dablacksmith Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 a friend of mine got these rocks ... i mentioned that i would like to smelt iron ore and he said he had some rocks he thought were iron .. they are relatively heavy and magnetic . he is a rock hound and a friend of his told him they were iron ore. it looks like its meteorite to me but ime no expert so i figure ide post pictures and let someone with more experience look at um and give a opinion.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
element Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Looks like lava to me;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnptc Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 i am not an expert but i vote for iron ore.......... meteorites usually( ime limited) have holes burned in the surface Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 (edited) Unfortunately there is no easy way to tell. You need a chemical or crystalgraphic study of a slice of it to tell for sure. These days you need to find someone with access to a minerals lab to get those things done. Off hand I'd say that it looks like a Hematite Fe2O3. The give away is the rounded bumps although it may also have some magnatite Fe3O4 mixed in as the mix often occurs in this amorphous shape called reniform (lumpy like a kidney).The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Racks and Minerals, color plate 533 has a picture of hematite which matches your attachments. Pure magnatite is usually crystaline and may look like two pyrmids placed base to base. Edited May 8, 2009 by Charlotte insert correction and more information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Some look like hematite and some look like clinkers I found along the RR tracks, but take to a rock shop and ask.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 well ive got about 10 lbs of um so i think ile break um up and eventually smelt um down ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Sounds like a fun project. Have fun breaking that stuff it is real tough. There are many threads here that point toward iron smelting and how to do it, As I recall it needs to be in like pea sized lumps or smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 As a fellow with a geology degree I vote for hematite: take the back of a piece of bathroom tile (white back) and scratch the piece on it and look for the rust-red streak. Smelting it in a low tech bloomery you will ned to get it WAY smaller. Doing a pre-smelt heat on it can help make it easier to break up. In the 15 years of bloomery smelting some of the best smelting stuff we had was 100 mesh magnetite. Pretty fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 ok so i crush it up good and fine before the smelt..also got a guy that is panning gold thats saveing me black sand ... it will be a wile before he has much of it ... thanks for the expertiese i knew someone here would know.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I am wondering what the reduction in mass is for blooming/ smelting (different processes I know but...to keep things simple) Some of the articles I have read state that for a lot of pounds of iron ore and fuel, and a 10 to 20% mass of bloom after the reduction. What is black sand?? I would not be surprised to know that the hematite in the pics is volcanic, since volcanisim brings up heavy elements from the core, i.e. the tantalum in emeralds Good Luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 CBran; when you speak of reduction in mass do you mean yield ore=>bloom? if so it's fairly wildly spread since a well trained smelter might get several times as much yield as someone just 'trying". The crew I was a member of went from "enough iron to make a fish hook" to 15# blooms on a regular basis with the change mainly due to experience. Blacksand = magnetite = "iron sand" to the japanese Dragging an old speaker magnet in a creek near metamorphic or igneous rocks; or glacier sediments can often get quite a lot of such "sand". Remember folks that scale is generally magnetite too so you can collect and re-smelt your scale as "ore"; probably the easiest way to get ore for many smiths. I have a multipound coffee can under one of the 1.5" hardy holes on my main shop anvil that I sweep the face into as I work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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