# Help i'm Clueless



## Anonymous (Aug 1, 2009)

hi and thank you for reading i have come across an old electric motor from an old mining site with alot of extremely fine flourlike powder in it i threw some in a gold pan n what do ya know theres gold and alot of it only problem is seperating it from the slag any and all suggestions would be appreciated


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## Oz (Aug 1, 2009)

You have 2 good choices for your material.

Decide you wish to learn refining and start reading the forum, then start asking questions (this takes time).

Decide you just want your gold refined and send it to an experienced member here.


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## Anonymous (Aug 2, 2009)

anyone have any less sarcastic suggestions?


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## Oz (Aug 2, 2009)

I was not trying to be sarcastic at all. I noticed it was your first post on your first day here. It is the most important first decision you have. 

I can see where gold dust could concentrate itself in an old motor housing from a mine site, but if you have never refined before it is quite an investment in time and materials to learn if you truly wish to refine it. If it is a one shot thing you would be better served having someone else refine it for you. If you wish to learn refining for future projects or just to gain knowledge I wholeheartedly support it.

You mentioned fine gold dust that you recovered with a pan then mention a problematic slag. Do you have a picture of this slag or can you offer a fuller description of it so your problem is clearer? Once you have separated the gold fines from the slag is that where you plan on stopping or do you wish to refine it to .9995 gold?


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## g_axelsson (Aug 2, 2009)

I have a hard time to see why gold dust should concentrate in an electrical motor. But parts of the copper contact ring on the motor (I think it's called a commuter) could be worn off and end up as copper dust inside it.

Start by incinerate a tiny sample of the dust to get rid of oil and other organic contaminants. Then add a bit of nitric acid to the dust and see if the golden particles survives. If they disappear then it wasn't gold.
Next step add some hydrochloric acid to dissolve the golden particles and test for values with tin, then you will know if you have gold in it.

But the most important advice, search and read a lot of postings on this forum. It contains a tremendous amount of good advices.

By the way, what type of ore was it in the mine?

/Göran


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## qst42know (Aug 2, 2009)

Any open air cooled motor can collect ambient dust. Sealed motors are often used only when necessary for the application. Induction motors have no commutator and are widely used in industrial applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_motor


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## Anonymous (Aug 2, 2009)

well to be honest im a complete amature when it comes to this i have managed to pan and displace alot of the "slag" chemicals are not an option for me in canada we have alot of rules in regards to what chemicals we are allowed to have and again i'm clueless as to when exactly i would need incenerating a little ? that i can do ... g_axelsson it was a gold mine this motor sat on the end of a convayor belt at the bottom of the pit the substance i'v aquired was "caked" to the outside of the motor ....the gold content is ridiculous i unfortunatly dont have the time to go through the site to "hunt" the info i need mostly because i have no idea where to start...... what kind of picture would u like the slag what i'v drawn out or both? i'll upload both you will have to excuse the quality all i have for a camera is a 2mp phone


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## Anonymous (Aug 2, 2009)

p.s. thanks oz ideally i'd like to completely work it down have it melted and sell it i however am not very comfortable sending this quantity of gold anywhere without myself accompaning it i estamate there to be over 125,000 usd worth... anyone wishing to contact me for a one on one interaction feel free to contact me [email protected]


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## EDI Refining (Aug 2, 2009)

I will send an email early this week, when Im back in the office, regarding refining this lot.
Though this material is not homogenious, I suggest you try and get homogenious sample, before sending it out for refining.


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## Anonymous (Aug 2, 2009)

that peter.h is my problem ...the jar i have in the picture is the best i can do with what i have refining it beyond that point is where i am looking for assistance and from the looks of it its going to need a chem seperation


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## Anonymous (Aug 2, 2009)

LiQUiD-IcE said:


> well to be honest im a complete amature when it comes to this i have managed to pan and displace alot of the "slag" chemicals are not an option for me in canada we have alot of rules in regards to what chemicals we are allowed to have and again i'm clueless as to when exactly i would need incenerating a little ? that i can do ... g_axelsson it was a gold mine this motor sat on the end of a convayor belt at the bottom of the pit the substance i'v aquired was "caked" to the outside of the motor ....the gold content is ridiculous i unfortunatly dont have the time to go through the site to "hunt" the info i need mostly because i have no idea where to start...... what kind of picture would u like the slag what i'v drawn out or both? i'll upload both you will have to excuse the quality all i have for a camera is a 2mp phone



There are many Canadians on this forum, I myself for one do not have any problems obtaining acids and chems needed to refine precious metals. Most of the stuff you need your wife has under the sink.

