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Post by dazbt on Jun 5, 2011 13:18:18 GMT -5
I once found an almost perfectly spherical 'metallic' looking object totally embedded within a piece of coal, it looked like a corroded ball from a bearing, about 20mm diameter and similar in weight. I carried it around with me for a while and eventually decided to 'test it' by striking it with a hammer (an action that I now regret, it broke with the lightest of taps, producing one almost perfect half and the other fifty percent smashed into a hundred tiny fragments. I have since been led to believe that this was an almost perfect and very rare natural form of marcasite and as a collector's specimen would have been worth a shilling or two. Over the years I've found the occasional piece of high quality haematite and bandings of so called cannel coal that was pretty close to semi-precious gemstone jet quality, both examples polished up and used in jewellery. I've seen pure white quartz intrusions and even calcite but I've never managed to find any gold other than that of fools ............... but that's not to say that the real McCoy wasn't there for the finding; www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/gold-in-coal-raises-shining-prospect-1458689.html
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bob737
Trainee
To read about my recent book on the history of Daw Mill Mine, check out my recent activity
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Post by bob737 on Oct 17, 2013 4:40:56 GMT -5
While working for Thyssens at Newdigate Colliery near Bedworth Warwickshire in the late 1970s, and my colleague, John Moseley and I were back ripping the West Main, we happened across a heavy round nodule of about 150mm in diameter. We were working in rock (mostly mudstone with bands of ironstone) but this nodule looked very different from the surrounding strata. John tossed the nodule over the conveyor to me as I was working on the 'walking side' with 2 foot gauge rails and a rope haulage. I placed the nodule on a rail and cracked it open with the 7 lb hammer.
The interior was largely hollow with what looked like the proverbial 'Aladdin's Cave' of various, colourful minerals. The surface of this internal cavity was covered in tiny white glistening crystals but with flecks of various other colours embedded in the surface of this amazing specimen! Intriguingly, there were also a series of slightly greenish-gold 'needles' bridging some of the irregular shaped void within.
We took the nodule home and my mate showed his half to an old naturalist friend who identified a few of the minerals but was 'stumped' by some. He sent it on to a geologist friend at a university in Birmingham who identified the remaining mystery minerals all except for one. This geologist then sent the sample on to his friend at the Science Museum (Geology) in London. Some time later the news came to us that the nodule was a 'Septarian Nodule' and last remaining unidentified mineral was in fact a little known mineral called 'Retgersite'. What was really surprising wasn't any potential monetary value of the sample, but its pure rarity value. It turned out that this was only the 4th discovery of this particular mineral in the world! It was first identified in Nevada in 1949, once more in Germany and once in a South American country (can't now remember which) and now in Britain for the first time. My friend was asked if the sample could be retained in London for the National Collection to which he readily agreed.
Shortly after, and while still back-ripping the West Main, we saw the approaching lamp of our boss, Josep Aigner, the Site Engineer. When he got to us he asked why we were sitting down and not working. "Haven't you heard Zep?" we asked him. "Heard what?" he enquired (he knew about our find by this time). "Well," we said, "It seems like the government have slapped a preservation order on the rip as the only known site of a rare mineral in Britain so all we can do now is look after it and make sure it isn't disturbed!" He quickly turned incandescent while we fell about laughing. Despite what you may have heard about the German sense of humour, he did see the funny side, eventually, and the story was retold by him many times...
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Post by dazbt on Oct 17, 2013 7:50:08 GMT -5
Brilliant find Bob, makes you wonder what other "gems" have been shovelled away without even a second thought. It would seem that Newdigate Colliery was a site of mineralogical interest having provided samples of minerals;
Chalcopyrite Galena Gypsum Limonite Malachite Millerite Siderite Sphalerite Zaratite
but nothing quite as rare as your find.
