Looking for insights on rhodium and extraction methods.

[RuckusAmongus]

Recently had the good luck of inheriting an old mine used for rare earths and gold. Well they found all the gold and were very thorough in getting every little bit according to the XRF gun I was fortunate enough to have access to. However what was left behind is very large and notable ammounts of PGM's in the left overs. Ive puck milled enough to begin experimenting with methods to get at all the Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Pb etc... but for the life of me I'm having a hard time finding a true and worthwhile descriptive example on what I need to do to dissolve and cement Rh, Ru that is there. I'm new to this and the man who was kind enough to leave this to our family is 96 and he's the only one I can say for certain has that knowledge, which is now a little harder to bring up god bless him, I need to move forward. any adevice and experience on the subject would be greatly appreciated. THANKS

 

[Yggdrasil]

PGM's and XRFs are not always actual friend, even if they pretend to.
You NEED to have the correct libraries to get trustworthy results.
Arsenic are often mistaken for IR and so on.
The best is to have a proper assay done.

 

[orvi]

You need to be more specific. What is the actual ore ? Is it some sulfidic stuff, or just a rock/sand where XRF show the Rh, Pd and Ru ? You will have hard time to process ore containing significant ammounts of Pb and Cd as they are toxic and cumulative.
Be cautious with XRF results on ores. If you are persuaded PGMs are in the ore, make a representative sample and get it assayed in certified lab. Not cheap, but you will obtain relevant result to begin with.

This is a very common thread here. Somebody analyze piece of metal, rocks or some sand with XRF and it show Rh, Pd etc... Rh is the rarest metal on earth, yet there are dozens of threads every year where people claimed they found rocks with 1-5% Rh content no one of these ever found appreciable Rh in the stuff. Or at least do not inform us, that Rh was sucessfully extracted or even proven to be present with real assay.

 

[samuel-a]

You need to be more specific. What is the actual ore ? Is it some sulfidic stuff, or just a rock/sand where XRF show the Rh, Pd and Ru ? You will have hard time to process ore containing significant ammounts of Pb and Cd as they are toxic and cumulative.
Be cautious with XRF results on ores. If you are persuaded PGMs are in the ore, make a representative sample and get it assayed in certified lab. Not cheap, but you will obtain relevant result to begin with.

This is a very common thread here. Somebody analyze piece of metal, rocks or some sand with XRF and it show Rh, Pd etc... Rh is the rarest metal on earth, yet there are dozens of threads every year where people claimed they found rocks with 1-5% Rh content no one of these ever found appreciable Rh in the stuff. Or at least do not inform us, that Rh was sucessfully extracted or even proven to be present with real assay.

So true

 

[justinhcase]

I have been asked by Plymouth University to try and find them clients that would benefit from their latest developments in automated mineral analysis.
It is quite groundbreaking no fire assay but a complete dissection of the sample using an electron beam to distinguish internal structures and perform fluorescent analysis on extremely small arias.
They can produce one of the world's most accurate virtual maps of your ore body.
I did offer this the other day to a member who thought this could only be a scam.
Quite hilarious, I know this may well be a bit over some people's heads but there really is no need to be rude when someone offers you one of the best services in the world.
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/about-us...apabilities-of-automated-mineralogy-in-mining

 

[jobinyt]

I did a quick Google search on Plymouth University electron microscope mineralbidentification. About all I concluded is that it may be helpful in some circumstances not well defined. It would be interesting to know members here think, and to know more of real world applicability. Pending that OP seems on a wild goose chase in which the offered service seems unlikely to increase profits.

 

[justinhcase]

I did a quick Google search on Plymouth University electron microscope mineralbidentification. About all I concluded is that it may be helpful in some circumstances not well defined. It would be interesting to know members here think, and to know more of real world applicability. Pending that OP seems on a wild goose chase in which the offered service seems unlikely to increase profits.

Their individual analysis of a sample goes quite beyond any fire assay, they can tell you where on the earth or elsewhere a sample most likely has originated from, not simply trying to melt the elements. But actually seeing them in situ.
Then they automated the system using artificial intelligence and learning.
It is still in the development stage, but that is why we can gain access.
The results so far are quite staggering.
It is down to sampling, the more accurately analyzed samples from the wide as possible amount of locations give you the best results.
Being able to set it all up in a lab and leave it running overnight instead of having to stand over thousand of fire assays all day has got to be a winner.
XRF is inefficient because it only scans a small proportion of the surface.
This gives you millions of data points from a sample automatically.

 

[Tony S]

I have been asked by Plymouth University to try and find them clients that would benefit from their latest developments in automated mineral analysis.
It is quite groundbreaking no fire assay but a complete dissection of the sample using an electron beam to distinguish internal structures and perform fluorescent analysis on extremely small arias.
They can produce one of the world's most accurate virtual maps of your ore body.
I did offer this the other day to a member who thought this could only be a scam.
Quite hilarious, I know this may well be a bit over some people's heads but there really is no need to be rude when someone offers you one of the best services in the world.
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/about-us...apabilities-of-automated-mineralogy-in-mining

That is interesting for me. We have been doing ICP-MS analyses of our iron oxides and quartz on our alluvial mine. They are very helpful, but expensive. Could I be in touch to explore this idea a bit? Thank you

 

[justinhcase]

That is interesting for me. We have been doing ICP-MS analyses of our iron oxides and quartz on our alluvial mine. They are very helpful, but expensive. Could I be in touch to explore this idea a bit? Thank you

If you are a legitimate company or mine owners I will put you together.
Drop me an email to my company and I will forward them.

 

[Tony S]

If you are a legitimate company or mine owners I will put you together.
Drop me an email to my company and I will forward them.

Done!

 

[RuckusAmongus]

You need to be more specific. What is the actual ore ? Is it some sulfidic stuff, or just a rock/sand where XRF show the Rh, Pd and Ru ? You will have hard time to process ore containing significant ammounts of Pb and Cd as they are toxic and cumulative.
Be cautious with XRF results on ores. If you are persuaded PGMs are in the ore, make a representative sample and get it assayed in certified lab. Not cheap, but you will obtain relevant result to begin with.

This is a very common thread here. Somebody analyze piece of metal, rocks or some sand with XRF and it show Rh, Pd etc... Rh is the rarest metal on earth, yet there are dozens of threads every year where people claimed they found rocks with 1-5% Rh content no one of these ever found appreciable Rh in the stuff. Or at least do not inform us, that Rh was sucessfully extracted or even proven to be present with real assay.