I have been extracting gold from jewelry for a few years on a small scale... after reading several articles about small amounts of gold in Pyrite, I decided to do some experimenting to see if I can find a reasonable chemical solution for the extraction process... after many not so successful attempts I believe I stumbled on a solution that appears to work... well at least on a small scale... so I acquired a $10.00 sample of Pyrite retail (about 2ozt) and was able to extract about 2 grams Au with very little waist except the normal leftover liquids to treat and dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner... I was wondering about several points and thought someone on here could help me with? I am imagining this process because of its simplicity is marketable, however I am not sure of its scalability and need some pointers from an actual chemist... as I consider myself very much an armature weekend refiner as material becomes available (mostly Jewelry) up to now... and my chemist skills are not very extensive... I am in the process of documenting and working out details... however I am also a bit reluctant to share in a open forum as it would not be that difficult for someone to remove me from the equation... any advise?
pyrite gold extraction
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Did you somehow test the Pyrite so you know it's effectiveness.
Not all pyrites has Gold in it.
How much Pyrite did you process?
My first successful size was only 2ozt +/- and was acquired from a gold museum near Denver Co. .. my current run that is in process is 1lb from an on line seller that says there Pyrite is from a gold mine in Peru ( no way to verify the source however I am getting encouraging results so far...
Well if you can extract $170 worth of gold from a sample you paid $10 for we may be talking to a potentially very rich man here. The questions I have, without going into the bells and whistles of your process is how do you know if what you recovered, the 2 grams, is actually gold. If your numbers are correct you are looking at a sample that ran 3.2% gold. That is exceptionally rare. If all pyrite ran that high they wouldn't be calling it fools gold.
I think secrecy here is smart on your part, but I think proper verification that what you recovered is actually gold is also mandatory. We can help you with the verification and you alone can decide who to trust with this potentially life changing discovery.
I think secrecy here is smart on your part, but I think proper verification that what you recovered is actually gold is also mandatory. We can help you with the verification and you alone can decide who to trust with this potentially life changing discovery.
as for as test go other then XRF to show the presence of Au not quantity test were preformed...
I am talking about the assay on the 2 grams you recovered not the crushed pyrite. If you can melt the 2 gram bead and flatten it, an XRF will give you a reliable result on a metal sample.
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As stated in the original question I have been recovering Gold from Jewelry for some time and am quite familiar with Stannous testing and acid testing... That is one of the questions I had what is normal as far as Au content in Pyrite?
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Pyrite is actually iron pyrite is iron sulfide which grows as a crystal. It is possible for microscopic quantities of gold to be trapped in the crystal growth. That process is entirely dependent on the conditions where the pyrite crystals grew. So it is impossible to say how much gold is possible because it depends on where it was mined from. There are deposits called carlin type gold deposits that can produce mineable quantities of gold. But 3% is way over the top for these deposits of invisible gold.
If you have freed this gold from the pyrite where it was trapped as microscopic particles you could in theory collect it and refine it into fine gold. Still, at historical quantities from these types of deposits, your numbers seem high.
There are many more geologist type members here who can chime in on carlin deposits and microscopic gold my experience is on the chemical side.
If you have freed this gold from the pyrite where it was trapped as microscopic particles you could in theory collect it and refine it into fine gold. Still, at historical quantities from these types of deposits, your numbers seem high.
There are many more geologist type members here who can chime in on carlin deposits and microscopic gold my experience is on the chemical side.
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I think this is why they roast to day.
But what you intend to claim is that your new process is cheaper and creates less waste than roasting?
yes from what I have seen this is both cheaper and easier and creates much less waste
and the copper may be contamination from an unclean reaction vessel
although crushed samples would probable work faster the samples I ran have not been crushed in order to better control the reaction as it is quite vigorous
One additional Question related to thread ...it would be nice to verify my results of what was extracted and the remaining solids waste... Is someone willing to run tests on the filtered waste I will also send a small amount of the Au precipitate after SMB before melt as well as a small sample of the source material...
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solarsmith
Well-known member
wow sounds like your doing the same thing I am. and I have figured out some short cuts too. 2 grams from 10$ of pyrite? Realy?
well if its 1000 lbs of pyrite that works. and I make videos about doing this on youtube and even live stream the process on saturdays.
Until you know more about the typical concentrations in carlin type deposits, I would be using a private assay lab because if everything your preliminary results indicate is true, as you said in your first post, you don't want the world knowing of this process just yet. Truth is I think the yields will be exponentially lower but I hold out hope that you are correct for your sake. But for now, cards close to your chest.
What is your youtube channel
solarsmith
Well-known member
its (BOS RECREATIONAL MINING ) THE video that aplies is the one called (pyrite destroyer) Pre leach treating sulphide gold ore concentrate with muratic acid and an oxidizer in warm water with agitation.
