# Refining Gold from Minerals



## labo_dan (Jun 4, 2012)

Hello,
Is wondering if it`s possible to refine gold from minerals ( It`s sure it contains gold), like this one in the photo? This is a pyrite I have a lot of them. 

Thank you.


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## samuel-a (Jun 4, 2012)

Why are you so sure it contains gold?

Did you have it assayed or someone told you that it contains gold?
You know what they say about pyrite, right?


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## Irons2 (Jun 4, 2012)

It's just like making Elephant Stew: First you get an Elephant.


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## labo_dan (Jun 4, 2012)

samuel-a said:


> Why are you so sure it contains gold?
> 
> Did you have it assayed or someone told you that it contains gold?
> You know what they say about pyrite, right?



Thanks samuel-a ,

It was just an idea about getting gold out of these and I was not referring especialy at the pyrite be cause I have o lot of different minerals. I was asking if anyone tried to refine gold from that kind of stones... you know... minerals contains gold, copper, iron, quartz, calcite, etc. in different proportions.


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## Geo (Jun 4, 2012)

gold from ore is measured in ounces per ton. gold content of one ounce per ton is considered extremely rich ore. how many tons of these rocks do you have?


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## samuel-a (Jun 4, 2012)

labo_dan 

To be honest, i was concerned someone had offered you to buy these rocks. I hope that's not the case.

Generally, before any recovery attempt is made, the ore is sampled and assayed. As far as i know, fire assay is still the dominant practice in the industry.
You can find a lot of info here on the forum about that, also a nice book to start learning about fire assay is: Refining Of Precious Metals - C.W. Ammen.

Beside the tons of printed papers about gold mining & recovery from ore available, we have several folks in here that used to do that or still doing that.
Some of them hang around the Prospecting, Mining, Ore Concentrates & Geochemical section.
Perhaps it will be better if you post your questions over there.


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## labo_dan (Jun 4, 2012)

geo and samuel-a ,

Now I see why it`s not possible to refine gold from minerals... it was just an idea, a tought. Thank you very much for feedback. samuel-a, i`ve started refine gold with your help (your youtube videos) and some from my contry, but you had a very large contribution to start this "business". I appreciate you very much, honestly. Thank you samuel-a and I`m honored that I had your feedback.

Dan.


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## ericrm (Jun 4, 2012)

labo_dan said:


> geo and samuel-a ,
> 
> Now I see why it`s not possible to refine gold from minerals... it was just an idea, a tought. Thank you very much for feedback. samuel-a, i`ve started refine gold with your help (your youtube videos) and some from my contry, but you had a very large contribution to start this "business". I appreciate you very much, honestly. Thank you samuel-a and I`m honored that I had your feedback.
> 
> Dan.


why would it not be possible? it is done constently it is called mining industry....................
im not a miner but to what i have understand here 
1rst you find a ligit place that you think has gold bearing mineral
2 you take sample
3 get an assay to see if your are right and how much gold theyr realy is
4 you find a process that could work
5 you make some kind of legal claim
6 you found money and put your process together
7your working your gold out and your making money some way...


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## goldsilverpro (Jun 4, 2012)

I think I would sell pyrite samples.


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## Irons2 (Jun 4, 2012)

Don't laugh, Many years ago, someone gave me a washtub full of Pyrite that looked much like that sample. Told me there was a lot of Gold in it, so I broke the pyrite down with some very dilute Nitric. In the bottom, what was left in the tub, I panned out and recovered about a half cup of Nuggets and Coarse Gold. This didn't include fine Gold that was trapped in the remaining Quartz.

Pyrite is not always Fools' Gold.


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## samuel-a (Jun 4, 2012)

Dan

Glad i could help.

I agree with Irons, in some places, gold is indeed associated with pyrite, in some places it doesn't.
The folks who could probably shed more light on the subject are: DarkspARCS, Richard36 and Reno Chris to name a few.

It is very much possible to recover gold from minerals, it is done on a daily basis all over the world for hundreds of years. 
The only question is, does your samples contain gold or not? and if so, how much?

Also, as GSP alluded, nice looking specimens (like the one in your photo) could be sold individually for several bucks a piece... look here on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Rocks-Fossils-Minerals-/3213/i.html?_nkw=pyrite


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## labo_dan (Jan 3, 2013)

Thank you samuel-a

You are very helpful


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## g_axelsson (Jan 4, 2013)

That piece would be more worth as a mineral specimen than as gold ore unless you would know there is a lot of gold in it, and then it would still be worth more as a mineral specimen...

