New Guy Looking to confirm if it's really Platinum - JSP test sol and Stannous Chloride result what about false positives?

[Six]

Hi Everyone,

Very interesting forum that you have here!

We found some rocks that may have some platinum, but we're also wondering if we could be getting a false positive. I realise this is a refining forum rather than geology forum but this forum has a much better understanding of chemistry and chemistry tests which is what this question is about.

We have soaked the slate rock chips in JSP brand 22 kt gold testing solution (see Chemicals Used below) overnight to clean them. Then we added a drop of JSP platinum testing solution and a drop of stannous chloride (23% HCL) per rock chip sitting on a paper napkin. After a couple of minutes the area underneath and around the rock chips started to turn yellow and after 2 hours looked like the attached picture.

From reading previous forum posts I understand that the colour test result for platinum is sometimes a bit more orange, but I am wondering if that might be due to the relatively weak HCL solution in the stannous chloride (there was excess tin per below)?

Does any know of any other chemicals that would both:

• survive the JSP 22 kt gold testing solution
• give a similar colour to the photo on the Stannous Chloride test?

We have read that Barite (Barium Sulphate) can do this from these forums. However, we are confident it is not Barite as my partner, who is a Professional Geologist, is already familiar with Barite and it is not found in rocks in this area.

Chemicals Used

The JSP brand 22 kt gold and platinum testing solutions were new and tested on a gold ring with a scratchplate to confirm the effectiveness of the gold solution prior to use below.

From the Safety Data Sheets the test solutions contain the following:

• JSP platinum Test Sol – Nitric acid 40% to 60% and potassium dichromate 2% to 8% concentration % by weight
• JSP 22 kt gold test sol - Nitric acid 40% to 60% and Hydrochloric acid 2% to 8% concentration % by weight

Stannous chloride was made using 23% HCL with an excess of tin and heated up outside to over 60 deg C.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and I look forward to any responses and advice.

 

[butcher]

Those test solutions and the testing methods are used on metals and alloys, those procedures are not for testing rocks, testing rocks or soils would give all kinds of strange results, or the colors generated would not mean much of anything of value, there are methods to test ores or soils for values, but they are different and are usually much more involved.

Now if that test and procedure were done on a nugget of platinum, a natural nugget of elemental copper (metal), or a gold nugget, then your test would be valid.

In rock soils or ore, most of the metals would be composed of salts of those metals that would either not react to your present tests or method or give all kinds of strange reactions, even if they did have some precious metal involved.