# Whats the content in Alaskan Placer?



## The Refiner49er (Jun 1, 2008)

Hi All!

I am working into the placer refining market and was wondering what the typical gold content is in Alaskan placer material? I am including a pic to help identify the type.

Thanks!

John


----------



## JustinNH (Jun 1, 2008)

Not sure myself since i only pan NH, but you may need to say the river and even te closest townt o where it was from as i know I have heard that in Alaska, the purity of the gold varies from river to river...


----------



## Gotrek (Jun 2, 2008)

I recall reading that alaska's typical placer gold is more abundant but lower purity then other areas If I recall alaska placer gold is around 70-80% pure (~18k-20k)


----------



## goldsilverpro (Jun 2, 2008)

I knew a guy that mined 3 months out of the year in Alaska and, each year, his company took out 30,000 ozs. The L.A. refiner I worked for was refining his material. If I remember right, his placer ran quite high - 96%.


----------



## allanwcoty (Jun 3, 2008)

Purity will go all the way from below electrum (50% Au. - 50% Ag.) all the way up to 98%. Some properties on the same drainage system varying widely. Some gold in Ak. is actually porous and does not reflect light well and actually looks brown. If you have a location it is supposed to have come from, you can check with others from that area to see if it's comparable. Have a great day. allan


----------



## calgoldrecyclers (Jun 18, 2008)

Electrum is 20%ag 80% au. not half and half. anything less is considered a teluride of gold. it looks to me from the picture, that the gold content is lower than most and perhaps a high quantity of copper. by looks alone i would classify it as 15k to 17k. could have a large quantity of nickel and PGM'S also.


----------



## Harold_V (Jun 18, 2008)

calgoldrecyclers said:


> Electrum is 20%ag 80% au. not half and half.


I think he was making reference to some gold running far less, suggesting it might be as low as 20%/80%. I didn't get the impression he suggested electrum was 50/50. Could be wrong, though!



> anything less is considered a teluride of gold.


That raises a red flag for me. Before gold would be considered a telluride, wouldn't it have to contain tellurium? 

Mind you, I'm not familiar with prospector's lingo---so I may not understand some of the terms that are commonly exchanged. 
Harold


----------



## Gotrek (Jun 18, 2008)

That's what it is lingo, not actual elemental properties.


----------



## calgoldrecyclers (Jun 18, 2008)

Harold,
GoTrek is correct. telluride is a misnomer in itself. telluride of gold is simply saying that any ore containing less than 80% Au with other elements like AG or PB. and, yes you are also correct, traditional telluride of gold or any other element will contain tellurium. the famous cripple creek gold rush of the 1860's is an excellent example of telluride gold sources. tellurium, like mercury has a great affinity for gold. 
Ezra


----------



## Harold_V (Jun 18, 2008)

Heh! :idea: 

You learn something every day if you keep your eyes and ears open. 

Thanks, guys!

Harold


----------



## allanwcoty (Jun 19, 2008)

Yes, thanks for the corrections. I was going from classroom memory of 20 years ago. Guess the mind is gone. Have a great day. allan


----------



## Harold_V (Jun 19, 2008)

The concept that the term tellurium gold is applied even when there is no tellurium involved is interesting. Having done a search, I found no evidence to lend support to the concept---although I did find that there are no less than five different gold/silver tellurium minerals. 

It is obvious that low grade gold exists that is not a telluride. It's confusing to have it referenced as such when it contains no tellurium. 

Does anyone wonder why a term would be used that is totally misleading?

Harold


----------



## Irons (Jun 19, 2008)

Harold_V said:


> The concept that the term tellurium gold is applied even when there is no tellurium involved is interesting. Having done a search, I found no evidence to lend support to the concept---although I did find that there are no less than five different gold/silver tellurium minerals.
> 
> It is obvious that low grade gold exists that is not a telluride. It's confusing to have it referenced as such when it contains no tellurium.
> 
> ...



They just assumed it was Tellurium.

Assume: Make an ASS out of U and ME. :roll:


----------



## calgoldrecyclers (Jun 19, 2008)

Harold,
thats just it. Tellurium will always be involved with a telluride. gold doesn't just occur with any mineral. gold being a nobel metal, it is rarely alloyed with other minerals, but when it does alloy with other minerals, it is considered either electrum( 20% percent AG), or a telluride of gold (up to 42% AU, with PB or AG as an alloy). saying that tellurium is an ore in and of itself would be incorrect, because tellurium can be alloyed with any other igneous or metamporhic mineral. there are tellurides of bismuth, molybdenum, lead, etc. it is the calaverites, and sylvanites that are the most common gold tellurides. 
yow! i hope this hasn't confused more than it helps.
Ezra


----------



## Platdigger (Jun 19, 2008)

I have never heard of a "low grade" gold ore, refered to as a "telluride", when tellurium was not even present.

But then, surely, there are a lot of things I have not heard of.
Randy


----------

