Found a strange rock

Just found this outside my office. Pretty cool looking and really shiny, but kinda dull at the same time. Took the following pictures with my phone, but they really dont do it justice.

The rock itself feels really light.

Could not upload through ATS for some reason...

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Anyone know what it is?

reply to post by Juston


No idea, but my first thought was flint.......

it looks like hematite. but it is hard to determine from a picture

I know what that is but I can't remember what it's called. Keep it. It's semi-precious.

Sorry I can't remember the name. I will google for it.

It's not hematite.



LAPIS LAZULI

Looks like graphite. Although I'm no rock expert.

From what I can tell, it's not magnetic.

Lapis Lazuli

It looks like it could be obsidian maybe. It would account for the light feeling.

Originally posted by PrplHrt
Lapis Lazuli

Do they look alike to you?

reply to post by PrplHrt


There is not a hint of blue anywhere on it. Only sliver-ish. I'll try to get a better pic when I get home

reply to post by Philosophile

Duh. His stone is unprocessed.

A guess would be graphite if its really light.

reply to post by PrplHrt


It is not Lapis. Lapis is blue and that looks metalic if you want to see a picture of Lapis in it's rough state I can take pictures for you. I can also take pictures of hematite in its rough state if you want.

Possibly Graphite. Does it leave a mark when you draw it across a piece of paper?

Originally posted by PrplHrt
I know what that is but I can't remember what it's called. Keep it. It's semi-precious.

Sorry I can't remember the name. I will google for it.

It's not hematite.

edit on 11/30/2012 by PrplHrt because: (no reason given)

edit on 11/30/2012 by PrplHrt because: (no reason given)

LAPIS LAZULI

edit on 11/30/2012 by PrplHrt because: (no reason given)

The blue of Lapis Lazuli is generally much "brighter"/lighter in hue...and, is almost always streaked (ribboned) with a yellow or goldish substance.

Sorry OP - can't be of much assistance, here.

I found one like that once. It was the size of a quarter and the color and texture looked just like the OP pictures. How I found it was sort of strange. Was driving on an I10 through New Orleans. All of a sudden the rock landed on the hood near the windshield. I was able to roll down the window and grab it before it fell off. It did not have any scratches like I would expect if it was thrown from a tire. The guy I was with and I joked it was a meteorite.

I'm going to go with carbon, I found the same looking rock(s) while digging in a my dirt floor crawl space, really light, black dull and shiny

I posted a while back about a strange rock I had found. Here

Your rock is very simular. Now I am starting to wonder myself what I have again?

reply to post by Juston


I am a geology student with my concentration in mineralogy. It looks like either graphite, galena, hematite, magnetite, or coal.

If it's graphite, it will leave dark grey marks on paper or just rub it with your fingers and it will rub off on your fingers.

If it's magnetite, it will be magnetic.

If it's coal, it will be extremely light in your hand making it feel almost like it is hollow (empty) on the inside. There are different kinds of coal: bituminous, subbituminous, anthracite, and lignite.

My best guess is that it is galena though. I have quite a few galena sample of my own as it is one of my favorites.

Also, none of those I mentioned above are rocks. They are all minerals.

Originally posted by proob4
I posted a while back about a strange rock I had found. Here

Your rock is very simular. Now I am starting to wonder myself what I have again?

The OP's rock and your rock look to be Bornite, also called "Peacock Rock".