Rockhounding in Ontario
Howard pointed out that one of my previous posts had popped up on the internet indicating that it contained a photo of raw silver – it appears that the photo had gone so .. here it is – the post again with the picture.
“This is a lump of high grade silver ore found on the mine dumps around Cobalt. The silver here is invariably mixed to a greater or lesser extent with the element cobalt. It is the paucity of this material that dictates the silver yield. The “low Grade” ore is rich in cobalt. It is dull and of an aluminum like lustre. As you can see by the attached photo, the “High Grade ore is pretty lusterous.
In combing through the mine dumps the rocks look pretty similar but a few hints can help you locate the greatly prized high-grade ore. The silver occurs in veins of varying thickness. At the silver sidewalk the exposure was a pure streak of silver over five feet wide. Usually the silver is found as flat sided slabs from thinner veins that are rich in calcite.
Andy Christe of the Princess Sodalite Mine (Bancroft) showed me how to feel for silver. By closing my eyes and dragging my finger tips over the rock I was immediately able to feel a rock that contains raw silver. It is as though my skin is catching on tiny barbs of tinfoil. Push to hard and they flatten out. The magic of the touch is lost”.
this rock is called skutterudite: cobalt arsenide
with pink layer of erythrite
Hi can you buy this raw silver and if so where from
I have a 6 ib chunk of silver ore from the Silver highway in Cobalt Ont. I found it there years ago and willing to sell it
yes, contact Ralph Schroetter of the rock and mineral shop up there. Cant remember the name of it but just cast around a bit on the internet, but its more fun to find the stuff yourself. Mick
I Mick you can find the material at http://www.coehillgold.com ask for John
Drop me a line one day.
Ralph
very nice pic! :)
[…] Check out the big chunk of raw silver that I found on the mine dumps in Cobalt – here (raw silver) […]
Well I currently live in the Original Mine Owners Home for the Buffalo Mines Property and can verify that there is still much silver to be found close to surface. If your out digging in the waste dumps you will need to bring a shovel to turn over the first foot or so of rock to uncover the less picked over stuff. I’ve found a 19oz piece of silver leaf, and several 1lb or better chunks of 1oz or better Ag-Ni-Co ore.
Wow – I love that area.
I have pieces of silver ore, containing up to 50% pure Native Silver, in pieces up to 1.7 kg., from one of my historic silver mines. None of the poisonous nickel or arsenic in it. Beautiful cabbing material, silver wires in quartz…
[…] Raw Silver – An Ontario Bonanza В« Rockwatching May 20, 2007 … Raw Silver – An Ontario Bonanza … contained a photo of raw silver – it appears that the photo had … […]
i recently found a 10-13 pound rock that looks just like the picture that you have shown. the question is now what do i do with it if i was looking to sell it? /ow would i know what the actual value would be?
A lot of things look silver – it could be other closely matched things. How would you sell it? hmm… never tried. Did you find it in Cobalt?
hello, i found what i think may be silver can anybody tell me if it is or not??? attached is a pic from my facebook of the material. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150651325014706.406424.592069705&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=10151111765129706&set=a.10150651325014706.406424.592069705&type=3&theater
actually i guess that link doesnt work when im not logged into my facebook. i will try to get it on here another way since i cant see how to delete my comment/question
okay this link should work i just posted a pic on blogger
http://awhutup.blogspot.com/
looks interesting – where did you find it?
That is not silver. It is Cobalt.
Maybe – even better
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