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Old 2020-03-18, 3:45pm
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Speedslug Speedslug is offline
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Join Date: Mar 21, 2009
Location: Winnebago, MN
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My first thought went to a flint of some kind but the copper mining idea sent that idea off to the side.

Humans do make things from various material but there are natural process that we mimic to purify the metals we play with.

I would suggest trying to 'nap off' some flakes ( with the proper PPE of course) and see how it fractures.
That might tell you a little more about it.

If you are going to take a torch to it then I recommend doing that outside on a day with a good predictable wind and PPE.

There is no telling what kind of stresses are going in a 'rock from a river' so you might even want to mount it in a vise of some sort and bring the torch up to it slowly while you hide your body behind a thick sheet of plywood or lumber.

Manufactured glass still pops and fragments with pretty good force and I would hate to hear that one of these 'rock' went boom on you and threw a chunk at you possibly damaging a vital organ.

And yeah the fumes are not going to be any more predictable either.
Arsenic and other toxic minerals could be just a sniff a way and the docs aren't going to be able guess very quickly what possible poison you inhaled any better than you are.

Now that I have satisfied my 'Nervous Nelly" habit I am as fascinated as everyone else at what you found.

Any chance you have pictures of this mysterious stone?

You could always cold work what ever it is and I found a long time ago that clear nail polish is an inexpensive way to get that wet look even if the stone itself wont polish to a high sheen.
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