Black sands + borax + oxalic acid ratios question?

[Fe3O4 man]

Hi,
I am a New member, just came across the post from the past

Has anyone actually smelted their black sands? (Headline) feb 21 2022, reply from jphayesjr …original message from him…​

I wet tumble black sand in a rubber rock polisher drum with tungsten grains until it is
finely pulverized. I sift out the tungsten using an appropriate sized classifier screen. I
then mix the black sand powder in an old cast iron dutch oven with borax and oxalic
acid. I let it sit in the sun until completely dry. In a very well ventilated area, with very
good regulator, back flame suppressor, and a foam fire extinguisher, I then smelt with
acetylene, until molten, toss in more borax and oxalic, use an old iron ladle to carefully
skim off foaming slag waste. If you worry this contains gold or other pm's, put it aside to
cool, smash. classify. The end product in the pot will be a glowing glassy sheet on top of
gold. You can carefully break it off. The gold should be 22 to 23.x K. You can further
purify using methods in Hoke. My sands contain a high percentage of microcrystalline
gold, some silver, and significant PGMs. The pm's often are visible in the larger black
granules, both magnetic and other. You be the judge of yours, though. My yield usually is
2 to 3% from black sands. Sometimes higher if I'm working old tailings. Do clean out the
tumbler occasionally with an absorbent paper towel, and SAVE them. Once you've got a
nice bucket full, You can burn them, and wash out the ashes, hold and evaporate the
filtrate, and then repeat the above procedure. Please avoid using toxic heavy metals
such as Pb and Hg, always wear PPE including effective gloves and a fire retardant
apron. Stuff happens, stay safe

I would like to know the ratio by weights of borax (anhydrous or decahydrate" Na2B4O7·10H2O and oxalic acid you use vs blacksands weight. Can this flux be use on silicous ores? More fleshing out of this technique would be appreciated.​

I am a collector of unusual procedures in processing pm’s w/ procedures
Fe3O4 man

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi,
I am a New member, just came across the post from the past

Has anyone actually smelted their black sands? (Headline) feb 21 2022, reply from jphayesjr …original message from him…​

I wet tumble black sand in a rubber rock polisher drum with tungsten grains until it is
finely pulverized. I sift out the tungsten using an appropriate sized classifier screen. I
then mix the black sand powder in an old cast iron dutch oven with borax and oxalic
acid. I let it sit in the sun until completely dry. In a very well ventilated area, with very
good regulator, back flame suppressor, and a foam fire extinguisher, I then smelt with
acetylene, until molten, toss in more borax and oxalic, use an old iron ladle to carefully
skim off foaming slag waste. If you worry this contains gold or other pm's, put it aside to
cool, smash. classify. The end product in the pot will be a glowing glassy sheet on top of
gold. You can carefully break it off. The gold should be 22 to 23.x K. You can further
purify using methods in Hoke. My sands contain a high percentage of microcrystalline
gold, some silver, and significant PGMs. The pm's often are visible in the larger black
granules, both magnetic and other. You be the judge of yours, though. My yield usually is
2 to 3% from black sands. Sometimes higher if I'm working old tailings. Do clean out the
tumbler occasionally with an absorbent paper towel, and SAVE them. Once you've got a
nice bucket full, You can burn them, and wash out the ashes, hold and evaporate the
filtrate, and then repeat the above procedure. Please avoid using toxic heavy metals
such as Pb and Hg, always wear PPE including effective gloves and a fire retardant
apron. Stuff happens, stay safe

I would like to know the ratio by weights of borax (anhydrous or decahydrate" Na2B4O7·10H2O and oxalic acid you use vs blacksands weight. Can this flux be use on silicous ores? More fleshing out of this technique would be appreciated.​

I am a collector of unusual procedures in processing pm’s w/ procedures
Fe3O4 man

Welcome to us.

 

[goldshark]

Hi,
I am a New member, just came across the post from the past

Has anyone actually smelted their black sands? (Headline) feb 21 2022, reply from jphayesjr …original message from him…​

I wet tumble black sand in a rubber rock polisher drum with tungsten grains until it is
finely pulverized. I sift out the tungsten using an appropriate sized classifier screen. I
then mix the black sand powder in an old cast iron dutch oven with borax and oxalic
acid. I let it sit in the sun until completely dry. In a very well ventilated area, with very
good regulator, back flame suppressor, and a foam fire extinguisher, I then smelt with
acetylene, until molten, toss in more borax and oxalic, use an old iron ladle to carefully
skim off foaming slag waste. If you worry this contains gold or other pm's, put it aside to
cool, smash. classify. The end product in the pot will be a glowing glassy sheet on top of
gold. You can carefully break it off. The gold should be 22 to 23.x K. You can further
purify using methods in Hoke. My sands contain a high percentage of microcrystalline
gold, some silver, and significant PGMs. The pm's often are visible in the larger black
granules, both magnetic and other. You be the judge of yours, though. My yield usually is
2 to 3% from black sands. Sometimes higher if I'm working old tailings. Do clean out the
tumbler occasionally with an absorbent paper towel, and SAVE them. Once you've got a
nice bucket full, You can burn them, and wash out the ashes, hold and evaporate the
filtrate, and then repeat the above procedure. Please avoid using toxic heavy metals
such as Pb and Hg, always wear PPE including effective gloves and a fire retardant
apron. Stuff happens, stay safe

I would like to know the ratio by weights of borax (anhydrous or decahydrate" Na2B4O7·10H2O and oxalic acid you use vs blacksands weight. Can this flux be use on silicous ores? More fleshing out of this technique would be appreciated.​

I am a collector of unusual procedures in processing pm’s w/ procedures
Fe3O4 man

Is there something in particular you are asking? Your procedure is not very thorough in its explanation, such as are using liquid Oxalic mixed with black sands for thoroughness, then letting it dry, Oxalic in crystal form, what? Do you use a collector metal? Quantity of precious to base metal ratio? Silica in black sands, and how much? The primary ore will dictate what fluxes to use, and how much. The book in the library on assaying is a good read ( Bugbee ). The use of fluxes and type crucibles will be found here.

 

[Fe3O4 man]

Hi,
I cut and pasted the original post for commenting on, that’s my point as I tried to contact the original poster …Jphayesjr without getting a reply .. in order to flesh out his original post as a starting point for experimenting, that’s my point is anybody out there have more information on Jphayesjr post on extracting pm with his borax + oxalic acid procedure on black sand?
Fe3O4 man

 

[goldshark]

Hi,
I cut and pasted the original post for commenting on, that’s my point as I tried to contact the original poster …Jphayesjr without getting a reply .. in order to flesh out his original post as a starting point for experimenting, that’s my point is anybody out there have more information on Jphayesjr post on extracting pm with his borax + oxalic acid procedure on black sand?
Fe3O4 man

I have never tried this technique, so do not know wether it works or not. No sense in reinventing the wheel for me, as I have all the necessary fluxes for just about any smelt, basic or acid. . If I was to guess at its performance, I would think it is too acidic in its composition, leading to melt through of the crucible, unless a silicon carbide crucible was used. Again, performance will depend on the various metal compositions included in the black sands, as they vary widely.