# Iridium in cons from local stream



## AztekShine (Mar 23, 2012)

A forum friend of mine put a sample of his cons on a XRF and it gave a diecent yeald for iridium.
He wants me to pull it out for him. Anybody done this before? Seems legit to me.
Edit... I'm not asking how. I already know  just wondering if anybody done anything similar and wana talk about it.


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## philddreamer (Mar 23, 2012)

Well, I haven't done it either, but I have a friend that dredges in Snohomish County, WA. He claims to have found some iridium on the top foot or two in some streams in that county. He noticed the heavy black sand that looked a bit different & had it tested with an XRF, and it tested positive for iridium, too. So, he asked my to refine a few grams but I not going to.

He belives this iridium is from the meteor that exploded over Wa. state back in 2004.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121639,00.html

Phil


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## AztekShine (Mar 23, 2012)

Why you not gona at least assay it?


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## philddreamer (Mar 23, 2012)

One of the reasons is, I have plenty going on & I don't have the time. 
I did some Pt & Pd recovery & refining off some cat's & it was tedious & I can only imaging trying iridium. Recovering gold & Pd from e-scarp keeps me busy enough. 

Well, i should say, for right now I won't. He wants me to bring my 5" dredge this summer & hit the spot were he recovered the most iridium. We'll see what happens between now & then...

Take care!

Phil


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## nickvc (Mar 23, 2012)

Well I'm not to sure I'd trust that xrf reading and would suggest an assay to be sure the iridium is there before attempting any sort of recovery. The real problem may well be actually refining the iridium if it is there it's a swine to even dissolve let alone refine. If the assay proves iridium is present and your friend has enough I'd suggest asking our own Lou if he's interested as I feel that this is beyond most refiners skills let alone home refiners.


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## philddreamer (Mar 23, 2012)

Hi Nick!


> Well I'm not to sure I'd trust that xrf reading and would suggest an assay to be sure the iridium is there before attempting any sort of recovery. The real problem may well be actually refining the iridium if it is there it's a swine to even dissolve let alone refine. If the assay proves iridium is present and your friend has enough I'd suggest asking our own Lou if he's interested as I feel that this is beyond most refiners skills let alone home refiners.



That's exactly the reason! :mrgreen: 
I've read Lou's post on iridium & I don't want to go thru the trouble. Like I said, I went thru the Pt & Pd processes, so I can barely imaging trying iridium. I'm not up to the challange... So, I was going to send a sample to Lou for the final say on the matter, but I haven't talked to my friend lately.

Thanks!

Phil


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## Lou (Mar 23, 2012)

Iridium is my second favorite element (osmium is number one) and my favorite from a technical perspective because it's a high temperature + solution process.

It's a very difficult metal to refine. It's the most corrosion resistant metal there is and is a very in-demand metal for semiconductor manufacturing (usually electrogrow million dollar crucibles from it). Problem is, unless you have about 100 oz at a time and a consistent source of the material, you will find it impossible to sell in bulk.

To give you an idea of what most pay on it: 60-80% from JM, Heraeus, Inco. So, it's best to just refine it and put it away. We usually keep it as iridate salt or IrCl3 and reduce them with H2 in a quartz tube.


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## philddreamer (Mar 23, 2012)

Thanks Lou! 8) 

Phil


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## AztekShine (Mar 24, 2012)

Kool. We'll work somn out.


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## AztekShine (Mar 25, 2012)

Well the iridium is only .5% but that's still a diecent Ammount. I'm really excited about this because of the Au and some Rh. Their is enough ore for a few years it looks like.


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## nickvc (Mar 26, 2012)

I hate to rain on your parade but with the mix of Iridium, Rhodium and gold it's not in my opinion that easy to recover let alone refine. Lou has already said iridium is not easy to dissolve and the bad news is rhodium isn't that easy either, both will dissolve if in fine powder form with lots of heat and plenty of time but the chemistry of both means that they won't precipitate easily unless in very highly concentrated solutions, this from ore is highly unlikely to happen. The best you might achieve with luck is to manage to dissolve all the values but that is very dependant in exactly what the ore consists of and in what form the values are present. If you are going to try and do this an assay of the material for all elements is essential so you have an idea of what exactly is in the mix and that should allow you to start to plan a recovery of the values, acid treatments may not be the first process depending on what the assays reveal. This material will I fear be beyond most hobby refiners abilities and may well need passing to pros to get a decent recovery but get that assay and post the details and see if anyone can point you in the right direction to get you started.


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## AztekShine (Mar 26, 2012)

I should be able to pull the gold out shouldn't I? It was put under a university XRF Au1% Ir.5% I forget the rest but he's going to send me a copy. 

I contacted someone not to name names but they decided to not wright , I don't know. We'll see.


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## nickvc (Mar 26, 2012)

It all depends on what form the values are in, if it's free gold and the other elements aren't either poisonous or likely to cause problems probably yes it's recoverable, if your using AR you might also dissolve the PGMs and again they are recoverable by cementation but ores can be a nightmare and in many cases it's a trial and error process to find what will and what won't work to make the values recoverable economically. That's why I suggested posting a full assay,remove any details about location, and someone who has a lot more insight than me into this sort of material might be able to advise and give you pointers in which way to proceed.


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## AztekShine (Mar 26, 2012)

The ore is roasted and concentrated. Lots of iron


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## nickvc (Mar 26, 2012)

What percentages are the values, the iron will need to be removed before you attempt to recover the values, HcL should remove it and leave your values behind for recovery through AR but I still feel we need more information to give proper advice as we don't know what else is there...


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## AztekShine (Mar 26, 2012)

To the best of my rekalection The XRF was done on the cons and contains Au1% Iridium.5% and then Iron titanium rohdium strontium. I may have the last one wrong


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## AztekShine (Mar 26, 2012)

I will have 1lb cons on wednesday and raw ore later in the week.


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## nickvc (Mar 27, 2012)

Look at the maths if as you say the cons run at 1% Au and 5% Ir if you had 100 pounds thats a lot of metal to dissolve to reach your values, it's the same as dissolving gold filled in AR and not bothering to do the nitric treatment first.
You are going to have to further concenrate your values IMHO whether chemically or physically to reach a level where the values can be extracted fully and fairly cleanly. I'm afraid your going to have to do a lot of reading and study to find ways to remove the other metals that's why I said a full assay was important there may well be metals and other elements that need special treatments to remove them. This sort of material is rarely a walk in the park and will pose problems for the most advanced refiner so be ready for months and maybe longer of frustration and failure.
Get that proper assay done if you really are going to work on this material and give the forum full details of it, we have several members who know their way round this type of material who can point you in the right direction and maybe save you lots of time, money and problems.


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## AztekShine (Mar 27, 2012)

I will get an assay thank you... Any suggestions where?


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## nickvc (Mar 27, 2012)

I'm the wrong side of the world really and I'm not sure the lads I use here do ore and cons assays but post asking for suggestions or read old posts and threads on the mining section some names on those for sure.


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## AztekShine (Apr 3, 2012)

Ok so no cons yet. We decided sense I'm moveing to AR next week we'll ship them their as to not have a package sittings here 1000 miles away with no body to receive it. I'm not getting my hopes up yet. But I have nothing to discourage me either!


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