# BURNING ACTIVATED CARBON



## goldmet (Sep 16, 2016)

Hello friends.
I want to share how to burn activated carbon with gold.
There is much talk of burning gold activated carbon. That is very difficult but if first ground and form a pellet in the following proportion can be performed easily.
The coal is agglomerated with a mixture of
5 liters of water
600g of sodium nitrate
200g maltodextrin
The pellet dry and burn easily
Good luck


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## anachronism (Sep 16, 2016)

Hi there

There are various types of activated carbon as I am sure you are aware. Much of it is made with coconut husks and then it is graded to the applicable size required for the particular application it is needed for. It's really not expensive to buy it as a finished product.


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## g_axelsson (Sep 16, 2016)

goldmet said:


> Hello friends.
> I want to share how to burn activated carbon with gold.
> There is much talk of burning gold activated carbon. That is very difficult but if first ground and form a pellet in the following proportion can be performed easily.
> The coal is agglomerated with a mixture of
> ...


How much coal?

Göran


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## Topher_osAUrus (Sep 16, 2016)

I think that is the recipie to make the "coal"....but, he does not say how much pregnant carbon is used in that ratio of other ingredients.

And a google image search brought up a few interesting results..


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## g_axelsson (Sep 17, 2016)

Topher_osAUrus said:


> I think that is the recipie to make the "coal"....but, he does not say how much pregnant carbon is used in that ratio of other ingredients.
> 
> And a google image search brought up a few interesting results..


I think you're wrong, he wrote "I want to share how to burn activated carbon with gold."
Anyhow, the only source of carbon in that recipe is in the 200g maltodextrin and that would be burned off by the sodium nitrate that is an oxidator. With 5 liters of water there is something missing and that is the amount of carbon, loaded or not.

Göran


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## 4metals (Sep 17, 2016)

I think he is proposing taking the loaded carbon and making easy to burn briquettes to eliminate a kiln for ashing. Still the amount of carbon to make the briquettes is still an important number to leave out.


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## Topher_osAUrus (Sep 17, 2016)

4Metals clarified what i tried getting across.

Still, the OP will hopefully let us know?


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## g_axelsson (Sep 17, 2016)

Then we are on the same page, I thought you meant making activated coal. Rereading your comment I don't know how I could have misread it as you clearly wrote "pregnant carbon". Maybe it was after reading anachronisms comment about activated carbon.

Göran


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

anachronism said:


> Hi there
> 
> There are various types of activated carbon as I am sure you are aware. Much of it is made with coconut husks and then it is graded to the applicable size required for the particular application it is needed for. It's really not expensive to buy it as a finished product.


I speak of coconut shell activated carbon


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

g_axelsson said:


> goldmet said:
> 
> 
> > Hello friends.
> ...


Carbon is ground to 100 # Dry and a pellet is formed with the solution


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

Topher_osAUrus said:


> I think that is the recipie to make the "coal"....but, he does not say how much pregnant carbon is used in that ratio of other ingredients.
> 
> And a google image search brought up a few interesting results..


The proportion of solution is sufficient to form a pellet to be approximately 40% water.


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

g_axelsson said:


> Then we are on the same page, I thought you meant making activated coal. Rereading your comment I don't know how I could have misread it as you clearly wrote "pregnant carbon". Maybe it was after reading anachronisms comment about activated carbon.
> 
> Göran


This is to recover gold from activated carbon burning.
This process replaces the desorption.


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

4metals said:


> I think he is proposing taking the loaded carbon and making easy to burn briquettes to eliminate a kiln for ashing. Still the amount of carbon to make the briquettes is still an important number to leave out.


The activated carbon Kilo costs US 5 can absorb up to 15 grams.
That is profitable


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

g_axelsson said:


> Topher_osAUrus said:
> 
> 
> > I think that is the recipie to make the "coal"....but, he does not say how much pregnant carbon is used in that ratio of other ingredients.
> ...


The ratio of coal and solution is 1000 g / 400 cc to form the pellet.


