What kind of rock?

[fishnguy]

Stumbled on this hunting the valley yesterday.

[tirebob]

Quartz would be my guess...

[crazyperch]

Looks almost like Opal.
If it is, something that big will be worth thousands

[fishnguy]

^ Know nothing about opals. It isn’t that big, about 2 inches long.

I also thought quartz, but all that “blue” colour made me wonder.

[crazyperch]

Originally Posted by fishnguy

^ Know nothing about opals. It isn’t that big, about 2 inches long.

I also thought quartz, but all that “blue” colour made me wonder.

I wont lie, I know nothing about it as well.
But I was watching Opal hunters the other day......

[fishnguy]

^ Haha. That’ll do it.

[tirebob]

Originally Posted by fishnguy

^ Know nothing about opals. It isn’t that big, about 2 inches long.

I also thought quartz, but all that “blue” colour made me wonder.

Yeah I can see that too... I hope you put it in your pocket either way!

[Grizzly Adams1]

Looks too rough and angular to be your basic glacial erratic. What valley ?

Grizz

[EZM]

That rock looks so out of place sitting right on top of the soil all clean and neat and by itself.

Likely some sort of sasquatch egg is my guess.

[calgarychef]

A prospecting buddy of mine would call that a Leverite. It does look quite blue though doesn’t it?

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by tirebob

Yeah I can see that too... I hope you put it in your pocket either way!

Haha. Yes, sir! Lol. In spite if having my pockets full and some almost bursting (I didn’t take the backpack, so water, flashlight, rope, lighter, calls, etc all went into the pockets), I found some space after some short deliberation. Made my 8-year old happy, lol.

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

Looks too rough and angular to be your basic glacial erratic. What valley ?

Grizz

That would be Smoky, somewhere midway or so between Peace River and Watino in 522. I’d say about midway from the top of the valley to the bank of the river.

Originally Posted by EZM

That rock looks so out of place sitting right on top of the soil all clean and neat and by itself.

Likely some sort of sasquatch egg is my guess.

In these valleys, there are often rocks sitting out of place. Erosion and mudslides expose quite a bit. Often looks pretty weird, actually. This one you can see has been sitting there for some time:



I’d wager I was the first person to walk there (or anywhere close, really) in a very, very long time.

Originally Posted by calgarychef

A prospecting buddy of mine would call that a Leverite. It does look quite blue though doesn’t it?

Haha. Bet you that’s what it is.

Here are a fe more pics. Today it (maybe?) looks more green than blue, lol. In reality the rock is something between the pics posted above (taken yesterday outside) and the one below (taken today inside the house by the window).

[Grizzly Adams1]

"Bands of chert pebbles are present "

https://weblex.canada.ca/html/000000...053000656.html


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chert#...trified%20wood.

Grizz

[Map Maker]

Check out Dumortierite Quartz

[Penner]

Found a bunch of those panning for gold. It’s called Leaverite.

[dewalt18]

Originally Posted by Penner

Found a bunch of those panning for gold. It’s called Leaverite.

As in it's not worth anything so leaverite there?

[fishnguy]

^ I am sure that is what it is. Would still be interested in finding out what it is.

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

"Bands of chert pebbles are present "

https://weblex.canada.ca/html/000000...053000656.html


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chert#...trified%20wood.

Grizz

Thanks. Googled a bit and it seems like there are quite a few rocks that fall into that category. Interesting.

Originally Posted by Map Maker

Check out Dumortierite Quartz

Will look. Thanks.


I emailed a prof I randomly found at University of Alberta. We will see what he says, if anything.

[Geraldsh]

Looks like jasperite chalcedony, often blue or green or brown or …? A close cousin to quartz.

[Penner]

Originally Posted by dewalt18

As in it's not worth anything so leaverite there?

Lol yup

[kujoseto]

Originally Posted by dewalt18

As in it's not worth anything so leaverite there?

Haha good one.

Throw that thing in a tumbler to polish it smooth and glossy

[Lefty Bryan]

Without seeing it in person, the green colour is most likely a chrome mica called Fuchsite


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by Lefty Bryan

Without seeing it in person, the green colour is most likely a chrome mica called Fuchsite


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When you look at a rock, you have to consider the general geology of where you found it and work from there. Exotics don't cut it.

Grizz

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

"Bands of chert pebbles are present "

https://weblex.canada.ca/html/000000...053000656.html


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chert#...trified%20wood.

Grizz

Could originate from the Cardium Formation as well.

https://weblex.canada.ca/html/002000...053002448.html

I have been to where the Cardium and the Badheart Formations outcrop on the banks of the Smokey River where the Badheart and Puskwaskau Rivers join it, and they look like like layers of pit run exposed high up along the riverbank. This is upstream from where the OP found it by 20 or so miles.

When drilling through these formations on the Drilling rigs they would often dull the drill bits due to the extremely hard chert present.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chert

https://www.thoughtco.com/pictures-of-chert-4122739

Hopefully an expert can chime in.

[Davey Boy]

I'm thinkin it's just someone's pet rock that got lost.

[bonedogg]

cleavage plains look pretty poor, too soft a rock me thinks to be quartz. any chance its a soapstone?

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by Davey Boy

I'm thinkin it's just someone's pet rock that got lost.

Haha. Definitely not.

[fishnguy]

Originally Posted by bonedogg

cleavage plains look pretty poor, too soft a rock me thinks to be quartz. any chance its a soapstone?

No, it’s hard, very.

[fishnguy]

The prof from the University of Alberta got back to me earlier today. Here is what he said:

Thanks for your inquiry and also for sending well focussed photographs (we often get fuzzy photos in requests for mineral identification).

The pebble that you found is made up primarily of quartz, which is a fairly standard mineral for pebbles. What's a bit less clear is the origin of the pretty green colour. The most likely explanation is that in addition to quartz, the pebble contains trace amounts of a second mineral, which is a mica mineral known as muscovite. Muscovite is usually colourless but some muscovites can incorporate small amounts of the element chromium, which will give the muscovite that pretty green colour.

Hope that helps and congratulations on the nice find.

It appears the mystery is solved now, lol.

[Lefty Bryan]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

When you look at a rock, you have to consider the general geology of where you found it and work from there. Exotics don't cut it.

Grizz

Thanks for your insight and sarcasm Grizz. I happen to be a P.Geol with 20 years under my belt. You'll see the response from the UofA professor posted by the OP stating it is likely a Chromium rich mica...

Nothing exotic about fuchsite in Canada.

[fishnguy]

^ Haha. I was going to say Tirebob, you and someone else who said quartz win, but forgot.

I was fairly certain it is quartz, but that colour… There is actually something purple or burgundy or something like that that you can clearly see inside, but impossible to take a picture of. Not with phone anyway.







Impossible, like I said. It is pretty clear when you look at it with good light though.

Regardless, my 8-year old daughter was happy I picked it up for her “rock collection”, lol.

[swift1]

I have to agree with Lefty.

Here is some info

https://geology.com/minerals/fuchsite.shtml

.