what is this in my pan

[155gunner]

I have been panning in one of the local creeks here and something strange is showing up in my pan. It dull silver in color and is in very very small spheres. It is very heavy and is the last thing in the pan to move. And that takes alot of trying. It will hide behind the smallest sratch in my pan. It will amalgumate with mercury. My first thought is platnium, but I thought platinum was larger than that. Any input as to what it is and how to process it would be appreciated.

regards

Larry

 

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[russau]

i think you may be correct in your description of it being platnum. its usually found in small peices. very rarely in large nugget form.

 

[Jagdpanther]

This might help a little.

http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/078/

 

[Eu_citzen]

If you can take a pic it might be easier to ID.

 

[cosmic]

lead pellets from shotguns..

 

[155gunner]

As requested I have tried to take a photo of the stuff in question. My efforts weren't very productive. I have attached a photo but don't believe it will be very helpfull. Since I had already amalgamated the pieces that aroused my attention I had to go back and pan some more in order to try and take a photo. This stuff is as fine as smoke and it takes a lot of particals to make a showing. What is shown in my pan is the result of panning about 1 gallon of unprocessed material. I was basically test panning when I discoverd the material in question. In the photo it is the particals at the right end of the tail. there are several groupings , In fact the scratch running from the 7:00 to 2:00 position is full of it. It is hard to see in the photo but its there. Wish i had a better camera but I don't. As far as being lead shot , there is no way . this stuff is microscopic.

Thanks for all input.

Larry

 

[Functional]

As requested I have tried to take a photo of the stuff in question. My efforts weren't very productive. I have attached a photo but don't believe it will be very helpfull. Since I had already amalgamated the pieces that aroused my attention I had to go back and pan some more in order to try and take a photo. This stuff is as fine as smoke and it takes a lot of particles to make a showing. What is shown in my pan is the result of panning about 1 gallon of unprocessed material. I was basically test panning when I discovered the material in question. In the photo it is the particles at the right end of the tail. there are several groupings , In fact the scratch running from the 7:00 to 2:00 position is full of it. It is hard to see in the photo but its there. Wish i had a better camera but I don't. As far as being lead shot , there is no way . this stuff is microscopic.

Thanks for all input.

Larry

Have you tried to group the small pieces together? I'm just wondering if that isn't some small drops of mercury, either naturally occurring, or lost by other miners and mining operations over the years? I'm not sure where your locating this material, but platinum is pretty limited in the number of locations its normally found. Also, platinum tends to stay in, or close to the black sand when you swirl your gold pan. I can't think of many other minerals that would appear silvery in areas with black sand.

Do you have a mercury retort and are you familiar with its safe operation? It would be nice to see this material without any impurities, if there are any present. As for the pictures, if you know of anyone with one of those large desk mounted magnifying glasses, take the picture through that, (it usually distorts the image slightly, but not enough to make a difference).

You might want to invest a few bucks in chemical test kits for platinum, gold and silver. The best place I've found on the web for these is: http://www.wholesale-scales.com/
Heres a direct link to the test kits:
http://www.wholesale-scales.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18&products_id=66
They also sell related scales and jewelers tools.


F.

 

[155gunner]

I do have a retort but have not used it yet. That brings up another question. Since I have some amalgum that I know at this point has at least two different elements in it, when I retort how do I seperate them. I am speaking of course the gold and what ever else is in the mix. As far as different size pieces , it is all basically the same , almost microscopic to the point that it takes a lot of particals to make a showing. So far I have not recovered anything larger than the microscopic size. As far as location, I am in one of the two states that is not supposed to have any gold. Kentucky. I can attest that that premis is false. we do have it in limited quantity. Glacial gold.

regards

Larry

 

[Functional]

Once you've used your retort, (out of doors in a well ventilated area and with a proper condenser, (packed with ice helps)), you should end up with just the gold and platinum. So, you would have a choice of chemical methods, or heat. Personally, I've never had to deal with gold and platinum as fine as you seem to have there, so you might want to see what you can glean from the wisdom on this website:
http://www.prospectorsparadise.com/html/assaying.html
Don't read just the one page, there are tips and tricks on most pages, (and not all links are listed in the menu on every page).

Some additional info on this page: http://www.nuggethunters.org/smelting.html
There is also a free ebook online for assaying, but that might be overkill.

In the end, you will likely be looking at buying, or building, (much cheaper), a high temperature furnace, which is an endeavour unto itself. Its either that, or find someplace with much courser gold, or at least flakes that will be more worthy of your time and effort.


F.

 

[155gunner]

Thanks to Functional as well as others who have responded to my questions. All very good links and usefull info. What I have found so far was just a few panfulls of test material. I am curious what a couple hours running time with my dredge will produce. I will be giving it a try as soon as the flood waters around here receed.

Regards

Larry

 

[TOWcritter]

Hate to burst your bubble but I see this stuff all the time. When I snipe the creeks for gold in the summer time, I see those little sparkly buggers everywhere. I did some research and came to find that they are the reflective beads in the paint on the lines on the roadways. Microscopic yes! Pretty neat...Yes! Worth anything ..Notta. My 2 cents. Happy AU 2 U 2!

 

[Eu_citzen]

Thanks for the pics. I am/was thinking the same as Functional because of your description.
You have tested to see if it is magnetic? I have something similar which is magnetic in my area which seems to have higher SG then gold.

Gunner have you looked at it with a loupe? It might give you a better idea of how it looks like.

Cheers,
Eu

 

[155gunner]

Hate to burst your bubble but I see this stuff all the time. When I snipe the creeks for gold in the summer time, I see those little sparkly buggers everywhere. I did some research and came to find that they are the reflective beads in the paint on the lines on the roadways. Microscopic yes! Pretty neat...Yes! Worth anything ..Notta. My 2 cents. Happy AU 2 U 2!
Intersesting insight and comment. Trouble is that this particular creek drains an area with no road crossings that have reflective paint.

EU-citizen. I have not checked it with a magnet. Good idea. I will try it and report back.

Regards

Larry

 

[Functional]

Thanks to Functional as well as others who have responded to my questions. All very good links and usefull info. What I have found so far was just a few panfulls of test material. I am curious what a couple hours running time with my dredge will produce. I will be giving it a try as soon as the flood waters around here receed.

Regards

Larry

No problemo.

I hope your planning on taking several samples for testing, with either GPS coordinates, or mark the locations on a map. I hate when you find a good spot and think you can find it again next season, but when you come back, everything has changed.

While your waiting, you might have time to read that ebook I mentioned on assaying. Here is the URL:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18751
Its only available in text format and a little winded in some places, but it covers everything and has some good drawings.

Our flood season hasn't really started yet, but by the time I'm ready to head out, it should be nearly over, (around mid June). At least your lucky to be able to use suction dredges in your area. Here they don't allow them except on registered claims and only after approval and submitting a bond and signing over your soul and that of any loved ones. At least theres enough gold here to justify panning and nugget hunting. We even have huge areas that are dedicated to those pursuits only. And not allowing dredges keeps most people on a level playing field.

Good luck out there!

F.

 

[DanB]

he probably found quick silver..........need a photo to stop speculation


db

 

[155gunner]

I'm just wondering if that isn't some small drops of mercury, either naturally occurring, or lost by other miners and mining operations over the years?
Thanks again Functional. You nailed it with the suggestion of it being mercury. I put some of it under a microscope and it sure looks like mercury to me. The area where this came from has no history of mercury use by mining or whatever, so it has to be natural mercury. I will never again eat anything coming from our waterways . I just wonder how good the water filtration plants are at getting this stuff out of the water supply. We have been getting warnings here for several years about the hazards of eating fish. Now I know why. I realize that I occasionaly handle mercury, but I take all precautions, outside ,upwind, gloves and protective gear, but whats the use. We are consuming this stuff on a daily basis. Some articals I have read say that a little mercury consumed is not a real hazard. I think this goes beyond a little. As a curosity earlier this year I had myself tested for heavy metals. The test did not show even a trace amount of lead or mercury. So go figure.

Again, Thanks to all who participated in this discussion.

Regards

Larry

 

[Ian_B]

If you would like to get a 99.9% idea of what it is and how to test it to find out what it is
you might want to sign up to to this forum they specialize in refining gold/silver/ platinum/ etc etc from scrap materials but the test would work for your needs

and there are a ton of tutorials on their for how to test for different metals like using stannous cloride for gold/ paladium/ platinum

last time i logged in they had 18000 plus posts and over 2.8 thousand members

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB2/index.php

 

[155gunner]

Thanks Ian-B. Very interesting site.

Regards

Larry

 

[ChuckNC]

I have found fine Pt that looks like little balls, similar to Hg. If you have some nitric acid, use a small amount to see if the silvery particles dissolve. If they do, you probably have Hg and need to either build or buy a retort. If they don't, try and have someone assay or analize them. You could be in for a nice surprise.

Chuck

 

[155gunner]

Thanks for the suggestions ChuckNC. I do have nitric acid and will try your suggestions. I tried to get these things to join and so far have had no success. I put them in a small group and put a little sodium hydroxide in thinking that that might help but after sitting all night nothing happened.

regards

larry