Johnduda1
Member
Can anyone tell me how to do the hydrochloric acid test on rocks and does it work to see if there might be valuable minerals in that rock
Acidic test
- Thread starter Johnduda1
- Start date
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It is not recommended to add acids to rocks that have not been assayed.
There is a lot dangerous compound the may be dissolved in acids.
When that is said.
As far as I know there is no acid test for rocks.
Adding to that, none of the valuable metals will dissolve in HCl alone.
Martijn
Well-known member
No. To see what's in a rock you crush it to fine powder and pan it.
Or you have it assayed.
If you have specimens that need cleaning, as said, adic is not recommended on unknown rocks.
Here is a video of a you tuber i like to watch.
He tries out different acids and the result of Nitric was not good.
Strong HCl did the best.
Now he does not mention the dangers of things like arsenic, cyanide or mercury in the rocks, but they are all from the same mine. Maybe he knows there is nothing to worry about.
Geology reports of the area where you found it could help.
But if there is no visible gold, i would start with crushing and panning.
Martijn
Well-known member
The video:
Geologists typically use dilute HCl to test for carbonate rocks, not for valuable minerals. There are qualitative tests using a few grams of material in a test tube to look for specific reactions. These tests, in conjunction with a bead test, can be accomplished in the field. A handheld XRF has largely replaced these methods in most mid-sized and larger exploration efforts