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## goldmet (Sep 17, 2016)

goldmet said:


> g_axelsson said:
> 
> 
> > Topher_osAUrus said:
> ...


For coal combustion activated gold. Maltodextrin is binder, sodium nitrate is the oxidizing and coal is the fuel.
Gold remains in the ashes.


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## Topher_osAUrus (Sep 17, 2016)

Do you have any pictures of any charcoal briquettes you have made?
Any pictures of your burned ash?


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## FrugalRefiner (Sep 17, 2016)

Topher, he showed the pictures of the briquettes/pellets in his opening post.

Dave


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## Topher_osAUrus (Sep 17, 2016)

Yes, he showed actual charcoal briquettes being made, not gold-loaded activated carbon briquettes.

The image search i did brought back these results from that picture:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5555e/x5555e07.htm
And
http://bearmountainpa.weebly.com

Both talk of making your own charcoal, and its uses for home heating, the differences between coke and charcoal, lump coal and briquettes.. 

From what i read on that images "original" site (not sure if its the copywrite owner, or just scanned from a book) there was only mention of 3 items in general manufacturing. Coal, binder, and burn control (oxidizer).

In the literature I have read there has yet to be mention of incorporating in a precious metal bearing carbon source.

So i was just curious to see pictures of him doing this as a practical solution to carbon ashing, or if it was a hypothetical suggestion where the guinea pigs are others.


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## goldenhaha (Sep 17, 2016)

Topher_osAUrus said:


> So i was just curious to see pictures of him doing this as a practical solution to carbon ashing, or if it was a hypothetical suggestion where the guinea pigs are others.



I don't think you will see him making the pellets. The photo shown in the post looked to be very old and dated. What you have to understand is WHAT procedure you are using to capture the gold in the carbon.

If anyone wants to spend the money to buy a pellet making machine they can. You don't have to buy a machine to make pellets or charcoal briquettes. You make molds to put the slurry into. If you don't know the proper ratio to make the mix you have to plat around to figure it out.

Goldmet said 1000 grams to 400 cc to form the pellets. Is he talking about 400 cc of solution plus all the additives or if you have 5000 cc of gold containing solution add the additives and 1000 grams per 400 cc of solution? Part of the puzzle is left out or you have a known quanity of gold bearing solution and you need to add the additives and a certain amount of charcoal.


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## goldenhaha (Sep 17, 2016)

What process did the op use to recovery the gold and to collect it in carbon? The only one I can think of is cyanide. A lot of people on the forum are scratching their heads with the eco-goldex solution right now.
Reading that thread people are waiting on a answer. Everyone needs to read that thread. Is it a fast way to recover gold? Maybe but no one on this forum has yet to recover gold from the solution that I know of. If they have they haven't posted about it. 

People need to ask themselves if they are after a quick nickel or a slow dime. Is the price of your neighbors or family worth a little bit of gold? 

You want to make charcoal? Go dig a hole in the back yard. Preferably out of the flow of water in case it rains. Dig a hole put some wood in it light it on fire let it get to burning good and start throwing dirt on top of the fire not so fast that it smothers the fire out. After you get the fire cover with about 8 inches of dirt watch the dirt pile. The best time is to do it just before dark. Get a flashlight after dark and shine the light over the burn area or dirt pile. You will see smoke coming through the dirt. This is called off gassing. The gases contained in the wood are being heated and VAPORIZING in to the air. Go and pull the dirt off the wood and the wood flame up like a fire should and will. A fire needs oxygen to burn smothering it out will cause it to smolder. Just like charcoal is made.


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## goldmet (Nov 5, 2016)

Topher_osAUrus said:


> Do you have any pictures of any charcoal briquettes you have made?
> Any pictures of your burned ash?


These are the briquettes


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## goldmet (Nov 5, 2016)

goldmet said:


> Topher_osAUrus said:
> 
> 
> > Do you have any pictures of any charcoal briquettes you have made?
> ...


