GOLD in SAND refining

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Anonymous

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Some of the particles float when panning, so I am looking for a quick way to get the gold from all the other useless stuff.

We did pan a few pounds of the sand and ended up with black sand then removed anything attracted to a magnet. We are left with a black sand with LOTS of gold like particles. We have a few pounds of the black sand and need to learn the best way to refine this sand to get the gold from all the other crap. We did keep all the runoff etc cause some gold flakes did seem to float since they are pretty small.

Will melting w/borax suffice? What will happen to the other metals? Will they mix with the gold and mess up the quality?

Would the salt bath method work? I have an anodizing shop and have a similar setup already up and running.

Aqua regia is OUT OF THE QUESTION.
 
james122964 said:
please do not double post.

thanks
jim
Click to expand...

Different forum. Plus you didn't really answer my questions in the other thread...just confused me more.
 
DBLNUP said:
james122964 said:
please do not double post.

thanks
jim
Click to expand...

Different forum. Plus you didn't really answer my questions in the other thread...just confused me more.
Click to expand...

Different forum, same post = double post.
We scan all the post here so we will see it no matter where it is.

Give it a little time. Welcome to the forum.
 
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=5588&p=48066#p48066

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=4485&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

http://goldrefiningforum.com/~goldrefi/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2090&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

http://goldrefiningforum.com/~goldrefi/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2003&start=15&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
 
first thing is find out if it's gold floating, collect a few of the floating flakes, take a pin or sewing needle and push it in the flake it it breaks
it's not gold, it could be pyrite or mica.if it is gold you have lots of options to try and recover it, flotation, shaker table, leach, panning.
The Gold you get in nature is not pure gold,it still needs to be refined to get a high quility pure gold, but there is nothing wrong recovering
nice native gold, you can keep it sell it or have it refined, good luck.
P.S. you might try Jet Dry and not dish soap, gold will float on the bubbles in dish soap.

Mike
 
I have what looks like gold ore...crushed obviously. I don't see much "native gold", but just alot of shiny stuff that seems to be crushable. There was iron in the mix, and with some of the rusted pieces seems to be little banks of tiny gold particles.

I tried melting it (with a plain old propane torch) and just ended up blowing any particles away...haha, whatever I got lots more where that came from. There was alot of fumes, which were really BAD and STRONG like lead oxide which leads me to believe there is probably alot of other metals in the mix.

Maybe this is not gold?

I tried heating one larger chunk which looked like gold...which was not maluable but more brittle, anyways when I heated it on a peiced of glass it let off fumes and then turned a dark color on the outside and once crushed was silver like on the inside...like platinum. Also for some strange reason there was a trail opposite side of the torch....the trail was a silver color, and looked very pure whatever it was(thin layer of mercury? I have no idea) it was easily rubbed off and left a nice silver shine on the tool I used to scrape it off the glass.

Am I dealing with something other then gold? The sand was owned by a man who used to do geological whatnots to find gold and now lithium. It is generally understood that the sand SHOULD contain gold but the bags are not marked. I think the bags were straight from the rock crushers from one of a few surface mines that company now owns and mines. The bags were sent off to get analyzed, but there is obviously alot of bags left.

Does this sound like gold ore? Or pyrite? Cause I don't see any soft gold in this sand...but it sure is shiney after panning.
 
DBLNUP said:
There was alot of fumes, which were really BAD and STRONG like lead oxide which leads me to believe there is probably alot of other metals in the mix.
Click to expand...

Be real careful heating raw ore with a torch as arsenides are often present and old mining sites often have mercury. You do not want to poison yourself with these gases.
 
Oz said:
DBLNUP said:
There was alot of fumes, which were really BAD and STRONG like lead oxide which leads me to believe there is probably alot of other metals in the mix.
Click to expand...

Be real careful heating raw ore with a torch as arsenides are often present and old mining sites often have mercury. You do not want to poison yourself with these gases.
Click to expand...

Would this improve after cleaning with HCl?
 
