Gold sand
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Minner.
I think he pointed to the fact that the focus on the image is not the solution but the table.
It is next to impossible to see what the solution is,it is so blurry that it is just different shades of brown.
Try to make another one, in focus, and repost, then maybe we can help.
I think he pointed to the fact that the focus on the image is not the solution but the table.
It is next to impossible to see what the solution is,it is so blurry that it is just different shades of brown.
Try to make another one, in focus, and repost, then maybe we can help.
Ohiogoldfever
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- Nov 8, 2020
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jmdlcar said:
I’m in Ohio as well. You can find gold here. Do some research you’ll find the info you need.
Minner!
Can you please elaborate what we are seeing here?
Is this the dissolved powder or what?
I can't see any gold from stannous here, it is supposed to be purple to black, depending on concentration.
There is something strange with this one.
So once more, give us a step by step on what you did so we can figure this one out.
Can you please elaborate what we are seeing here?
Is this the dissolved powder or what?
I can't see any gold from stannous here, it is supposed to be purple to black, depending on concentration.
There is something strange with this one.
So once more, give us a step by step on what you did so we can figure this one out.
Well to me it looks like what is called a "false positive".
First and foremost it is best done with Tin dissolved in HCl or at least the SnCl2 dissolved in HCl and then add some extra Tin to give it longer shelf life.
It has to be denoxxed so it is nitric (oxidizer) free.
Then add a drop to a drop plate, a paper or something else.
After that add a drop of the stannous liquid on the same spot.
The test is very sensitive so if there are gold, it WILL show very clearly.
First and foremost it is best done with Tin dissolved in HCl or at least the SnCl2 dissolved in HCl and then add some extra Tin to give it longer shelf life.
It has to be denoxxed so it is nitric (oxidizer) free.
Then add a drop to a drop plate, a paper or something else.
After that add a drop of the stannous liquid on the same spot.
The test is very sensitive so if there are gold, it WILL show very clearly.
Martijn
Well-known member
Tin 2 chloride is soluble in water, up to 83.9 g/100 ml (0 °C) but may need a little free HCL to work porperly or conserve it better. Most precipitants need an acidic environment to work. Your auric chloride usually holds enough free HCL.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin(II)_chloride&ved=2ahUKEwiC-7bA577uAhWF7qQKHfOoBl4QFjAaegQINhAI&usg=AOvVaw1a2ts8Wn_A6HJNqkP42nuW&cshid=1611843123571
Dosing with a drop bottle is easier and will use less. Adding it dry should work too i guess. You might use more than needed.
If the soluton is not denoxxed propery, the precipitated gold will re-dissolve since you still have aqua regia.
Not adding too much nitric is better. Stannous can overcome a bit of free HNO3, but not much. It turns ito tin paste in nitric and looses its function as reagent.
Martijn.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin(II)_chloride&ved=2ahUKEwiC-7bA577uAhWF7qQKHfOoBl4QFjAaegQINhAI&usg=AOvVaw1a2ts8Wn_A6HJNqkP42nuW&cshid=1611843123571
Dosing with a drop bottle is easier and will use less. Adding it dry should work too i guess. You might use more than needed.
If the soluton is not denoxxed propery, the precipitated gold will re-dissolve since you still have aqua regia.
Not adding too much nitric is better. Stannous can overcome a bit of free HNO3, but not much. It turns ito tin paste in nitric and looses its function as reagent.
Martijn.
If you precipitate, the metal salts converts to elemental metal and will not react any more to stannous.
Have you dissolved ALL base metals and gold?
If not, what ever gold that may have been in there, have probabaly cemented out again, and as a result the stannous will be negative.
Stannous will only react to metal salts not the metals them self.
As a digression I will emphasize that it would be wise for you to stop this, for the time beeing, until you actually understand what you are dooing. Read and reread Hoke until you understand what she is saying and dooing.
Find som small amount of know gold and follow her advice.
This way, you and others around you, will not be harmed.
Have you dissolved ALL base metals and gold?
If not, what ever gold that may have been in there, have probabaly cemented out again, and as a result the stannous will be negative.
Stannous will only react to metal salts not the metals them self.
As a digression I will emphasize that it would be wise for you to stop this, for the time beeing, until you actually understand what you are dooing. Read and reread Hoke until you understand what she is saying and dooing.
Find som small amount of know gold and follow her advice.
