Anyone on here a Geologist or able to help me (lead mining / mendips questions)

[WindblowingSW]

Around Charterhouse are the old lead mines.

Can anyone tell me the name of the black shiny stone around (it's not slag) my Dad says its Sinta -but it doesn't exist on google.
Thanks

Try different spellings. Cinta? Sinter?

The ore mineral would be galena but there shouldn’t be much of that left.

It could be sinter (which is slag), so your dad might be right but spelt wrong. It can have all sorts of appearances, anything from bubbly to glassy.

Have a look at www.mindat.org/a/charterhouse

Do you have a photo?

It's galena- lead sulphide- the stuff that was being mined.
Lead doesn't exist in elemental- raw metal form in nature, it is a reactive metal, so always exists combined with another element,.
The galena will be processed and the raw lead extracted.

www2.bgs.ac.uk/mendips/localities/Charterhouse.html

I'm looking at Sinter now (although he was adament on the spelling!) -it does looks like the samples we have -dark black and glassy -off to have a look at the link thanks -I've been hunting on google with no joy.

Although he also says it's called Clunker - thank you very much -off to do some research!

Clinker is slag, right?

[quote speakout]It's galena- lead sulphide- the stuff that was being mined.
Lead doesn't exist in elemental- raw metal form in nature, it is a reactive metal, so always exists combined with another element,.
The galena will be processed and the raw lead extracted.

www2.bgs.ac.uk/mendips/localities/Charterhouse.html[/quote]
That's really useful, I know about the reactivity series and the need to heat it to extract it -it's the black shiny stuff I wanted to know more about. I've tried to upload a photo and it doesn't like it and doesn't seem to want to post it. Argh........

@MrsTerryPratchett

Clinker is slag, right?

I thought so..........he's convinced it isn't.

Clinker is an intermediate product in cement making.

(Btw Im getting all this from DH who is a mineral processing engineer, if he’s wrong it would be hilarious as he likes to never be wrong!)

@Brandaris

Clinker is an intermediate product in cement making.

(Btw Im getting all this from DH who is a mineral processing engineer, if he’s wrong it would be hilarious as he likes to never be wrong!)

It's worth trying to prove him wrong just for fun.