from the internet;
"RETGERSITE, NiS04.6H20: A NEW BRITISH OCCURRENCE FROM WARWICKSHIRE D.R.G. WALKER City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery , Birmingham. B3 3DH In October, 1980 a mineralised septarian nodule collected from Newdigate Colliery, near Bedworth, southwest of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was taken to the City of Birmingham Museum for identification. The sulfide minerals present in this typical Coal Measures clay ironstone septarian nodule, which included millerite and galena , were readily identifiable, but an associated green oxidation product warranted a more detailed examination. Accordingly a portion of the nodule, bearing the unknown green material. was sent to the British Museum (Natural History). The tetragonal hydrated nickel sulfate phase retgersite was subsequently identified. Retgersite is a rare mineral, first fully described by Frondel and Pal ache (1949, p.188) . To the writer's knowledge the occurrence described here is only the second known in Britain, the first being reported by Macpherson and Livingstone (1982, p.32) from "Menimuir Burn" near Cassencarie, Kirkcudbrightshire, where it occurs associated with niccolite and annabergite. The horizon at which the septarian nodules occur is approximately 6 m above the Two Yard Coal in the Lower similis-pulchra zone of the Middle Coal Measures (Ammanian) of the Warwickshire Coalfield (Mitchell, 1954; Ramsbottom et af. , 1978). The mineralised nodule was collected approximately 2 km west of Newdigate Colliery Shafts. The principal sulfide present in the material brought to the museum is millerite which takes the form of acicular or capillary crystals up to 24 mm in length radiating out from a common centre. The crystal groups are dispersed on the microcrystalline surfaces (dominantly rhombohedra) of the chalybite-covered septa voids, and are commonly associated with galena. The colour is dark brass but there are degrees of tarnish producing darker shades. The acicular crystals are commonly coated with minute single and groups of retgersite crystals, sometimes investing single crystals of millerite completely. Also associated with millerite are thin films of yellow-green zaratitc. Ni)(CO)(OH)4.4HzO. The galena is always crystallised as aggregated cubes, sometimes elongate parallel to {100}. Rare cubo-octahedra have been observed. The largest crystal observed was 4 mm in length . Sphalerite is present as thin blackish-brown films, but precedes the chalybite-millerite phase. Chalcopyrite is late in the paragenesIs and is present as single or compound tetragonal crystals dispersed on the chalybite surfaces, but all are tarnished or show a development of limonite and specks of malachite. The retgersite is always associated with millerite and isolated crystalline masses betray the former presence of millerite. Its most common form is that of minute crystalline masses in and around the focus of radiate groups of millerite crystals. The single crystals, observed along the lengths of millerite crystals, show tetragonal faces, although the crystals are only minute fractions of a millimetre in prismatic length. Both crystalline masses and single crystals are emerald-green in colour with a vitreous lustre. They are transparent and frequently show marked cleavage traces. It would appear that the retgersite has been formed by normal oxidation processes under essentially atmospheric conditions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer would like to acknowledge the help he has received from Mr J. Francis of the British Museum (Natural History) for the identification of zaratite and the retgersite by X-ray diffraction techniques. A specimen from this occurrence has been deposited in the collections of the Department of Mineralogy in the British Museum (Natural History) under accession No. X20482. Other material from the occurrence is lodged in the mineral collection of the City of Birmingham Museum under accession No. G.4.82. REFERENCES Frondel, C. and Palache, C., 1949. Retgersite,"
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bob737
Trainee
To read about my recent book on the history of Daw Mill Mine, check out my recent activity
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Post by bob737 on Oct 20, 2013 10:20:40 GMT -5
Brilliant find Bob, makes you wonder what other "gems" have been shovelled away without even a second thought. It would seem that Newdigate Colliery was a site of mineralogical interest having provided samples of minerals; Chalcopyrite Galena Gypsum Limonite Malachite Millerite Siderite Sphalerite Zaratite but nothing quite as rare as your find. from the internet; " RETGERSITE, NiS04.6H20: A NEW BRITISH OCCURRENCE FROM WARWICKSHIRE D.R.G. WALKER City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery , Birmingham. B3 3DH In October, 1980 a mineralised septarian nodule collected from Newdigate Colliery, near Bedworth, southwest of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was taken to the City of Birmingham Museum for identification. The sulfide minerals present in this typical Coal Measures clay ironstone septarian nodule, which included millerite and galena , were readily identifiable, but an associated green oxidation product warranted a more detailed