Non-Chemical gold ore

[Anonymous]

If i were to put gold bearing ore in a filter bag in an electrolytic cell would the gold be recovered? basically action minings system III

 

[Harold_V]

Unlikely.

An electrolytic cell relies on a circuit to be made, meaning the ore itself must conduct. It may not. Even if it does, it's entirely likely only gold on the surface would be recovered, if that.

Others may have a different opinion.

Harold

 

[Lino1406]

Try 1st to make it an anode, by
pressing/melting/incinerating/metal addition
etc.(not necessarily in that order)

 

[bmgold]

I have a system III leaching unit but so far have only done a small test of 2 pounds of crushed gold ore and only run it for about 3 hours. It did collect a little black/brown powder but the quantity was not enough to continue the process yet. It has to be roasted and then either assayed with lead and cupelled to get rid of base metals or refined some more before the gold can be recovered I think. The system uses some form of leach chemical to dissolve the values then they are precipitated electrically onto a stainless steel plate inside a filter bag. The ore doesn't have to be conductive since it is leached with action minings CLS leach or another leaching solution.

I haven't tested this system enough to know for sure how good it will work. It looks promising but the cost is kind of high ($500+)

As stated in their catalog, it will take some time and experimenting to get it to work with your ore. The stir paddle can't be shut off until you are done or you have to clean out the system and add the ore to the liquid after the stir paddle is running or you can burn out the motor and the ore has to be crushed fine so it will stay suspended by the spinning paddle or it could jam things up.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from getting this system as I do think it will work but it is not an add rocks and remove gold system.

I think this basic idea of electro-precipitating is a good one and should work with other leaches and other materials like crushed electronic parts but it would collect copper and other metals along with the gold and would still need more refining to get pure gold.

Remember, I have not tested most of these comments so don't take them to be facts without some actual testing and/or the comments of those more experienced than me.

 

[butcher]

you mentioned roasting afer you leached and proceesed the ore,
is the electrolyte a sulfide?
and you say you have to expirement getting it to work with your Ore.
is this if your ore is not a sulfide?
wouldnt you want to roast your ore before processing to rid it of its acids and to Oxidize the metals?
what is CLS ??? a chlorine salt? can you test it to see?

 

[viacin]

An idea. Put a plate on the bottom of your cell and attach it with cables, pour in a thin layer of dirt and stir. If you see bubbles, then you are hitting on something. If not, take the dirt out and try another bit, ect.

 

[Lino1406]

=cyanide leach substitute, a component of
acidic bath for electrolysing platinum (and gold)

 

[bmgold]

CLS is just action minings leaching chemical. Their manual states (Concentrate Leach Solution) but cyanide leach substitute would describe it as well.

Pre-roasting the ore would be a good idea but I was just copying the directions with the system. I suspect it is to destroy any leaching chemical remaining but I'm not sure. I'm still new to this leaching/refining game.

 

[butcher]

can you determine what CLS is my Idea it is a common substance,
is it a chlorine derivitive salt, like a common fertilizer,or table salt ect. can you test it to see?
to test to see if its a chloride solution
you can add silver dissolved in nitric acid (silver nitrate) added to a chlorine solution would precipitate a white looking cottage cheese powder of silver chloride,this could be done with just a little bit in a test tube or jar ect. silver chloride will darken in bright sunlight almost violet color

 

[Lino1406]

is not a chloride, since HCl gives the
chloride component in the mixture

 

[markqf1]

It's called a nitric acid substitute by the company that makes it.
I have one that I've worked with several times and have determined that it could be used with different leach solutions with better results.
I have about 10 lbs of cls 26p and don't know what it actually is.

Mark

 

[qst42know]

You could always demand an MSDS. By law they must supply one. They can protect their formulas but must reveal the components.

 

[bmgold]

MSDS for CLS20 series

The only hints I can find in the msds is:
forms HCl mixture when dissolved in water of pH2
Boiling point 230 F. Vapor pressure 20 mm Hg. Specific gravity 1.45. Percent volatile by volume 58%. Appearance brown light to dark. Above 600 C. Decomposes to iron oxide and sulfur trioxide.

I'll try to post the pdf when I find it. Probably tomorrow

 

[butcher]

that sounds like iron sulfate, ferric sulfate, for ferrous sulfate, how much do you pay for it, what color when dissolved in water and if boiled do you smell sulfur? maybe we could crack the code?

 

[bmgold]

I just put a 1/4 teaspoon of cls20 in a test tube and added some water. It has a slight yellow color but basically clear once dissolved. A little light brown or maybe yellow substance remained undissolved in the bottom even after boiling it. It did have a slight sulfur smell when I boiled it. I didn't add any acid to it and the pH was 1.

It costs $17.55 for a pound or 4 pounds for $42. Much less if you get 150 or 250 pounds. $5.43 or $2.55 a pound in the larger quantities.

It is used anywhere from an ounce per gallon to 8 ounces per gallon for full strength which they say should hold 4 ounces of gold in solution.

 

[Platdigger]

How bout this for a guess, sodium bisulfate, (the acidity and the sulphur) and ferrous or feric chloride ( the iron and the reason it forms an hcl in water).
Lou?
Steve?

 

[lazersteve]

Randy,

I'm not sure this is the same CLS, but here's what I have on it:

Material Safety Data Sheet

CLS/NCL Cyanide Leaching Substitute

(NH4CS, Fe2 9SO4, 9H203NH3)[*Note by Steve:this needs to be sorted out]

Hazardous Mixtures of other liquids, solids, or gases
Forms HCl mixture when dissolved in water of ph2
PHYSICAL DATA
Boiling Point 230F @20 mm Hg 58% volatile by volume

...

Decomposes above 600C to iron oxide and sulfur trioxide

...

*Assuming the formula was jumbled and altered by the author of the above MSDS

This line from the above is really strange:

Forms HCl mixture when dissolved in water of ph2

I think they mean to dissolve the powder in HCl before use.

The formulas are very strange also.

NH4CS is very close to Thiourea (NH2)2CS :

Wiki Thiourea

and it's MSDS:

Thiourea MSDS

Fe29SO4 is very close to Iron III sulfate (aka ferric sulfate nanohydrate= Fe2(SO4)3*9H2O)

Here's an MSDS for a 50% ferric sulfate solution

Iron III Sulfate MSDS

The iron sulfate is in the nanohydrate form (9 H2O)

The authors MSDS even used the exact line:

Decomposes above 600C to iron oxide and sulfur trioxide

From the Iron III Sulfate solution MSDS

Lastly it looks to possibly contain ammonium sulfate (NH4)2SO4

Here's wiki:

Wiki Ammonium Sulfate

and an MSDS for it:

MSDS Ammonium Sulfate

It looks as though the author of the original MSDS tried to mix up the compounds formulas to disguise the ingredients.

I may be wrong, but that's what I gather from it.

Lou what do you see in the jumbled compound formulas?

I also found some ammonium ferric sulfate compounds listed in the CRC, but the color of the salt was not correct.

I think it's a mixture of thiourea, ferric sulfate, and ammonium sulfate.

It may also contain ammonium persulfate

Wiki Ammonium Persulfate

Again none of the formulas exactly match, especially the NH3's since the compound is a dry solid.

Steve

 

[bmgold]

MSDS for CLS20 series leaches

 

[Lou]

I have nothing to add on it, your analysis (per usual) looks spot on Steve!