Is there gold in any type of sand?
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Geo
Well-known member
Where did you get the sand?
I had to come back and say that the sand in the picture looks like play sand from somewhere like Lowe's or Homedepot. If it is, then no it does not contain any gold. By law, any sand or gravel company can not sell gold bearing ore for sand or gravel. If the gold content was high enough to make mining of the sand profitable, it would have to be stripped of the precious metals first.
I had to come back and say that the sand in the picture looks like play sand from somewhere like Lowe's or Homedepot. If it is, then no it does not contain any gold. By law, any sand or gravel company can not sell gold bearing ore for sand or gravel. If the gold content was high enough to make mining of the sand profitable, it would have to be stripped of the precious metals first.
jeneje
Well-known member
Just to comment on your post. First, welcome to the forum. Now to the serious stuff. Have you had an assay done on the sand to know what you have, if not, you should. Without an assay on the sand how would you know if you even have gold.
Mixing acids into materials without having some ideal what is there is not a good idea. Matter of fact, it is downright dangerous. There are several things those white crystals could be. One that comes to mind is (Hg) Mercury.
There is a way to know for sure but, i will let one of the moderators explain how to best test for it if they choose to disclose it. If you have not yet downloaded CM Hoke book on refining, i suggest you do so and begin reading it.
Be safe and good luck with your studies.
Ken
Mixing acids into materials without having some ideal what is there is not a good idea. Matter of fact, it is downright dangerous. There are several things those white crystals could be. One that comes to mind is (Hg) Mercury.
There is a way to know for sure but, i will let one of the moderators explain how to best test for it if they choose to disclose it. If you have not yet downloaded CM Hoke book on refining, i suggest you do so and begin reading it.
Be safe and good luck with your studies.
Ken
Thanks to you all. Correct, this sand is "all purpose sand" from Home Depot, so there no mercury in it. The topic is about any type of sand, so after iron is gone, what the red color can be in the solution, how the yellow turns to red just by sitting on the table for an hour or two.
Is there any places who will perform chemical analysis to identify my white powder? Thanks again
Zurab
Is there any places who will perform chemical analysis to identify my white powder? Thanks again
Zurab
Grelko
Well-known member
ZK1 said:
Welcome to the forum,
I must ask, did you happen to watch the "gold in home depot sand" video on youtube? (I've seen it :roll: ) It wouldn't be worth the money or trouble panning the entire bag, or bags, for a tiny bit of black sand, and even less gold.
Now, if you got the sand from crushed ore, or knew of an area that contained gold "river, mountain, etc." then you'd want to get an assay done on it, and possibly a claim afterwards. There could be gold bearing sand on a beach at the ocean also, but it probably wouldn't contain much.
I'm still learning, but if there isn't any iron in the solution, the red could be copper oxide (I).
Grelko said:
Welcome to the forum,
I must ask, did you happen to watch the "gold in home depot sand" video on youtube? (I've seen it :roll: )
I would like to think your joking but having been on the forum some years now I'm afraid your not :shock:
Come on people get real, there's gold in finger and toenail cuttings but I'm sure not going to collect them and try to recover it
jeneje
Well-known member
Like so many who come here with questions, they never give details. Yet, they want the answer. :shock:
What type of acid did you use? What concentration?
Did you mix any acids together?
How much and how long did you heat the material?
Did you try to incinerate or (roast) the material first?
Did you concentrate down the material first in any type of mech. equipment to see if you have any free gold?
What type of tests have you run on the crystals?
Everybody here will try to help, but you have to do your part. As-far-as saying there is NO Mercury in the sand without testing it is an assumption. Just because it came from Home Depot is not a 100% guarantee. Never make an assumption when dealing with ANY type of material, you might not live to regret it.
You say you dissolved it first, If it completely dissolved all the sand it tells me you used HF. HF is the only acid I know of that will completely dissolve silica sand. That type of acid is not recommended because of its danger. They may be other ways but i am not aware of them.
Ken
What type of acid did you use? What concentration?
Did you mix any acids together?
How much and how long did you heat the material?
Did you try to incinerate or (roast) the material first?
Did you concentrate down the material first in any type of mech. equipment to see if you have any free gold?
What type of tests have you run on the crystals?
Everybody here will try to help, but you have to do your part. As-far-as saying there is NO Mercury in the sand without testing it is an assumption. Just because it came from Home Depot is not a 100% guarantee. Never make an assumption when dealing with ANY type of material, you might not live to regret it.