I've found pyrite in hundreds of places and the only place I've found gold within the pyrite is in a gold mine, the Björkdals mine. This is the best one...





You can see the intensively yellow grains of gold in the pale pyrite and in the quartz in the center of the picture.

Göran


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## Mattie (Feb 20, 2013)

According to me, gold from ore is actually calculated in ounces for per ton. Gold content of 1 ounces for per ton is recognized as really rich ore.
Home-Based Jewellery Valuations | Cash for Jewellery


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## shaftsinkerawc (Feb 20, 2013)

"g_axelsson » I've found pyrite in hundreds of places and the only place I've found gold within the pyrite is in a gold mine" - Have you had a sulphide specific assay done on all the pyrite locations you mention as a standard fire assay may not report the Au? 

As too seeing the Au within the pyrite, most samples will not have visible Au as it is too small locked up within the pyrite lattice.


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## g_axelsson (Feb 20, 2013)

shaftsinkerawc said:


> "g_axelsson » I've found pyrite in hundreds of places and the only place I've found gold within the pyrite is in a gold mine" - Have you had a sulphide specific assay done on all the pyrite locations you mention as a standard fire assay may not report the Au?
> 
> As too seeing the Au within the pyrite, most samples will not have visible Au as it is too small locked up within the pyrite lattice.


No, I haven't done any assays of any materials. Very few of the mines I've visited were gold mines and I haven't had any reason to test the pyrite. I collect minerals for fun and I'm hunting for rarer things than gold... 8)
... How about 175g of almost pure arsenic with a sprincle of lollingite and embeddeed allargentum?



The mine where I found all my arsenic in were mined in a copper-zinc ore body that also contained some gold and silver. The silver were associated with arsenic veins and the gold was found in galena. Nothing was found in pyrite or pyrrhotite which were common.
In the end the mine gave 1g/ton of gold for five years and a production of 300.000 tons per year. That is 1500 kg of gold, almost a kilo per day! And it wasn't even a gold mine.

Even in the Björkdalen gold mine (The picture with gold in pyrite is from that mine) the gold were primarily associated with actinolite, diopside and other silicates high in iron. It was also found freely in quartz with some scheelite close by and a lot of the gold were locked in the mineral tsumoite.

In my car I have some gold ore from Svartliden mine, there the gold is microscopic and associated with arsenopyrite and sphalerite.

I'm not claiming that pyrite can't contain gold, I'm just saying that it is rare that pyrite contains gold. Just because you have pyrite doesn't mean that you have gold too.

Göran


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## shaftsinkerawc (Feb 21, 2013)

I also am not saying that all pyrite or sulphides contain gold but if a sulphide specific assay is not performed then you don't know for sure. All the big boys are currently looking for VMS deposits (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide). Arsenic is one of the key accessory minerals looked for here when looking for hardrock gold deposits. Nice sample.


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## DarkspARCS (Oct 17, 2013)

shaftsinkerawc is spot on when it comes to volcanism and its relation to not just gold ores but many of your known metallic ore deposits. One man I know tested straight from the caldera volcanic ash samples that yielded 600 oz. gold/ ton. The deposit I'm currently working on is another intrusive VMS deposit type not commonly known, due to it's termination of intrusive flow below the earth's surface, described as a Polymetallic Replacement Deposit. The name alone describes this type of rich ore due to its multiple metallic content, mixed into one ore blend. My particular deposit contains 22 different metals in various amounts, along with 3 radioactive metals, 2 rare earth elements, and possesses gold, platinum, palladium, and silver.

I think they should create a new class of ore known as _VOLCANIDES_ due to these newly discovered ores' variant content types, which both oxides as well as sulphides exist within.

Once again, arsenic is one of the key accessory minerals identifying this ore, along with coppper, antimony, zinc and bismuth. The arsenide bearing minerals are also classified as pyrites, as well as some of the copper variants. The arsenopyrite types most always will contain variant alloidal forms of gold and the platinum group metals, being a bright silver in color and forming cubes and octagonal crystals... a.k.a. back in the day as octahedrite, or sperrylite.

Due to the type of high temperature elements associated with VMS and PMR ores they are known as Refractory ores, which the industry will tell you are the most difficult to process, and sometimes not worth the cost to get involved with. If interested you can view some of these ore types HERE


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