# Test



## Platdigger (Nov 17, 2007)

Here is a fun one. I have some ore. It is suposed to contain some pgms. After many futile atemps to recover any.......I boiled some in sulfuric, until the white smoke started coming off. I know....I know!......not a safe thing to do. But I did it anyway............talk about learning the hard way.
So, what I ended up with, was a solution that was a beautiful robin egg blue.
Does this mean anything to anyone?
Randy


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## Lino1406 (Nov 17, 2007)

If material is 1, dissolves in sulphuric,
and 2, has blue color, then 1+1=copper
Lino1406


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## Platdigger (Nov 17, 2007)

Well, there was no blue color until it boiled at high concentration.
O well.
Randy


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## Platdigger (Nov 17, 2007)

And.....it did not all go into, dilute, even boiling sulfuric.


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## Irons (Nov 17, 2007)

Once you isolate it, send it to a lab for analysis, otherewise, it's just anyones guess.

Decant the solution and filter it, then let it sit for several days and see if anything settles out and the solution goes colorless.


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## Platdigger (Nov 17, 2007)

Thanks Irons, will do. Only I will have to redo the test. Think I will just decant....rather than try to filter that concetraion.
Randy


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## Irons (Nov 17, 2007)

I had a hobby of making different color Gold sols. Depending on the particle size, the colors would range rom pinks and reds through purples.
The trick to keeping the Gold in suspension was to eliminate all ions in the solution, otherwise, the Gold would settle out.
I used the same technique that some experimenters used in the 18th century and that was to make a Colloidon bag (Dialysis Membrane) and with the sol in the bag, use very pure water on the outside of the bag to leach the salts out of solution.
There are some Gold sols in the British Museum from that period that are still in suspension.

If you have ever tried to wash up PM precipitates, you will notice that as the washing solution gets cleaner, it takes longer and longer for the metal particles to settle out.

More ions in solution=faster precpitation.


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## Irons (Nov 18, 2007)

Platdigger said:


> Here is a fun one. I have some ore. It is suposed to contain some pgms. After many futile atemps to recover any.......I boiled some in sulfuric, until the white smoke started coming off. I know....I know!......not a safe thing to do. But I did it anyway............talk about learning the hard way.
> So, what I ended up with, was a solution that was a beautiful robin egg blue.
> Does this mean anything to anyone?
> Randy



After jogging my memory, a long time ago, I remember testing some native PGMs that were alloyed with Copper. That may be what you are seeing. It's a known alloy component in native Pt.


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