FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[RuKittnRiteMeow]

Hello. I found this rock one time when I was out hiking in this canyon and its very unusual I've never seen anything like it before. I've tried to search the internet and have found nothing even remotely close to it. Its a white rock thats light in weight almost pumice-like with these perfectly round clear crystals embedded on the outside of it. Does anyone know what it might be? Much thanks 😁

[alfredo]

Looks like some kind of artificial decorative aggregate, not a natural rock.

[John S. White]

I tend to agree with Alfredo but at the very least you can tell us where this canyon is located. Such information might often be critical.

[Pete Richards]

I agree that it's not a natural stone, but I wonder if the colorless beads are present all the way through the piece, not just on the surface. The light weight suggests to me that it may be some sort of a pourable insulating material that then hardens in place forming a firm mass. The visible beads of two sizes would just be a filler, like sand and pebbles in concrete.

Just about any testing you do on this to try to identify it will be destructive to some extent. If that does not matter to you, the first thing I'd do is break it and see if it looks the same inside as on these surfaces. Next see if you can easily smooth off a surface using sandpaper. If it sands quite easily, the beads are probably plastic, if the beads get sanded down but with some effort, they are probably glass. Plastic beads would probably melt fairly easily, e.g. with a hand torch. Try this outside!

In any case, if you're interested in it as a natural stone, it is not one.

[RuKittnRiteMeow]

It's weird because I found it in such a rural area where not too many people travel through so if it is artificial then now I'm curious how it got there in the first place. I live in Central Arizona, Apache Junction to be exact, and the canyon I was in is about 25 miles outside of town in a canyon that's between two lakes. You have to do some offroading that requires a bit of experience to get back to where I was hiking. Its called mesquite canyon or mesquite springs canyon something like that I'd have to look it up again. The area is known for having a lot of abandoned mine shafts from all the mining that used to happen there. There is also a big section of the trail that is old lava flows mixed with the rock its quite pretty. I find a lot of pumice stone and Apache tears there, so I thought it was pumice until I took a closer look. Hope that helps

[Matt_Zukowski]

I agree that this is likely to be artificial. The only way i thought it could be natural is for it to be some sort of vesicular volcanic with the beads being quartz or something filling the vesicles. But the beads do not look like anything i have seen filling a vesicle.

It would be interesting to me if you test the beads for hardness (how easily does a knife scratch it). Also, i would crush up some of the white matrix and see if i can get it to fizz weakly with vinegar (acetic acid), or fizz strongly with muriatic acid (can be obtained at Home Depot - use muriatic acid with proper eye protection and gloves, and do the test where well ventilated). Finally, break one of the beads apart with a hammer and show us a picture of the result. Please do these things and report back if you want further help.

Enjoy.

[Bob Morgan]

I have to confess. Years ago, after climbing a mountain in eastern AZ known to have purple geodes, it was all mined out. But my son and I left a petosky stone from Michigan there so another would not leave that site empty handed. But we're not the source of your specimen.

[John S. White]

Sorry Bob but I feel that leaving behind a rock or mineral sample that has no relationship to the geological environment where you left it is a very poor idea.

[Bob Morgan]

Agreed and not to be repeated. 'Just mentioned to point out how some things can be found completely out of context.

[RuKittnRiteMeow]

I will do those tests and post my results. Thank you because I would have never thought to try to test it and I have all the stuff for it already because I do clean certain rocks I find. Derp. Haha will post results soon

[Roger Warin]

Hello,

This thing is fun to watch.
If I thought like an alien, I would say, it's a chondrite...
In fact these small spheres seem glassy and set in a sort of plaster.
Am I wrong?