In the leaching of auriferous gold ore it is dissolved and a way to recover those solutions is absorbing it with activated charcoal.
One way to recover gold that coal is burning. In the ashes is gold and these can be melted or disolved with aqua regia.


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## goldmet (Nov 5, 2016)

goldmet said:


> goldmet said:
> 
> 
> > Topher_osAUrus said:
> ...


I have not invented anything just say that it is a process to adapt the gold metallurgy.


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## Lou (Nov 5, 2016)

Does it make a lot of red gas when the nitre melts and burns the carbon? I would think if this weren't balanced right there could be some NOx. I know if you just melt salt peter or nitre, it decomposes to oxygen firstly, then eventually NOx.


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## keemola (Jan 10, 2017)

I roasted my activated carbon with a pot and I used domestic gas cooker to ash the carbon. I smelted with borax and saltpeter (nitrate) but my gold is mixed with the slag. What's the process of digesting the ash carbon with both Nitric acid and aquaregia to recover both silver and gold from the ashed activated carbon. Thanks


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## Topher_osAUrus (Jan 18, 2017)

keemola said:


> I roasted my activated carbon with a pot and I used domestic gas cooker to ash the carbon. I smelted with borax and saltpeter (nitrate) but my gold is mixed with the slag. What's the process of digesting the ash carbon with both Nitric acid and aquaregia to recover both silver and gold from the ashed activated carbon. Thanks



So you ashed your activated carbon? And then you tried smelting the ash/gold mixture with borax and saltpeter?
Why?

If the carbon is all completely white ashed, you could just process the gold like its ic chips, or jeweler sweeps I would imagine..

What was the gold from in the first place? If it was pure gold, a nitric leach would have no effect on your gold/ash residue.
-i suppose it (nitric) would eat away the borax and liberate your gold.. But, if its stuck as prills in the slag, you could add fluorspar to make it more fluid so they could agglomerate.

Also, you could add silver (75%) and then it would capture the gold, pour cornflakes, digest in nitric, then take the gold up into solution and do the normal things one would do.....

Do you have a picture you could post? Im intrigued


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## keemola (Jan 19, 2017)

The pictures are the ashed carbon and the slag that mixed with gold. How can I recover gold from both materials. I intially used borax and saltpeter to smelt the ash but we discovered the gold is mixed up with slag in particle form after grinding the slag into powder. How can I recover gold from both ashed carbon and slag. I read in a post that I could use acid digestion for the ash. Thanks as awaiting ur contributions and directions.


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## Oxygene (Jan 19, 2017)

goldmet said:


> Hello friends.
> I want to share how to burn activated carbon with gold.
> There is much talk of burning gold activated carbon. That is very difficult but if first ground and form a pellet in the following proportion can be performed easily.
> The coal is agglomerated with a mixture of
> ...



Oxygen is formed when high (above 600°C) heating of sodium nitrate NaNO3:
2NaNO3 t→ 2NaNO2+O2,
thereby can interact with nonmetals
2NaNO3 + C = 2NaNO2 +CO2
maltodextrin acts as a binder, like gelatin in the marmalade
what would the mixture is crumbled.
I think that maybe fast(turbulent) combustion, :!: because the mixture of sodium nitrate and carbon are used in the manufacture of gunpowder.
Sorry for bad English...


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## anachronism (Jan 19, 2017)

650 degrees C is the magic number. Too low and it doesn't work. Too high and you get complications. You cannot be random about it.


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## keemola (Jan 20, 2017)

Whats next after ashing the carbon. I tried to digest the ashes in nitric acid and aquaregia. For ash in nitric acid, the solution has a greenish colour and some particles settled. For ash in aquaregia, the solution turned brownish and undisolved particles also settled bellow the liquid. The aquaregia later turned thick and pastelike. how do I recover the gold?


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## anachronism (Jan 20, 2017)

If you are getting particles after a FULL digest- note FULL digest, then you have un-ashed carbon so you will need to filter the solution and re-ash that residue. Remember that un-ashed carbon will have also taken values from your AR so don't throw it away.


