Iodine Leach for Gold (and other PM's?)

[Traveller11]

I have been tinkering with a placer ore that is mainly clay although there is a minute amount of black sand visible in it. There are likely pyrites and other things which would probably qualify this as a complex ore. Also, because the placer deposit is on the seashore here, there is likely a certain amount of salt present.

I Googled "Iodine Leach for Gold" and came up with some very interesting articles. Many of them claim that the formula for the iodine leach involves nothing more than 1 part of 7% Iodine solution, 1 part ore and 10 parts water.

Reputedly, it is a very slow leach; taking as long as 48 hours or longer to recover gold from the ore. The advantage, however, is that it is a very selective leach and ignores base metals while recovering gold, PGM's and silver.

According to the article in Gold Mine World iodine, though expensive, can be re-used over and over.

Anyone know anything about this process? It sounds almost too good to be true; especially the part about being able to leach PGM's. But, if the article is truthful, it would seem to be the ideal thing for the small batch leaching I have in mind.

I should add that the article said to provide plenty of ventilation as the iodine fumes released in this process are definitely toxic.

 

[Anonymous]

If the "iodine fumes" are toxic, and they are. You might have a hard time resusing the iodine that is being vented away.

Jim

 

[Traveller11]

They do reccommend placing a tight fitting lid on the leaching container once the process has been set in motion. Whether or not this is to stop evaporation of the iodine, I don't know. They give out the barest of details on this page but they do have an iodine leaching manual available for $39.95 at the bottom of the page.

Before I shell out $40 plus tax, I'd like to hear what some of the educated types on this forum have to say about the feasibility of employing iodine for recovering gold and PGM's.

Bob

 

[Russmith007]

Here is a link with some pretty good information about Iodine leaching presented in laymans terms.

http://webpages.charter.net/kwilliams00/bcftp/bcftp.htm

 

[jsargent]

Be aware that 7% iodine is a hot item on the DEA "watch list". If you buy more than a couple bottles of it you may get a not so polite knock on your door one night. My local feed store had a bunch of it for sale and I missed the opportunity to buy it. Someone came in and bought two dozen bottles at once. Now, the owner, who is a friend of mine, is nervous about stocking it after he was visited by a couple of Men in Black.
Bottom line is if you buy some, use cash and don't give them your name.

Remember when America was a free country?

 

[trashmaster]

Hello all... If you are looking for A stronger solution of Iodine then go to tour local vet's office ( animal doctor ) they use an solution of 35% or so I have heard,,,, also for more info on Iodone and other chemical proseses go to WWW.prospectorsparadise.com I hope this will help someone .... paul

 

[Anonymous]

I'm Canadian and had no problem purchasing 99.99 percent Iodine crystals, from the druggist. He ordered it on for me at a fraction of the cost it sells for on ebay.

If the US feds are so concerned why haven't they shut down the sales of iodine on ebay.

Here's 28 grams of iodine crystals 99.98 percent selling with a buy it now for $10.03 - item=180325397834 ending Mar-03-09 13:09:09 PST

And I'll sell my unopened larger bottle to anyone interested for $50.00 plus shipping.

 

[jsargent]

If the US feds are so concerned why haven't they shut down the sales of iodine on ebay.

Trying to figure out why the US Feds do what they do is an exercise in futility. Equally puzzling are the rules and regs at the State level. In Texas, if you want to buy or even possess certain glassware items, you need a Department of Public Safety permit. Certain items one can see the rationale for, such as distillation colums and Soxhlet extractors, which are needed for production of illicit organic chemicals (or so I'm told :roll: ) What is laughable though is the restriction on items such as Erlynmeyer flasks, heating mantles, rheostats (yes rheostats) and the like. I guess they never realized a glass coffee pot, a pan full of sand and a dimmer switch can perform the exact same functions. Just for the record (in case Big Brother is reading this), my company is fully permitted via the DPS. As a side note, the folks I have dealt with at the DPS have all been helpful and polite. Often they are just as baffled as I am as to why these items are regulated and we've had a good chuckle about it. Blame it on the idiot politicians I say. The ones who graduated with liberal arts degrees and little or no science education. They wouldn't know a rheostat if it bit 'em on the ass.

 

[jsargent]

Sorry for the rant. The focus is on iodine and this was off topic.

Too much caffeine :shock:

 

[Anonymous]

Holly Molly radioactive gold possibly in circulation, WTF now you need a Geiger counter to buy a set of cuff links.

I think the economists may have underestimated the value of gold to come in the near future.

More scary facts about the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/paducah2/pgd_p3.html

 

[Traveller11]

Thank you for posting the links. It seems obvious, from reading further, that iodine will work for recovering gold.

The real question in my mind is if the claim that iodine will leach PGM's from an ore is true or not. Also, none of these articles mention using SMB as a precipitate. I wonder if it will work in this case as it does in the case of HCL-Clorox leaching.

 

[butcher]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ei=zx2dSajsB4HwsAPOmMWmAg&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&q=iodine+leach+Platinum+group+metals&spell=1

have never heard of using SMB with iodine.
when I buy Iodine at feed store have to show drivers licence, social security card, and my car regestration. its those da**rn methanfetamine makers drugy's screwing it up for every one else.
between them the terrorist ,and a controlling uncle etcetera, its getting hard to get normal chemicals.

 

[wop1969]

If the US feds are so concerned why haven't they shut down the sales of iodine on ebay.

Trying to figure out why the US Feds do what they do is an exercise in futility. Equally puzzling are the rules and regs at the State level. In Texas, if you want to buy or even possess certain glassware items, you need a Department of Public Safety permit. Certain items one can see the rationale for, such as distillation colums and Soxhlet extractors, which are needed for production of illicit organic chemicals (or so I'm told :roll: ) What is laughable though is the restriction on items such as Erlynmeyer flasks, heating mantles, rheostats (yes rheostats) and the like. I guess they never realized a glass coffee pot, a pan full of sand and a dimmer switch can perform the exact same functions. Just for the record (in case Big Brother is reading this), my company is fully permitted via the DPS. As a side note, the folks I have dealt with at the DPS have all been helpful and polite. Often they are just as baffled as I am as to why these items are regulated and we've had a good chuckle about it. Blame it on the idiot politicians I say. The ones who graduated with liberal arts degrees and little or no science education. They wouldn't know a rheostat if it bit 'em on the ass.

LOL X 3
Its the big WAR ON DRUGS that they dont want to end, then the national unemployment rate would go up.

Funny thing the word WAR, seems to me the deffanition is a conflict that never ends.