examination. Accordingly a portion of the nodule, bearing the unknown green material. was sent to the British Museum (Natural History). The tetragonal hydrated nickel sulfate phase retgersite was subsequently identified. Retgersite is a rare mineral, first fully described by Frondel and Pal ache (1949, p.188) . To the writer's knowledge the occurrence described here is only the second known in Britain, the first being reported by Macpherson and Livingstone (1982, p.32) from "Menimuir Burn" near Cassencarie, Kirkcudbrightshire, where it occurs associated with niccolite and annabergite. The horizon at which the septarian nodules occur is approximately 6 m above the Two Yard Coal in the Lower similis-pulchra zone of the Middle Coal Measures (Ammanian) of the Warwickshire Coalfield (Mitchell, 1954; Ramsbottom et af. , 1978). The mineralised nodule was collected approximately 2 km west of Newdigate Colliery Shafts. The principal sulfide present in the material brought to the museum is millerite which takes the form of acicular or capillary crystals up to 24 mm in length radiating out from a common centre. The crystal groups are dispersed on the microcrystalline surfaces (dominantly rhombohedra) of the chalybite-covered septa voids, and are commonly associated with galena. The colour is dark brass but there are degrees of tarnish producing darker shades. The acicular crystals are commonly coated with minute single and groups of retgersite crystals, sometimes investing single crystals of millerite completely. Also associated with millerite are thin films of yellow-green zaratitc. Ni)(CO)(OH)4.4HzO. The galena is always crystallised as aggregated cubes, sometimes elongate parallel to {100}. Rare cubo-octahedra have been observed. The largest crystal observed was 4 mm in length . Sphalerite is present as thin blackish-brown films, but precedes the chalybite-millerite phase. Chalcopyrite is late in the paragenesIs and is present as single or compound tetragonal crystals dispersed on the chalybite surfaces, but all are tarnished or show a development of limonite and specks of malachite. The retgersite is always associated with millerite and isolated crystalline masses betray the former presence of millerite. Its most common form is that of minute crystalline masses in and around the focus of radiate groups of millerite crystals. The single crystals, observed along the lengths of millerite crystals, show tetragonal faces, although the crystals are only minute fractions of a millimetre in prismatic length. Both crystalline masses and single crystals are emerald-green in colour with a vitreous lustre. They are transparent and frequently show marked cleavage traces. It would appear that the retgersite has been formed by normal oxidation processes under essentially atmospheric conditions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer would like to acknowledge the help he has received from Mr J. Francis of the British Museum (Natural History) for the identification of zaratite and the retgersite by X-ray diffraction techniques. A specimen from this occurrence has been deposited in the collections of the Department of Mineralogy in the British Museum (Natural History) under accession No. X20482. Other material from the occurrence is lodged in the mineral collection of the City of Birmingham Museum under accession No. G.4.82. REFERENCES Frondel, C. and Palache, C., 1949. Retgersite,"
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bob737
Trainee
To read about my recent book on the history of Daw Mill Mine, check out my recent activity
Posts: 12
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Post by bob737 on Oct 20, 2013 10:25:16 GMT -5
Brilliant piece of research dazbt! Thank you for showing us that information - and it bears out my story too. It was quite an exciting find, for those who like that sort of thing..., and the 'fun' we had with Zep was worth the hassle too! Its not easy to see humour on a rock back rip, but we had some at that time and it was worth it! - Happy daze...
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Post by mineralroy on May 17, 2016 2:29:07 GMT -5
Can anyone put me in touch with bob737? I am working on a book about the minerals of the English Midlands and would very much like to speak with him about the millerite occurrence at Newdigate Colliery. Thanks for your help. You can contact me via my website www.britishmineralogy.comHope to hear from someone. Roy
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Post by John on May 17, 2016 10:08:35 GMT -5
Can anyone put me in touch with bob737? I am working on a book about the minerals of the English Midlands and would very much like to speak with him about the millerite occurrence at Newdigate Colliery. Thanks for your help. You can contact me via my website www.britishmineralogy.comHope to hear from someone. Roy I can't divulge his email address Roy, but I've sent him an email for you with a link to your site.
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Post by dazbt on Jun 5, 2016 16:32:12 GMT -5
Gold from coal ash waste ................ seen this claim before but not at these sort of values, up to £213 of gold from 1 tonne of fly ash, I wonder what the cost of extracting this would be? Either way that's an awful lot of gold from coal waste.