If your AR solution is thick and sludgy then you have either not added enough liquid and the digestion is not complete, or you have a huge amount of un-ashed carbon and then you need to look further at your ashing process. 

I used to initially treat with Nitric before digesting in AR but I have reverted to Deans original instructions of putting the ash straight into AR because it simply works best. 

Now one point to note (and an Australian friend of mine is probably going to have a wry chuckle as he reads this) is that you MUST elevate the temperature of your AR to a simmer to fully digest- around 90 degrees Celsius. NOT a boil but a simmer. Then you will see a vast difference in the digestion.

This process is great however it MUST be done properly otherwise you lose all the benefits of this method over others.


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## Eg.refiner (Feb 18, 2022)

goldmet said:


> The activated carbon Kilo costs US 5 can absorb up to 15 grams.
> That is profitable


Can i use coconut shell carbon for water treatment size 6x12 in jinchan solution or it should be gold activated carbon


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## Yggdrasil (Feb 18, 2022)

Eg.refiner said:


> Can i use coconut shell carbon for water treatment size 6x12 in jinchan solution or it should be gold activated carbon


There is no such thing as gold activated carbon.
The carbon is activated by physical or chemical way.
Fully activated carbon is a fine fluffy powder. I guess it can be pelletized for easier use in canisters and such, but it will loose some if its surface area and effectivity.

Please do not spam the forum like you did today. Ask your question once at one location.
Many of your questions today was asked to old posts. The recipients may not even be here anymore.


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## Eg.refiner (Feb 18, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> There is no such thing as gold activated carbon.
> The carbon is activated by physical or chemical way.
> Fully activated carbon is a fine fluffy powder. I guess it can be pelletized for easier use in canisters and such, but it will loose some if its surface area and effectivity.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your info , i'm sorry


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## Geo (Mar 10, 2022)

Eg.refiner said:


> Can i use coconut shell carbon for water treatment size 6x12 in jinchan solution or it should be gold activated carbon


It is much easier to use any hardwood that grows in your area or buy "lump charcoal", wherever you buy charcoal. To activate the charcoal it needs to be submerged for a prescribed length of time in at least one of the several chemicals that can be used that will neutralize the acid and create an oxide or carbonate with the precious metal salts. Charcoal is very easy to crush into a powder and formed into shapes. Niter or NaNO3 is added to help the carbon burn evenly to ensure complete combustion.


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## goldshark (Mar 11, 2022)

Most water filtration activated carbon, is treated with Silver somehow. This reduces and/or eliminates bacterial microbes. I am not sure if this AC is good for gold adsorption or not. Any moderators want to jump in on this?


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## orvi (Mar 11, 2022)

I just add that nitrate do not form nitrogen oxides when oxidize carbon. Instead it will form sodium or potassium carbonate  the very principal burning equation of black gunpowder, if you do not add sulfur to the equation. 
Of course, with non-stoichiometric ammount of nitrate to charcoal (black powder is roughly 75% KNO3 15% C and 10% S to burn practicaly "in balance", i would be worried that not all carbon will burn easily and remain in the ashes. Controlled burning of such made pellets would certainly easen the process, but it will be probably needed to incinerate the remaining ashes anyway. When burning nitrate/charcoal mixtures, good ammount of sparks could arise from it, possibly with your gold flying in ashes all over the place.

Another problem I see is the quite a big ammount of carbonate produced, which in the end need to be neutralized with unhealthy excess of acid just to allow adding acid for actual gold dissolution, when you use AR to get your gold into the solution.

Way how big guys do it: use small pelletized charcoal, not the "flour" or powdered stuff. You add the pellets or small lumps to the pregnant leaching solution, fish them out with strainer after adsorption (carbon will float on top) and after washing and killing possible cyanide, dry and burn in furnance or on steel pan over gas burner. Pretty much nothing is left, ammount of ash is very small. And you can clearly see when it is done, judging by the colour of the ashes. With incomplete burning with nitrate, various funky greyish stuff/slag-like junk form, which stay greyish practically forever, no matter how long you bake it


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