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Can you ID this deposit?

Metal Kiwi		Posted : Tuesday, 6 September 2011 10:25:47 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 19/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,210 Location: Auckland Thanks: 498 times Was thanked: 484 time(s) in 322 post(s)		I picked this rock up in the bay at Charleston on our way through to Westport a few years back. Can anyone ID the shiny silver deposits in it. The white rock is quartz but would like to know what the other is. File Attachment(s): Rock 1A Charleston.jpg Rock 1 Charleston.jpg
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rgmcbrid		Posted : Tuesday, 6 September 2011 10:30:07 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 3/06/2010(UTC) Posts: 583 Location: Southland Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 180 time(s) in 140 post(s)		My wild guess is that it is a piece of schist ground down and what you are looking at are mica minerals in the quartz.
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Metal Kiwi		Posted : Thursday, 15 September 2011 11:18:04 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 19/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,210 Location: Auckland Thanks: 498 times Was thanked: 484 time(s) in 322 post(s)		Yeah I had thought probably Mica so that's 2 votes so it must be Mica. :-)
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Thursday, 15 September 2011 11:42:15 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		If it is in thin sheet form like pages in a book then it will be muscovite or white mica I would think...nice looking specimen. That is the same mica that is used as the plates in toasters and some heaters. The second photo seems to show it with a goldie colour in which case if it is a brown/black to goldie colour it could be biotite which is also mica. I think that there might be other forms of mica - Lepidolite (secondary source of Lithium) paragonite, illite and sericite. Edited by user Thursday, 15 September 2011 11:53:47 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

Metal Kiwi		Posted : Friday, 16 September 2011 7:28:28 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 19/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,210 Location: Auckland Thanks: 498 times Was thanked: 484 time(s) in 322 post(s)		Thanks for that LL. The specimen does look a bit different on each side where it protrudes but I am now quite comfortable that it is a Mica of one type or another.
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