Yet another interesting find!

  It always amazes me the types of things you can find in Rock Hounding.  These sometimes tiny samples sit and sit for so long, just waiting to be revealed.  The chances of actually finding some of these minerals is so astronomically low, it baffles the mind.  I understand that with the right person actively searching for particular things, the chances go up dramatically, but there is so much randomness to this.

  To stress the point even further, allow me to clarify this particular situation.  I have taken this interest in rock hounding.  I decided to begin my adventures in familiar areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania.  I don't know all that much about minerals or even geology yet, but I have at least taken a proactive approach to learning. I have studied many maps, bought lots of books, read and understand both, and stepped into the field to find things.  So far I rely on instinct to find interesting samples.  Anything that catches my eye gets picked up and observed.  Only a few actually get put into the bag or bucket to get cleaned up and really observed.  I noticed at first that I was picking up many mundane samples just to familiarize myself with the native rocks of the particular area.  In doing so, I learn what looks strange for the surroundings.  A good example would be the blue quartz found at Barleywood.  I picked it up thinking it was smoky quartz and therefore odd for the area.  There was tons of quartz in that field, but only a few dark pieces in a particular area.  I picked up several samples that showed the darkness even through all the dirt.  In doing so, I didn't look at them too well at the time, but ended up with some very cool samples that lead me to research even more.

  One of my recent trips, I was admiring the local outcrops of Phyllite when I noticed a few pieces of quartz were either laying on the ground nearby or even still embedded together with the material.  Since I am always interested in the relationship of different rocks and the locations of source materials, I picked up two pieces of rock.  The first piece of phyllite was pulled from the outcrop, while the piece of quartz was taken from the ground.  I do not know that the quartz was attached originally, but it's location infers that it was.  

  When I got the samples home, I put them through the regular basic cleaning process.  As I sorted through the samples, the piece of phyllite was briefly examined and set aside.  The quartz looked normal enough compared to the other samples and was also set aside.  Two days passed with this sample sitting on the back patio, not even being thought of.  Once again, the sample waited to be discovered.  I went out back to smoke and was picking through the samples when I noticed it had a darker than normal spot on it.  It looked like there was something inside one of the many fractures on the piece.  I grabbed my hammer and gave it a whack.  Below are some images of what I found.

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of Inclusion on Quartz

Magnified image of material scraped from Quartz

  On first inspection of this sample, I of course thought the inclusion was Gold.  What concerned me was the Iron Oxide directly surrounding the material.  My mind raced with the possibilities.  The iron material had oxidized in the same space as the golden material, so there was obviously penetration into the space.  The total size of the gold material is about the size of a dime, so there is not much to work with.  It is actually on three pieces of material from the same sample.  When I broke it open, there were two halves with almost identical samples attached.  The third piece was broken from another section and revealed more material only on one of the pieces that separated.

 Needless to say, I was excited.  This small sample rock had been sitting for so long, and I had found it.  I began doing some more research as to the other materials the "Gold" could be.  Given that Gold is not commonly found in formation in Maryland, I figured it might be something else.  The usual suspects are Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, or Marcasite. All three are possibilities other than Gold, but I also noticed a few interesting things.  The first big test would be tarnish.  So far the sample has yet to tarnish.  The surrounding material did tarnish further once exposed to direct air, and even some spots covering the "gold" tarnished as well.  These spots were easy to wipe away though, so I assume they were residual iron that rusted quickly being wet and exposed.

  Pyrite often occurs with Gold.  Some massive samples of Pyrite have dissolved leaving traces of Gold behind.   Both Chalcopyrite and Marcasite has a blue/purple tint to tarnish.  For fear of losing the sample, I didn't want to poke, prod, scrape, or dissolve it, so I am going to wait for more time for tarnish to naturally occur.  In the mean time, I am going to research further.

  No matter what this sample is, it is still amazing to have found it.  It is so far the largest inclusion I have found on native rocks in Maryland and makes me want to find more!  I will be returning to that site in the near future to look for more of the same, as well as other interesting samples.

**Edit - After posting to some mineral forums, a few helpful experts have chimed in that this is probably deteriorating Pyrite.  The gold color is probably just the section that has yet to oxidize.  I am now researching cleaning and preservation methods as I still think this is the neatest inclusion found so far!**