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Post by John on Jun 5, 2016 18:29:31 GMT -5
Gold from coal ash waste ................ seen this claim before but not at these sort of values, up to £213 of gold from 1 tonne of fly ash, I wonder what the cost of extracting this would be? Either way that's an awful lot of gold from coal waste. About 0.5 of an ounce, can't see it being a viable proposition Daz.
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Post by dazbt on Jun 6, 2016 0:51:55 GMT -5
Gold from coal ash waste ................ seen this claim before but not at these sort of values, up to £213 of gold from 1 tonne of fly ash, I wonder what the cost of extracting this would be? Either way that's an awful lot of gold from coal waste. About 0.5 of an ounce, can't see it being a viable proposition Daz.Today's gold price at £862oz makes it very close to 0.25oz. If all the claims as to the various elements that can be extracted from flyash are true (Gold, Platinum, Thorium, Uranium etc) and then the residual being used as a 'safe' building material it seems to be an area that is going to be worth examining in the near future. The Chinese already reckon that they can make a profit from re-working coal flyash, wonder if they use any sort of photovoltaic process? ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by colly0410 on Jun 6, 2016 9:28:17 GMT -5
Hmm, the concrete blocks on the inner wall of my cavity wall house is made partly of fly ash. Does that mean I'm rich with all that gold in there? Thought not, lol..
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Post by dazbt on Jun 6, 2016 12:31:50 GMT -5
Hmm, the concrete blocks on the inner wall of my cavity wall house is made partly of fly ash. Does that mean I'm rich with all that gold in there? Thought not, lol.. Nar, probably not, ...................... but you do have a reasonable chance of being irradiated, Chinese dry wall and plasterboards made from flyash caused quite a 'stink' in the US a couple of years ago ........... the same boards were allegedly distributed by a German company and used throughout Europe but the story wasn't well published, expect headaches and keep a lookout for the rash.
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Post by John on Jun 6, 2016 14:10:00 GMT -5
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merlin
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Post by merlin on Jun 27, 2022 11:40:34 GMT -5
While working for Thyssens at Newdigate Colliery near Bedworth Warwickshire in the late 1970s, and my colleague, John Moseley and I were back ripping the West Main, we happened across a heavy round nodule of about 150mm in diameter. We were working in rock (mostly mudstone with bands of ironstone) but this nodule looked very different from the surrounding strata. John tossed the nodule over the conveyor to me as I was working on the 'walking side' with 2 foot gauge rails and a rope haulage. I placed the nodule on a rail and cracked it open with the 7 lb hammer. The interior was largely hollow with what looked like the proverbial 'Aladdin's Cave' of various, colourful minerals. The surface of this internal cavity was covered in tiny white glistening crystals but with flecks of various other colours embedded in the surface of this amazing specimen! Intriguingly, there were also a series of slightly greenish-gold 'needles' bridging some of the irregular shaped void within. We took the nodule home and my mate showed his half to an old naturalist friend who identified a few of the minerals but was 'stumped' by some. He sent it on to a geologist friend at a university in Birmingham who identified the remaining mystery minerals all except for one. This geologist then sent the sample on to his friend at the Science Museum (Geology) in London. Some time later the news came to us that the nodule was a 'Septarian Nodule' and last remaining unidentified mineral was in fact a little known mineral called 'Retgersite'. What was really surprising wasn't any potential monetary value of the sample, but its pure rarity value. It turned out that this was only the 4th discovery of this particular mineral in the world! It was first identified in Nevada in 1949, once more in Germany and once in a South American country (can't now remember which) and now in Britain for the first time. My friend was asked if the sample could be retained in London for the National Collection to which he readily agreed. Shortly after, and while still back-ripping the West Main, we saw the approaching lamp of our boss, Josep Aigner, the Site Engineer. When he got to us he asked why we were sitting down and not working. "Haven't you heard Zep?" we asked him. "Heard what?" he enquired (he knew about our find by this time). "Well," we said, "It seems like the government have slapped a preservation order on the rip as the only known site of a rare mineral in Britain so all we can do now is look after it and make sure it isn't disturbed!" He quickly turned incandescent while we fell about laughing. Despite what you may have heard about the German sense of humour, he did see the funny side, eventually, and the story was retold by him many times...
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merlin
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Post by merlin on Jun 27, 2022 11:42:42 GMT -5
perhaps a alien dropped it millions of years ago
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