M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

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February 10, 2023 - Stones and Minerals

February 10, 2023 - Stones and Minerals

February 10, 2023 Stones and Minerals. As quoted in a previous post: December 10, 2022 , “Metal detecting is all about finding metal... but it’s also about finding nonmetallic items the old fashion way”. By eyesight. Stones and Minerals will generally not register on your metal detector. But exceptions do arise. Rocks that contain high concentrations of ferrous or metallic minerals, like iron or chromium or even nickel, will definitely set off all kinds of bells and whistles. And then there are “Hot Rocks”. Ordinary looking rocks that set off the detector for reasons unknown. And if, and only if you are extremely lucky, you might stumble across a piece of the heavens… a meteorite. Here are but just a few of the highlights. My first find of a so-called “Hot Rock” was on May 6, 2021 – Two Little Points: Completed . See the first picture with the article. It looks likes like granite or basalt which is volcanic in origin but it sure messed with the metal detector and the pin pointer both. Another really strange anomaly and I mean strange was the strong reading that I got from Clay in the Red River mud bars. That guy on the “Humor” page of the website had the last laugh with this one. First, I had a low reading over a small area. I assumed it to be a piece of iron at shallow depth. I dug out a plug of soil and retested. The signal repeated, which is always a good thing. I dug a bit more and so it went a few times over until I now had a foot wide hole, a foot and a half deep. Water is now seeping in at the bottom of the hole as I’ve now reached river level with nothing to show for but sticky gooey clay that has to be scraped off my shovel at every turn. And just to add injury to insult, my pin pointer’s going off like crazy every time I stick it into the hole. ??? I can only speculate that the clay, at this specific spot, has a high metallic content. Possibly iron, perhaps aluminum oxide. Tess and I later returned to the same spot and dug up about 20 lbs. of this clay and eventually delivered it to North Bay, Ont. to a family member that is a potter. See: September 12, 2021 - Red River Mud Bars – Revisited . On this same outing of September 12, 2021 - Red River Mud Bars . I also happened to pick up a gorgeous conglomerate rock. A conglomerate rock is a sedimentary rock made up of rounded clasts. See the 4th picture in the group. Skipping ahead to November 5, 2022 - The Old Farm Yard in Fort Rouge , pictures # 5 and 6, you will find a great example of Iron Stone. This12 lb behemoth originally came from somewhere in Alberta and resided in Fort Rouge for decades. It now has a new home in Fort Richmond. Its iron content makes the detector go off loudly every time I wand over it. Fossils have always fascinated me as they do with so many kids and adults alike. I came across two wonderful pieces while metal detecting on the family farm. The first is from October 9, 2020 - Two Little Points Farm . Some of the last pictures feature a brownish gray sedimentary rock with worm holes and worm tracks from oh so long ago. It’s at the same outing that I found the Flint piece “Retouched Flake”. More about the flint can be found at: December 10, 2022 - First Nations Artifacts . A second fossil surfaced on: October 19, 2022 - How About Those Bells… This fossil is a shell. The rock itself measures roughly 4 inches by 3 inches and the fossil is 2 ½ by 2. It’s very clear and distinct. It was a lucky find considering the amount of dirt and soil that covered this rock. On this same outing, October 19, 2022 , not far from the fossilized shell was a piece of Chert or more commonly called Flint that has been completely encased in sedimentary rock. On a geological time scale, these two items are millions of years apart. The common denominator here is Lake Agassiz and the last glacial age. The last item on today’s post is Coal and Clinkers. Burn coal and you might just create clinkers. Coal was a major source of heating for homes and schools and buildings back in the day, not so long ago. There are many different grades of coal and they come from many different locations. Lignite and Sub-bituminous coal from the Estevan area in Saskatchewan was railed into Manitoba daily. The one room schoolhouse that my Dad and Aunts attended burned such coal to heat the classroom. I regularly pick up pieces of coal and some clinkers all around The Two Little Points School area. In fact I now have a large jar ¾ full. On April 22, 2021 - Two Little Points: Continued you will see a good example of found coal and a coal pail was thrown in as a bonus. Roger References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxide h t t p s : / / r o c k s m i n e r a l s . f l e x i b l e l e a r n i n g . a u c k l a n d . a c . n z / r o c k s / c o n g l o m e r ate.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironstone h t t p s : / / d i n o t r a c k s d i s c o v e r y . o r g / s u p p o r t i n g / a r t i f a c t / f o s s i l - w o r m - burrows/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Agassiz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_Saskatchewan