[meteorite-list] Nickel tests

From: cdtucson at cox.net <*cdtucson_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:56:30 -0700 Message-ID: <20090923235630.06T9R.330583.imail_at_fed1rmwml31> · cdtucson_at_meteoritecentral.com

--
Carl or Debbie Esparza
Meteoritemax
---- Michael Murray <mmurray at montrose.net> wrote: 
> Glad you found it useful.  I wanted to share too that native iron  
> reacts real close to the same as a meteorite will to the magnetism.   
> So you might want to watch for that.    I sent one of about 20 some  
> pieces of native iron I have to AZ to a lab and they confirmed that  
> that is what it is.  I have learned to tell the difference in the two  
> mainly by sight.  Native iron is rougher looking than an iron  
> meteorite and some of the pieces I have have a strange mineral habit  
> clearly visible on the surface.  BTW, these pieces of native iron do  
> not test positive for nickel or at least not for me here with the  
> alertest Ni test or at the lab in AZ.   I tried to send some to UCLA  
> for a nickel test but they were a little too busy.  I can't blame them  
> though for not wanting to take time away from more important things to  
> test my little chunk.
> 
> Best of luck finding those iron meteorites.
> 
> Mike in CO
> 
> On Sep 23, 2009, at 8:31 PM, <cdtucson at cox.net> wrote:
> 
> > Michael,
> > I would first of all like to thank you for this great information.
> > Secondly , I would like to tell you that hopefully your test is  
> > definitive. As evidence that it is. I just tried to magnetize a  
> > bunch of small CD's and Odessa's that I have and none of them became  
> > magnetized. This proves you are correct at least for the ones I  
> > tried. In addition I also tried to magnetize a couple of prospects  
> > that I have and they too did not become magnetized and yet other  
> > pieces of found metal that's clearly not meteorite material did  
> > become magnetized. You are quite the genius and thank you so very  
> > much for sharing. Thank you again and again. Carl
> > PS they claim if results can be replicated that theory becomes fact?  
> > I hope this is now a fact because a few found irons might just get  
> > added to the "it's a keeper for more testing pile."
> > --
> > Carl or Debbie Esparza
> > Meteoritemax
> >
> >
> > ---- Michael Murray <mmurray at montrose.net> wrote:
> >> For what they are worth, here are a couple suggestions...
> >> If you place the suspect iron on a strong magnet, then remove the
> >> magnet, the suspect iron should not retain magnetism (if it's a
> >> meteorite) but should to some extent if man-made iron. Kind of like
> >> magnetizing the tip of a screwdriver.  You can test the once
> >> magnetized suspect iron to see if it will attract fine particles of
> >> magnetite,   Not very scientific I know but it is a good indicator I
> >> think.
> >>
> >> Another thing you can try if the suspect iron is not very big is to
> >> place it on a strong magnet (super magnet if you have one) and if the
> >> iron piece wants to orient itself up on one of it's ends on the
> >> magnet, I would rule out meteorite.  If your suspect iron is large,
> >> you'd probably have to remove a small piece of it to do this test.   
> >> If
> >> the small piece lays down on any of it's sides on the magnet and
> >> doesn't want to orient itself, I'd put it in my 'it's a keeper for
> >> more testing' pile.
> >>
> >> I bought a couple nickel test kits.  I have tried to be as careful as
> >> possible to do a clean uncontaminated test on several suspect irons.
> >> After doing quite a few, I still don't trust the results.  It's not
> >> that I don't get positives, I do.  It's that I've learned not trust
> >> the positive tests all that much.  If I find a big enough suspect  
> >> iron
> >> someday with enough other indicators that it could be a meteorite  
> >> then
> >> I will let a lab do the testing so I can rest assured the results are
> >> going to be more trustworthy than mine.  Meanwhile, my 'it's a keeper
> >> for more testing' pile continues to grow.
> >>
> >> Mike in CO
> >>
> >> On Sep 23, 2009, at 12:27 PM, 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.
> >>> ______________________________________________
> >>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com
> >>> Meteorite-list mailing list
> >>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> >>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
> >>
> >> ______________________________________________
> >> http://www.meteoritecentral.com
> >> Meteorite-list mailing list
> >> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>