This way, you and others around you, will not be harmed.
If I have gold in sands I would have no need for a stannous chloride test, using gravity and panning will separate the gold. anyone familiar with panning for gold will recognize gold in his pan.
iIn fact, if you have gold in sands leaching would be a terrible choice of recovery method. gravity is your friend with placer gold. No need to leach or use chemicals for recovery. No need for special acid tests or machine tests to be able to identify the gold, because the density is so much different than any of the other materials, panning alone will tell you if it is gold or not and give you a method to recover that gold...
I am somewhat surprised by the stannous chloride test you have, if you leached most any sands from around here you will probably get some indication of gold, even if the sand was not worth the time of panning.
Read hokes page 100 she shows you how to test for iron in solution (what I suspect you have) Iron can look similar to gold in solution, just as pyrite can look like gold to those who are new to mining gold.
Stannous chloride test is so very sensitive for gold, even if the sands did contain pyrite which could possibly have traces of gold in the matrix, the stannous chloride test would show up positive even if the ore was worthless to try and recover any of the gold from it.
While your reading Hokes, I would also study the getting acquainted experiments and get yourself acquainted with gold, and testing... Doing the tests she suggests to gain an understanding.
You can file some gold filings off some of your old jewelry, weigh it, throw it in the pan full of sand, take an old lead fishing weight, again get some filings and weigh them, throw them in the pan full of sand, gravel, and rocks.
in a larger tub of water practice your panning, separating the rocks sand, and gravel from the lead, separate the lead from the gold weigh the fillings, practice till it becomes natural and easy to separate the gold filings from all of the lighter materials.
iIn fact, if you have gold in sands leaching would be a terrible choice of recovery method. gravity is your friend with placer gold. No need to leach or use chemicals for recovery. No need for special acid tests or machine tests to be able to identify the gold, because the density is so much different than any of the other materials, panning alone will tell you if it is gold or not and give you a method to recover that gold...
I am somewhat surprised by the stannous chloride test you have, if you leached most any sands from around here you will probably get some indication of gold, even if the sand was not worth the time of panning.
Read hokes page 100 she shows you how to test for iron in solution (what I suspect you have) Iron can look similar to gold in solution, just as pyrite can look like gold to those who are new to mining gold.
Stannous chloride test is so very sensitive for gold, even if the sands did contain pyrite which could possibly have traces of gold in the matrix, the stannous chloride test would show up positive even if the ore was worthless to try and recover any of the gold from it.
While your reading Hokes, I would also study the getting acquainted experiments and get yourself acquainted with gold, and testing... Doing the tests she suggests to gain an understanding.
You can file some gold filings off some of your old jewelry, weigh it, throw it in the pan full of sand, take an old lead fishing weight, again get some filings and weigh them, throw them in the pan full of sand, gravel, and rocks.
in a larger tub of water practice your panning, separating the rocks sand, and gravel from the lead, separate the lead from the gold weigh the fillings, practice till it becomes natural and easy to separate the gold filings from all of the lighter materials.
I'm surprised that no one commented on putting aqua regia in a stainless spoon and thinking it should be possible to detect any gold at all.
Stannous tests are mostly done in plastic spoons, porcelain spot plates, on a filter paper or a cotton swab. But never on a stainless steel spoon!
Read Hoke, it has procedures on denoxing, on how to make stannous solution and testing among other things.
Göran
Stannous tests are mostly done in plastic spoons, porcelain spot plates, on a filter paper or a cotton swab. But never on a stainless steel spoon!
Read Hoke, it has procedures on denoxing, on how to make stannous solution and testing among other things.
