Massachusetts gold mine

Crossmod

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Aug 8, 2020
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Location
Dedham Massachusetts
lol i wish! BUT! I have dug up and number of rocks that my GarrettMAX ID from 45 to 57ish, small to large. I put them on all my Kee Gold tester (electronic device) and they all test as gold. I have been trying to get more information other than "thats slag"

Anyone dig these up and test them?? I find so many on my property that it interferes with my hunting.
 

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The grain structure in the matrix of the specimen resembles pyrite. Get a piece checked out and if it is you can make some great bank selling it. Massachusetts is loaded with pyrite.
 
Looks like anthracite coal to me

Yes it does.

I have dug a few pieces of coal. They do ring up as possible good targets.

Coal feels light whereas pyrite will feel heavy.
Wonder which it is he found since both are widely scattered in the East.
Pyrite naturally and coal mined and shipped.
 
I have pieces of coal I have found bag i have a whole bag full of this non magnetic material that tests as gold but looks like a black silver rock
 
There are a number of minerals with a metallic luster, but iron pyrite is the most common. The specimen looks like it has a crystal cleavage in the photograph. If you get a piece of porcelain china from the china cabinet and rub the specimen on the rough unglazed area on the bottom of the china it will leave a colored streak. If the streak is blackish that supports an argument that it is iron pyrite (https://geology.com/minerals/streak-test.shtml). There are some other easy diagnostic tests as well. In the photo on the streak test website you can see a piece of pyrite being tested. The specimen being tested displays a twinned cubic crystal structure.
Wikipedia has a nice writeup on the physical properties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrite
 
Living in CT most of my life I would dig up coal every time I turned a shovel it seemed. Now living in MA I have found some MD'ing at the beach and the ponds. Most of the coal I find has been burned. Shine is gone and my hands get filthy.
 
While I was spending time in Charleston, SC, recently, I was near the bed of an old railway (Charleston & Savannah Railway). I was getting lots of "hot rocks" signals. Most of them turned out to be either cinders or coal. Had to dig them anyway. Occasionally I would get one that was simply ferruginous. The area was pretty junky, to boot, with both iron and aluminum. The iron was generally heavily crusted with iron oxide, unless it was the occasional piece of stainless.
 
A few years ago they removes some 40+ year old sidewalks in a local park. I hurried there to see if I could find some old silver coins. It turned out they had been laid on a bed of cinders and I couldn't get any good readings. I did find two barber dimes in the area next to them though.
 
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