Have you considered a fire assay?
What your probably seeing is mica.
Native gold is not shiny, nor does it break apart easily.

This "ore" that you describe sounds like it came from a mill of some type.
This means that your "sand", is actually crushed rock.

If you are familiar with stannous chloride, a simple test can be performed to determine if there is any measureable gold content.

Think small before you think big.

Mark
 
I had asked about an assay earlier, the reply made me think no assay has been completed.
 
james122964 said:
I had asked about an assay earlier, the reply made me think no assay has been completed.
Click to expand...
An excellent observation, especially considering what is assumed to be gold isn't malleable.

I wouldn't spend a moment of my time on that material without an assay. What we're seeing is a classic case of gold fever---but hoping for the material to be gold won't make it gold.

Harold
 
You are both right...maybe I could try a stannous(sp?) test on the material before any attempt at recovery is even tried?
 
DBLNUP said:
You are both right...maybe I could try a stannous(sp?) test on the material before any attempt at recovery is even tried?
Click to expand...
It is my opinion that a stannous test is a waste of time. Unless you understand the ramifications of testing solutions that have excessive acid contained within, even if you have gold, it won't be evident. It is also a fact that as long as you have a preponderance of base metals included, even if you have gold present, it's entirely possible it will precipitate on the remaining base metals, so your "test" will be pointless.

I just posted under another of your inquiries. I'm of the opinion that you not only don't have gold, but you are wasting a great deal of time here, trash talking. You are chasing something that most likely does not exist, which could be readily determined by a simple assay. So far, you have turned your back on anything that remotely suggests you don't have gold, allowing your gold fever to dominate what should be your wisdom. I call that reckless and stupid.

Wise people don't dedicate endless time to a worthless project, they invest enough money to make determinations about the viability. Companies that project production of potential deposits may spend millions of dollars core drilling and assaying before they produce an ounce, yet you are willing to spend any amount of time on something that may not exist. That makes no sense. At the very least, you should have evidence that you have gold, which, at this point in time, it appears you do not. I strongly suggest you pay for an assay. Mean time, stop wasting not only your time, but ours.

Harold
 
I have read alot of your posts Harold and seeing you are from WASHINGTON you live up to the rep of the rest of the people from that state. Around here in "Alberta" anyone with questions will get an honest answer and anyone with some smartass remark probably doesn't have many friends, or should be taken seriously.

As stated in my other thread, the ore was stored with intent and obviously had value to the previous owner who had alot more knowledge about the stuff then we currently do. That is why I am here, asking honest questions to get honest answers, you obviously cannot help us with the ore so why are you in my thread?

You can either help my friend and I try our hand at refining and understanding this more or you can simply F off!

To be honest, one man I look up to most(and has now passed) was deep in the field of gold, was a registered prospector since the fourties and ran a surface mine and made a living off of it. My grandfather. I wish I knew what he knew, but I simply don't. That is why I am here, looking for information and knowledge that I can no longer get from the people I trust.

So either you help me...or you don't.
 
You can either help my friend and I try our hand at refining and understanding this more or you can simply F off!

To be honest, one man I look up to most(and has now passed) was deep in the field of gold, was a registered prospector since the fourties and ran a surface mine and made a living off of it. My grandfather. I wish I knew what he knew, but I simply don't. That is why I am here, looking for information and knowledge that I can no longer get from the people I trust.

So either you help me...or you don't.[/quote]



You asked a for educated opinions and Harold V. gave you a very educated one, I'm a Noob but even I can tell that Harold has a whole lot of information rolling around in his noggin, he is a no nonsense kind of guy who tells it the way he believes it should be told and don't candy coat anything. I would take his post serious it is evident he has done this for a long time.
 
DBLNUP
Good luck finding information and knowledge from someone you can trust. Obviously you don't know who to trust. You will probably poison yourself by burning unknowns in your search for the glittery
stuff, but thats OK you will be rich,right?
Jim
 
Is that a mushroom cloud I see on the horizon? Been awhile since I have seen someone nuk themself that thoroughly on the board.
 

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