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what kind of ore is this?

my mum found it. It was like a blobby silvery metallic thing. My mum thinks it might be silver ore but I thought it was too light. How many ores meet this description?

4 Answers

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  • Mikel
    Lv 6
    5 years ago

    If it's "blobby" then that sounds more like molten metal rather than ore. Lot's of metal elements or composites are silvery in colour, but if you found it in the environment there's a good chance that it's lead that someone was playing around with. If it is lead it shouldn't be touched as it's toxic. The younger you are the worse effects this metal can have on your brain.

    Just a few other common metals that come to mind are tin, aluminium, silver, pewter, steel, iron.

    It could even be a lump of solder. As in what is used to build or repair electronic circuit boards.

  • 5 years ago

    Very unlikely to be actual silver, just because that is a very uncommon thing to find anywhere. Silver would be fairly dense anyway, so the fact that what you have is "light" suggests strongly that it is not any type of metal. Lots of metals and metal-containing materials have a "silver" coloration, so a person with little experience could think the material was silver, but they would likely be wrong.

    You probably have a piece of slag, the leftovers of metal processing. As with any rock identification question, of course, a picture goes a very long way in helping decide.

  • JimZ
    Lv 7
    5 years ago

    Silver ore is typically quite heavy. I used to pan it sometimes and it pans out with gold since it is so heavy. I'm guessing it is slag which can be common in back fill but it is impossible to know without having it in my hands and possibly running tests on it.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    5 years ago

    Could be haematite. But more likely is industrial slag. Since you think it's "too light" it probably isn't lead.

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