You say you dissolved it first, If it completely dissolved all the sand it tells me you used HF. HF is the only acid I know of that will completely dissolve silica sand. That type of acid is not recommended because of its danger. They may be other ways but i am not aware of them.
Ken
rickbb
Well-known member
Here's what I think.
I think you're not going to around here very long at all if you continue with posts like that.
No offence intended, but you did ask what I think.
I think you're not going to around here very long at all if you continue with posts like that.
No offence intended, but you did ask what I think.
What does this have to do with refining?ZK1 said:
No, I'm not going to watch a 2 hour video to find out. Be specific, and if you link to a long video give a summary and exactly what you are asking about.
Göran
If you want to discuss alchemy, you're on the wrong forum. We not only dissuade the discussion of alchemy, we don't allow it. Alchemy is and always has been (for many centuries) a BS pseudo science. If you persist in discussing or promoting alchemy, you will be banned.ZK1 said:
I would hope that no one wastes 2 hours of their time viewing that video.
jeneje
Well-known member
Guys, am I missing something here? Without an assay done on the material (your sand) there is NO WAY to know what you have. Why don't you answer the questions I have posted if you truly want help from the forum. :roll:ZK1 said:
Ken
All solid metals are in the form of crystals. The science of study of metals is called metallography, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetallographyZK1 said:
Your question doesn't make any sense, it's like saying "If I turned air into a gas, can I turn it back into air?".
Göran
Geo
Well-known member
I will take a shot at your white crystals. Since you dissolved something from this sand, lets play a guessing game with it because that's all it will be. The sand you bought is most likely river sand. It has certain percentages of of many minerals. I would suspect iron is the cause of the color change. All yellow solution is not gold chloride. The white crystals could be any metal salt but not gold because I have never seen gold as a white powder before. I'm not saying I have seen it all but with the chemicals we use, I have seen about all the different things gold can look like. You can chalk this one up as a learning experience and try to unlearn all of the "gold from glass" "mono-atomic gold" "ormus gold" "gold from sea water" and all the other outlandish claims made on youtube. If you could get gold from everyday things, gold would be worthless. All these people who say you can become rich if you just buy their "how to" is getting rich off of your money.
A man writes a book on becoming a millionaire and sells it for a dollar. You buy the book thinking "what have I got to lose for a dollar?". When the book arrives with the fancy cover that reads "how to make a million dollars" you open it with excitement. The first sentence in the instructions on how to make a million dollars is "write a book and sell it for a dollar per copy".
A man writes a book on becoming a millionaire and sells it for a dollar. You buy the book thinking "what have I got to lose for a dollar?". When the book arrives with the fancy cover that reads "how to make a million dollars" you open it with excitement. The first sentence in the instructions on how to make a million dollars is "write a book and sell it for a dollar per copy".
bswartzwelder
Well-known member
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I'm surprised about the questions you have been asking. If you have been a member of the forum for several years, then you should know the answers to your questions, assuming you have done ANY reading. Having been a member for that long, you should have absorbed enough information by osmosis to answer your questions. You haven't said what acid(s) you used, so we have no way to know what might or might not have been dissolved, but I'd bet my left testicle you won't find gold in Home Depot sand.
Even assuming you used the proper acid(s), you should have known how to easily test for the presence of gold. We have been over that subject at least a hundred times in the past 6 months. If there was 1/2 gram of gold in a 50 pound bag of Home Depot sand, the sand at Home Depot would have sold out years ago. You're on a snipe hunt.
Even assuming you used the proper acid(s), you should have known how to easily test for the presence of gold. We have been over that subject at least a hundred times in the past 6 months. If there was 1/2 gram of gold in a 50 pound bag of Home Depot sand, the sand at Home Depot would have sold out years ago. You're on a snipe hunt.
Grelko
Well-known member
ZK1 said:
I've read a couple studies on nanogold and even picogold being used for medicine, but this forum is about the recovery and refining of precious metals and doesn't concern medicine.
I believe when we have gold in solution, before dropping it with sodium metabisulfite the gold would be "nano" particles, but I could be wrong.
(If I happen to accidently cross any lines with my responses, please let me know, and I or a Mod can delete it)
Barren Realms 007
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He is persistant while walking on a tight rope. :lol:
