unknown "precips"..

[AuMINIMayhem]

got a baggie full of "precipitates" supposedly from AR..

honestly, it looks like red clay, well that color and cosistency at any rate. I stuck about a tsp full in some warm HCL and it did dissolve and changed the HCL to a yellowish color with a very micro amount of "sand" or whatever kind of grit (clearish) on the bottom.. I'm thinking of slowly doing some in the HCL/Clorox mix and then making some Stannous CL to test for gold.. waste of time or other suggestions?.. maybe I didn't get hosed after all?.. I've never dealt with AR or its precips so I have no idea if these fit the descript or not.. got it on ebay for like 8 bucks for a little over 160+ grams.. the listing is over so here's what was in the item description.. hey, it was only eight bucks.. couldn't pass it up!

"This is 161 + grams of precipitates, derived from enriched ore, then dropped out of aqua regia solution by adding a storm precipitant. I have no way to estimte what percentages of gold and PGM's are present, but do know the ore is very rich in both as well. I have no way to process the ore preciptates further myself, so though to give ebay a try. All precipitate powder/crystals are completly dry and safe to handle.

Can obtain more of the precipitant if I find it worthwhile to list..."

what arrived didn't quite look like the pictures really.. actually it looked like he just dug some clay-dirt out of the backyard..

 

[Noxx]

hum... Looks like a precipitation of Sodium Nitrate or potassium Nitrate. Does it dissolves in water ?

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

not so much in water.. became what could be best described as "Georgia red clay".. but it did dissolve almost 99.999% of the tsp. full I put in some HCL.. not so much at first with the HCL being room temp but then I placed the beaker with the solution in a non metallic bowl of very hot tap water (my preferred method for warming up an acid solution) some mild fumes and reaction. The resultant liquid now looks like pee (sorry, :lol: but it's pretty much exactly what it looks like). Also, the precip has no detectable odor either dry or wet (with water), naturally I'm not going to smell it with fumes coming from a beaker of HCL and an unknown substance, "Mayhem" doesn't translate into stupid :lol: :lol: .. I did, however, try wafting it a bit and only caught a very brief wiff of that typical HCL reacting with anything smell.. you know the one I'm talking about, just a very caustic, acidy burn, not quite a smell... nothing like eggs, nothing like anything that might give a clue to anything being released like hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs) or cyanide (almonds)... so now, I'm stumped..

What's even more odd is the guy had sent me very specific instructions on how to "smelt" the stuff, but he said he couldn't do it because it needed to be done at a higher temp than he could achieve (somewhere near 3000f) because of PGMs and other stuff.. really nice guy (I think), he's sent me a couple emails since (I bought this stuff a couple months ago, just found it again yesterday) and thought I'd try to experiment with it, now that I found this forum and have some oher people whose brains I can pick..

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

here's a couple of the emails I got from the guy over time..

after I asked him about using this flux:
(from http://www.nuggethunters.org/smelting.html)

1, anhydrous Borax, 5 parts.
2, #70 silica sand, 40 parts.
3, soda ash, 10 parts.
4, sodium nitrate, 20 parts [oxidizer].

I got this response..

"Sounds like a pretty good flux mixture, but for this precipitate I would go with Less silica sand and more powdered hardwood charcoal, Hickory charcoal from your grocer will work in a pinch, but requiers time and energy to mortor. please keep me updated. Sincerely (censored)...P.S., Remember the flux to ore should be at least 3 to 1"
could it be this is more Platinum than anything else?.. he never really said.. :?

and after I sent him an email to let him know I received it:

"Glad you got the package ok, there is a little Au mixed with the ore presipes. However, most of the rest are PGM's thus reuireing the higher temps. you can try smelting at lower temps to see what happens but it will have to burn longer at a lower temp. instead of 1hr at 3000deg. try 1.5 - 2.0 hrs. at 2000deg.F. I'll be interested to know how it does. "
Also in the package was a set of instructions (basically the same as above, but a little more detailed.. I just can't find them right now)

nothing like a little mystery powder to spice things up, eh?.. 8)

 

[lazersteve]

Mayhem,

First remove all water soluables by washing with two to three rinses of hot water. Save the water for stannous chloride testing.

Next wash the residue (if any) with warm HCl and save this solution as above for testing.

If you have anything left post some pictures of it and let us know about the results of the tests for the water and acid based solutions.

Steve

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

that's what I'm working on today.. should I just do straight HCL or HCL and Clorox?.. I was planning on the HCL and clorox.. also, FYI, I'm having a helluva time finding Tin to make the stannous chloride.. I was just going to buy a piece of tin from HD or Lowes and cut small strips of it to dissolve that way, but nobody carries the stuff anymore.. it's all aluminum.. I know somebody posted there's a guy here that has the powdered Tin, but I'm impatient :lol:

I did go to the local brewer's supply and get ahold of the SMB.. that was actually pretty easy.. $2.99 (no sales tax, it's NH) for a 4oz bottle of powdered form.. if anyone needs any, pm me and let me know (I thought it was a decent price, anyways)..

Derek

 

[Noxx]

Try straight HCl.

 

[jimdoc]

Mayhem,
You should be able to find 95% tin solder at Lowes
or Home Depot that should work, just pour it off of
the antimony that will settle at the bottom(the other
5%)

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

Try straight HCl.

will do... thanks..

 

[AuMINIMayhem]

Mayhem,
You should be able to find 95% tin solder at Lowes
or Home Depot that should work, just pour it off of
the antimony that will settle at the bottom(the other
5%)

sweet.. thanks.. (I was wondering about solder, but all I saw so far said "Silver bearing")