![\"Mysterymineral\"](\"http:\/\/ripples.typepad.com\/photos\/uncategorized\/mysterymineral.jpg\" "\\"Mysterymineral\\"")
A few days ago I came across a seventy-foot long outcropping of this red mineral with a shiny black surface. The shiny surface is no deeper than the thickness of a business card and the rough, rusty-looking material is rigid, but friable. It looks like a decomposed rock of some kind, but you can easily break it apart with your hands.<\/p>\n
This outcropping was uncovered when Southern Heritage Homes in Rocky Mount, VA, decided to expand their parking lot by excavating a hillside next to their manufacturing plant. The excavation was completed without incident leaving a bank of red earth at the end of the day which looked no different than the usual clay soil of the region.<\/p>\n
By the next morning, the face of the embankment had fallen away in spots exposing an irregular black surface with iridescent highlights, It appeared to be a glassy rock at first, but the reflective surface would disintegrate at the touch of a finger. There appear to be multiple layers of the reflective surface at different depths in the outcropping.<\/p>\n
When I examined a large chunk of the material, it was fairly heavy like a brick, but the consistency was like Beaverboard, the insulating board that was once used in constructing walls. I thought it might be an ore of some kind, but I have no idea where to start looking for informtion on this mineral.<\/p>\n
Has anyone seen anything like this? Does anyone have any idea what it might be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few days ago I came across a seventy-foot long outcropping of this red mineral with a shiny black surface. The shiny surface is no deeper than the thickness of a business card and the rough, rusty-looking material is rigid, … Continue reading