A brittle rock made of glitter. It breaks in this linear fashion and can be pound into sand by a mortar and pestle.

Anyone got any clues?

Edit: Thanks for all the answers. I found it in Romania and after searching for forums of minerals from Romania, I got a few other clues.

It isn’t conclusive to me yet, but the possibilities are:

  • Pyrit
  • Mica
  • Schist
  • Nagyágit
  • Calaverit
  • Sylvanit

Of these, Mica and Sylvanit fit the best (imo).

  • Tiptopit@feddit.orgEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    For clarification: Most of what you listed, are minerals. Rocks (like schist) are usually composed of different minerals.

    Best guess I can make is, that your rock is some kind of schist and contains quite a lot mica. From your picture it does not look very much like pyrite.

    The glitter from your rock, especially if it looks like small sheet like flakes is very likely the mica or some other sheet silicate.

    That it breaks down quite easily may be a sign of weathering.

  • Ephera@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    As a kid, I got told that’s pyrite, but I’m not sure how correct that is. Most images show the crystalline structure rather than brittle stone, but I was able to find this picture on Wikpedia:

    • Tiptopit@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      It does not very much look like pyrite in OPs picture. The rock does not look very much like ore and with pyrite you’d often still see some crystals, which look like small golden cubes.

  • Live Your Lives@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    I’m not all that great at identification, despite having a sizeable rock collection myself, but I feel pretty confident in saying that you’ve got a type of mica schist. Schists often are primarily composed of mica.