[meteorite-list] Hoba shale or not shale?

Wed Jan 22 11:08:24 EST 2014

Hi List,
This brings up a RELATED  question I've carried around with me for 15 years, 
having carried (rolled) a ~150lb mystery rock a mile to my truck way back 
then, suspecting something.  To this day, despite my familiarity with most 
classes of meteorites and a worthy collection, I still don't rule it out, 
wondering if the few small chipped-off outside pieces might actually be 
shale and hence inconclusive for meteorite diagnostic, unlike the interior 
(it has never been cut.)

Q:  Would a TS of the shale reveal anything potential about a TS of the 
interior;  would the shale itself have any residual diagnostics that rule 
"in" anything; and, does the Hoba shale look terrestrial?

I have a TS of the exterior chips, and it seems weird and I've never had 
anyone definitely conclude yes or no...Blaine shot a piece last year with 
his magic gun last year (a small 3gr exterior chip) at the show, and it 
fired off a ton of elements, shrugs all around.

It doesn't look like I'll make the show this year, but if anyone wants to 
see a picture of the whole thing, send me an email and I'll send photos.

Richard Montgomery

----- Original Message  ----- 
From: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
To: "Anne Black" <impactika at aol.com>
Cc: <cbo at t-online.hu>; <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; 
<dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 6:57 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Hoba shale or not shale?

Hi Folks,

I have seen shale or oxide fragments that had unoxidized metal inside
them when cut.  From the outside, the pieces resembled shale, but the
interior was unoxidized iron or it had a "core" area with shiny metal
in it.

So, given such a specimen, is it still considered "shale" or "oxide"
if there is unoxidized metal inside it?  What litmus test is used to
determine this?  If the metal can be etched, is it considered "iron"
and not "shale"?  If so, a way to solve the mystery is to etch the
shiny portion and see if it yields a widmanstatten pattern.

Best regards,

MikeG

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On 1/21/14, Anne Black <impactika at aol.com> wrote:
> Very interesting Don, and thank you for posting this response from
> Zsolt.
>
> I will have to disagree with him on one thing, he wrote:   "When I have
> bought this piece from Anne Black she didnt mentioned me that it is
> shale."  That is not correct, it is clearly listed as "Shale" on my
> website, on the Old Collection page (
> http://www.impactika.com/OldIRON.htm ), in fact it is still there, here
> is a copy of that listing:
>
> Hoba Namibia 1920 Ataxite C. Anger Slice-Shale 65.389 76 x 33 x 13
> $995.00
>
> I would guess that Zsolt, being very new at this, did not notice or did
> not know the difference.
>
>
> Anne M. Black
> www.IMPACTIKA.com
> IMPACTIKA at aol.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Don Merchant <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
> To: Zsolt Kereszty <cbo at t-online.hu>; Meteorite-list
> <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Cc: Don Merchant <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
> Sent: Tue, Jan 21, 2014 7:25 pm
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Hoba shale or not shale?
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Don Merchant" <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
> To: "Zsolt Kereszty" <cbo at t-online.hu>
> Cc: "Don Merchant" <dmerchan at rochester.rr.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 9:16 PM
> Subject: Re: Hoba shale or not shale?
>
>
>> Hi Zsolt. Reason I ask is that I know that trying to find some real
> actual
>> Hoba cut from the meteorite is very hard to acquire and very very
>> expensive. Even today the shale alone is getting difficult to
> acquire. I
>> acquired a 3+ gram polished piece many years ago from Rob Elliott and
> the
>> shale had lots of nice metal inside (still in my collection and can
> be
>> seen here: http://www.ctreasurescwonders.com/meteorite_collection.html
>> *
>> But it is still shale and no where near the value of an actual piece
> off
>> the Hoba meteorite (metal). It appears that yours resembles shale but
> only
>> Anne Black who you purchased from can truly confirm this. The outside
>> appearance of your piece listed on eBay resembles mine from Rob
> Elliott.
>> Again even the shale is hard to acquire...been quite a few years
> since I
>> seen much available until your post. Here is a neat site to check out
>> about the Hoba and price.
>> http://www.fallsandfinds.com/page7.php
>> *
>> Hope this helps.
>> *
>> Sincerely
>> Don Merchant
>> Founder-Cosmic Treasures Celestial Wonders
>> www.ctreasurescwonders.com
>> IMCA #0960
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Zsolt Kereszty
>> To: dmerchan at rochester.rr.com
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 2:13 PM
>> Subject: Hoba shale or not shale?
>>
>>
>> Dear Don!
>>
>> When I have bought this piece from Anne Black she didnt mentioned me
> that
>> it is shale.
>>
>> Very interesting thing, beceause when I have cutted it it looks like
> me
>> metal shine inside after polishing.
>> Really was some spot, area of the surface in brown but was metal-gray
> area
>> also.
>> My bigger piece has content two polished sides and this also has got
>> structuce and color.
>>
>> Do you think that there is a 25-30 mm thick shale? Not too wider for
> the
>> shale?
>>
>> Best Regards!
>> Zsolt
>> from Hungary
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Ez a levél vírus, és rosszindulatú-kód mentes, mert az avast!
> Antivirus
>> védelem aktív.
>
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