject: [meteorite-list] Metallic Rock Baffles Experts

>

>

>>

>> http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/073106mysteryrock.html 

>>

>>

>> Rock baffles experts; can't figure out what it is

>>

>> A Preble County farmer found the very heavy, likely man-made

>> pieces on his property.

>>

>> By Steve Bennish

>> Dayton Daily News

>> July 30, 2006

>>

>> A mysterious 400-pound load of metallic rubble found by a Preble County

>> farmer in a creek near his home is baffling geology experts at Sinclair

>> Community College who have tried to analyze it.

>>

>> The material appears to be man-made and the result of some industrial

>> process, but even after a half-dozen common tests over many weeks, its

>> composition and origin remains unknown, said Anne Henry, associate

>> professor of geology at Sinclair.

>>

>> The material's unusual properties have baffled testers, Henry said.

>>

>> Some of it has been found in 20-pound chunks the approximate shape of

>> squashed bread loaves with scorched, blackish exteriors. Broken open,

>> the chunks have bright, aluminum-colored, granular interiors with some

>> traces of green or gold. It does not attract a magnet, nor is it

>> radioactive.

>>

>> The hardness of the material is remarkable, measuring between an eight

>> and a nine on the scientific Mohs scale of hardness, harder than steel

>> and in the range of precious stones like topaz.

>>

>> It's also extremely dense, greater than iron and on par with a lead ore

>> or bronze alloy. Exposed to temperatures of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit,

>> the material didn't melt. Scrape a piece of it on unglazed porcelain, a

>> common geology test, and it leaves a blackish streak.

>>

>> Research into possible industries in the area that might have generated

>> the material as waste has come to no conclusions, Henry said.

>>

>> Mike West, the farmer who found the metal, said he was enjoying an

>> afternoon with his granddaughter this year on the 80 acres he farms in

>> northern Preble County when he was throwing some rocks in the creek. "I

>> picked up one rock and it was unusually heavy, so I saved that one."

>>

>> Weeks later, still intrigued, he returned with a metal detector. The

>> detector lit up on the piles of rocks in the creek.

>>

>> If someone dumped the material long ago, it would have been a tough job.

>>

>> Not only is the stuff heavy, but the driveway is three-quarters of a

>> mile from the road. The owner of the land moved there in 1968 and has no

>> knowledge of the deposit, West said.

>>

>> West at one time thought it might be the remains of a meteor impact.

>> Henry doesn't think so, and is pretty much convinced the material is

>> man-made. Henry hopes that more sophisticated testing, using equipment

>> the college doesn't have on hand, will expose the nature of the deposit.

>>

>> Her best guesses are that the material is some form of industrial ingot

>> or casting. She's hoping a local expert or business will volunteer to

>> provide some guidance or more advanced testing facilities.

>>

>> "From a geology point of view, I'd like to know what it is, what its

>> industrial application is and why it is sitting in this guy's field,"

>> Henry said.

>>

>> Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish at DaytonDailyNews.com.

>>

>> Want to help?

>>

>> To volunteer expertise help Anne Henry identify the rocks, you can reach

>> her at (937) 512-4560 or write her at: Anne Henry, Geology Department,

>> Sinclair Community College, 444 W. Third St., Dayton, OH 45402 or e-mail

>> anne.henry at sinclair.edu.anne.henry@sinclair.edu.

>>

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>

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