Göran
kurtak
Well-known member
Yggdrasil said:
per the underlined - actually the AR does NOT need to be de-noxxed before doing a stannous test
There can be a LOT of free nitric in the AR & the purple stain (positive for gold) will still show up
However - if there is free nitric the purple stain will "go away" because the nitric re-dissolves the gold that makes the purple stain
If you do the test in a spot plate (or plastic spoon) & there is a LOT of free nitric the purple will show up but then go away almost instantly --- if there is very little free nitric it will take longer for the gold to re-dissolve (take longer for the purple to go away)
So - depending on the amount of free nitic in the AR will depend on how long it takes for the stain to disappear
It can be anywhere from instantly to a couple hours (or even a day)
If you do the test on a cotton swab or on paper the stain will hold for a bit longer - even if there is a LOT of free nitric --- in other words(when free nitric is involved) doing the test with a swab or on paper gives you "a bit" more of a time delay to tell you if gold is in solution compared to doing the test in a spot plate
Bottom line - if gold is in solution - a stannous test will always tell you that in fact gold is in solution - but it can/will also tell you if there is free nitric in solution - & to some degree it will tell you if there is a LOT of free nitric - a fair amount of free nitric - some free nitric - a little free nitric (or no free nitric when the stain never goes away)
The amount of free nitric also depends on what happens when you go to drop your gold
If there is a LOT of free nitric the gold may not drop at all
if there is a fair amount of free nitric the gold my drop - BUT - re-dissolve "instantly"
if there is some free nitric the gold may drop & even settle to the bottom of the beaker - but then re-dissolve if left to sit for awhile (2 - 4 hours)
With (very) little free nitric the gold will drop (even giving you a negative stannous test) but come back a couple hours later & you get a positive stannous test because even though much of the gold "stays" dropped "some" of it re-dissolves (one of the reasons for sending all AR solutions to the stock pot for copper cementing)
What happens - whether testing or dropping depends on ratios --- HCl to nitric to amount of gold dissolved in the HCl/nitric - with the amount of the nitric being the question as to what happens to the gold that is dissolved in the HCl when you go to test &/or drop the gold
Kurt
kurtak
Well-known member
g_axelsson said:
IF (big IF) there was gold gold in solution - then what you see in the SS spoon maybe cemented gold
But as I say - that's a BIG IF
Kurt
kurtak
Well-known member
Minner20 said:
That is NOT a satisfying result - you are using WAY to much solution for your test (at least for taking a pic to show us the results of your test --- pics can be deceiving)
for a better (pic) test result - put ONE drop of the solution on the paper (with no stannous) --- then on another part of the paper put another ONE drop of the solution & then put ONE drop of stannous on the drop of that solution - take a pic & show it to us
Kurt
kurtak
Well-known member
Minner20 said:
Looks to me like the the AR is simply dissolving the iron in the stainless steel spoon
In other words - the SS spoon is mostly iron - when you put the AR in the SS spoon the AR is going to work at trying to dissolve that iron - so you are simply seeing a reaction between the AR & the SS spoon
Do your stannous test in a (white) plastic spoon
Kurt
Martijn
Well-known member
This test is to show metals in solution.
So if you want to make sure you have dissolved gold, yes before precipitation.
If you want to make sure you have all the gold out after precipitation, you test the solution after settling the gold.
So to prove the solution is containing gold or proving all has dropped.
Always test one drop on filter paper or spotplate. Dilute the solution if the reaction is too dark.
Martijn.
Edited: wow! I missed a whole page of comments before posting... facepalm...
So if you want to make sure you have dissolved gold, yes before precipitation.
If you want to make sure you have all the gold out after precipitation, you test the solution after settling the gold.
So to prove the solution is containing gold or proving all has dropped.
Always test one drop on filter paper or spotplate. Dilute the solution if the reaction is too dark.
Martijn.
Edited: wow! I missed a whole page of comments before posting... facepalm...
Minner20 said:
Aj,
You have received excellent advice from some of the most knowledgeable members of this board.
That being said, I have some basic questions:
1.) How much paydirt did you have to pan through to get this result?
2.) Your paydirt appears to be exceptionally clean of any black sands (magnetite, hematite, and any other ironstone). Did you find any black sands in your soils or did you pan them all out of this sample?
3.) Do you have a lot of this soil to process?
Your pictured sample of the pan appears almost too good to be true. I am not implying that you are untruthful. I am saying in my 40+ years of gold prospecting and mining within California US and Arizona US, I have never been that lucky to find so much of what appears to be fine gold within my dredges, sluices, or pans.
If you are, indeed, finding gold of this volume with your metal detector and pan only, my advice to you is to invest in some gravity concentrators designed for the small or recreational miner that will reduce your materials much more efficiently than a gold pan.
Depending upon how clean you get your final output, you may, eventually, get the results you want through chemical leaching. I never did, because my final cons (concentrates) always contained a lot of black sands making chemical leaching next to impossible for me. I now smelt and use cupellation on my final black sand cons.
I hope you acquire many kronor from your efforts!
Peace and health,
James