I think your going to be disappointed with your jar of gold found on a conveyor motor, not very likely your going to find gold concentrates near the pit of a mine. You'll find your concentrates near the ball mill.

I know of a mine that was destroyed by an avalanche, the milling room has two ball mills. The workers change the balls when they get to small to reduce the ore. Underneath the two huge ball mills are piles of discarded balls mixed with fine concentrates.

I wish you the best of luck.


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## qst42know (Aug 2, 2009)

Have you checked this dust with a magnet?


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## markqf1 (Aug 2, 2009)

How did you calculate the 150,00 dollar estimate?
The first thing I would do is get myself a fire assay done on the material.
By the way, the guy that started and owns this forum lives in Canada.
He might be able help you with whatever you want to do with the material.

Mark


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## butcher (Aug 2, 2009)

one thing you learn in mining and refining, don't count them golden eggs before they hatch.


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## Anonymous (Aug 3, 2009)

yes thiers alot of silicate yes theres a fair ammount of prates yes i have checkd it with a magnet nothing sticks just a little bit of iron dust but believe it or not thiers gold in dat dar bucket i'v had it looked at by 3 different people who are quite knowledgeable when it comes to mining and theyv all said the same thing after thier eyes bugged out of thier heads "thats gold!" you have to see it in the pan i'll take another picture i'm sure i can obtain the materials needed but my wife sure dont have them u dont know my wife lmao the thing is i have 0 experence with chems and would prefer not to kill myself and others around me the number i came up with is what i was told by one of my amature miner friends of the possable ammount is a very rough estamate n dont worry i wont be counting no golden eggs till i have the cash in hand i know exactly what pyrites look like and what i have in this pan aint pyrites i managed to find a jewler friend of mine who can refine a small ammount once i have sent it in i will let you all know what they find .again excuse the poor quality of the picture

i appreciate all your comments and help


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## Anonymous (Aug 3, 2009)

Brian where in British Columbia is this old mine that your concentrates came from.


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## Anonymous (Aug 3, 2009)

i dont know all i was told is it was on an induction motor at the bottom of a gold mine out of curiosity how do you know my name? i know i didnt post it anywhere


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## aflacglobal (Aug 3, 2009)

LiQUiD-IcE said:


> out of curiosity how do you know my name? i know i didnt post it anywhere



Big brother is always watching. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: 

ROTFL


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## aflacglobal (Aug 3, 2009)

I haven't heard anyone speak about testing it to see if it does have gold in it. Couldn't you dissolve a little AR and test with stannous chloride. Or would any iron inter fear with it. How would you approach it ?


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## Anonymous (Aug 3, 2009)

kinda creepy actually lol


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## Harold_V (Aug 4, 2009)

aflacglobal said:


> I haven't heard anyone speak about testing it to see if it does have gold in it. Couldn't you dissolve a little AR and test with stannous chloride. Or would any iron inter fear with it. How would you approach it ?


Simple. I'd take a grain of the suspected gold material, and dissolve it with AR. I'd evaporate to eliminate any free nitric, then I'd test the resulting solution with stannous chloride. The presence of iron at this point wouldn't make a difference. If I got a purple reaction, I'd figure I had gold. 

As an alternate to evaporation, as long as it's known that there is no free base metal present, a single drop of nitric along with four or five drops of HCl could be applied to a larger amount of the sample. The added acid would work until it was exhausted, eliminating the need to evaporate. Testing the resulting solution with stannous chloride would be conclusive, but this test can be inconclusive if there is an abundance of base metal present. It would precipitate the values, yielding a barren solution. In the case where there is an abundance of base metal, it might be a good idea to boil the sample in nitric, then rinse well, before dissolving the sample with AR. It would be desirable that there is enough of a sample present to exhaust the acid instead of dissolve all of the sample ----which is how you'd avoid evaporation. 

Make sense?

Harold


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