[meteorite-list] Nickel tests

From: Meteorites USA <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:19:41 -0700
Message-ID: <4ABA90ED.7090207_at_meteoritesusa.com>

Hey Mike,

I've used the nickel allergy test as well with mixed results.

Sometimes is works sometimes it doesn't. In fact I would say it is not
reliable most of the time unless you have a good control specimen.

I kept getting false positives and even negative results on known
meteorites. In fact I took a Canyon Diablo iron that I had sliced and
tested it for nickel. Hmmmm imagine my surprise when it showed NO
results. I figure the test kit was old or out dated but whatever. The
point is it didn't work on a 100% genuine meteorite, why would I trust
it with something I'm not sure of?

There are nickel tests that work, but I have not tested many of them.
Your best bet is to test your test kit. Testing against a known
authentic meteorite is a good method. Then test against your "possible"
meteorite. Your results will be more reliable because now you have a
control specimen to compare results.

Hope this helps...

Regards,
Eric





Mike Hankey wrote:
> I've done some nickel tests on some of the slag/meteor wrongs we have found.
>
> It tests positive for nickel.
>
> Does this sound normal?
>
> So I guess the only way to confirm slag (if you can't do it visually)
> is to cut it open and if there are holes / bubbles then it is slag. Or
> if the slice doesn't look like a meteorite slice it is slag.
>
> For the record, I am personally looking for west like fusion crusted
> stones and this is what I am training people to look for. At the same
> time when I get reports about weird rocks I have to follow up and take
> a look. Not all slag looks the same, there are a lot of different
> types. I'm getting pretty good at identifying / ruling things out, but
> the nickel test threw me for a loop.
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Received on Wed 23 Sep 2009 05:19:41 PM PDT