Gold....ore, or Gold Arsenopyrite

[Clay Diggins]

A better method has been found. www.treasurenet.com/forums/hard-roc...g-arsenopyrite-other-sulphide-based-ores.html

And this method is in use around the world and is being further researched daily.

It is not "in use around the world". It is being seriously researched. From your own linked research paper Bio-Oxidation and Biocyanidation of Refractory Mineral Ores for Gold Extraction:

Bioleaching is a promising process for extraction of precious metals such as Au, Ag, and Pt from mineral ores as new concepts and novel ideas are emerging in this field. It is expected that in the coming years, several new commercial-size bioleaching plants will be commissioned.

I don't know of any mines with arsenopyrite ores experimenting with bio leaching. If you know of one please direct me to them. I know dozens of companies that would like to think this could be successful.

Heavy Pans

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Man, all the stuff that I'm reading says that there's a good amount in arsenopyrite. Too bad a better method couldn't be figured out.

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Some Arsenopyrite has Gold in the ore. The vast majority of Arsenopyrite has no Gold. Arsenic is more than 10 times as common as Gold is in the earths mantle.

Without a fire assay the amount of Gold that might be present in any sulfide is pure speculation. Heck you don't even know if the ore you have is Arsenopyrite, Galena or some other mineral. Get the assay. You might be surprised.

Heavy Pans

 

[Mad Machinist]

It is not "in use around the world". It is being seriously researched. From your own linked research paper Bio-Oxidation and Biocyanidation of Refractory Mineral Ores for Gold Extraction:


I don't know of any mines with arsenopyrite ores experimenting with bio leaching. If you know of one please direct me to them. I know dozens of companies that would like to think this could be successful.

Heavy Pans

Give me a little.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Some Arsenopyrite has Gold in the ore. The vast majority of Arsenopyrite has no Gold. Arsenic is more than 10 times as common as Gold is in the earths mantle.

Without a fire assay the amount of Gold that might be present in any sulfide is pure speculation. Heck you don't even know if the ore you have is Arsenopyrite, Galena or some other mineral. Get the assay. You might be surprised.

Heavy Pans

Exactly. Some quartz has gold. It's like ya said, if you don't get the assay you might as well stick some feathers up your rear-end and call yourself a chicken. lol.

It is not "in use around the world". It is being seriously researched. From your own linked research paper Bio-Oxidation and Biocyanidation of Refractory Mineral Ores for Gold Extraction:


I don't know of any mines with arsenopyrite ores experimenting with bio leaching. If you know of one please direct me to them. I know dozens of companies that would like to think this could be successful.

Heavy Pans

Fairview and Vaal Reefs used bioxidation in the early 1990's for their arsenopyrite ores.

IIRC, Fairview went completely over to biox. I don't know offhand what their production numbers are but back when they switched over but it seems like 30,000 ounces per year was about right. To my knowledge, they use biox exclusively even today.

Anglo-Ashanti also does biox in some of their mines I believe.

Considering 1/8th of all world-wide production of oxidation was through bio-oxidation in 2004, I'd bet P6's second property that there are dozens of mines using it that have significant gold locked up in arsenopyrite.

 

[Assembler]

Just asking can the Bio-Oxidation and Biocyanidation of Refractory Mineral Ores for Gold Extraction process work better on some types of ores compared to other ore types?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Just asking can the Bio-Oxidation and Biocyanidation of Refractory Mineral Ores for Gold Extraction process work better on some types of ores compared to other ore types?

No such thing as biocyanidization.

Biox is tailored. You have a blend of ore that you'll run that you introduce the bacteria species to. After around 90 days and a few million generations of bacteria they will be optimized for that specific type of ore blend.

 

[Just_curious]

So you don't think a recovery is possible by either dissolving the arsenopyrite and other minerals inside of nitric acid, or dissolving everything in aqua Regina and then precipitating it? What makes the cyanide so special? You couldn't dissolve the gold and then run a precipitant or evap?

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[SaltwaterServr]

So you don't think a recovery is possible by either dissolving the arsenopyrite and other minerals inside of nitric acid, or dissolving everything in aqua Regina and then precipitating it? What makes the cyanide so special? You couldn't dissolve the gold and then run a precipitant or evap?

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Not to put to fine a point on it, but if you're asking these questions you shouldn't be contemplating doing any of that. You need to learn a helluva lot more about the chemistry so you don't kill yourself or end up in federal prison.

Start with "The Chemistry of Gold Extraction" by Marsden and House.

These are some dangerous chemicals we're working with and some hazardous waste requiring federal permits to dispose of if you make a mistake. Mad Machinist wasn't messing around when he said you could end up with your home condemned as a Super Fund site.

 

[Assembler]

Not to put to fine a point on it, but if you're asking these questions you shouldn't be contemplating doing any of that. You need to learn a helluva lot more about the chemistry so you don't kill yourself or end up in federal prison.

Start with "The Chemistry of Gold Extraction" by Marsden and House.

These are some dangerous chemicals we're working with and some hazardous waste requiring federal permits to dispose of if you make a mistake. Mad Machinist wasn't messing around when he said you could end up with your home condemned as a Super Fund site.

Interesting and thanks for posting. This may be out of the reach for most people however maybe not out of the reach of a Company that has a few million to spend.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Interesting and thanks for posting. This may be out of the reach for most people however maybe not out of the reach of a Company that has a few million to spend.

We're working on making it within reach of most people. It's fairly simple stuff but I wouldn't explain it to anyone over a message board. Bioxidation that is.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Interesting and thanks for posting. This may be out of the reach for most people however maybe not out of the reach of a Company that has a few million to spend.

We don't have much more to spend than the average Joe. Most of our equipment is home built and we only buy what we absolutely have to. This process creates sulfuric acid so either stainless is needed or HDPE is needed. The blue water barrels sold at wally world are HDPE thus are bother resistant to sulfuric acid and cheap.

So to process in small batches, one would need a shaker table or mineral jig to concentrate the sulfides or, as in this case the arsenopyrite, and process in small batches. All of this is well within the reach of a small guy if smart choices are made.

Limestone will neutralize sulfuric acid through the acid-base process and allow the arsenic to join with the remaining iron to create ferric arsenate effectively locking up the arsenic in a stable form. Some of the iron will join with the remaining limestone to create ferric (oxy)hydroxide. Now over time the ferric arsenate and ferric (oxy)hydroxide do react together creating scorodite, further locking up the arsenic.

This is the exact same process used by municipalities across the country to remove arsenic from drinking water. And this is the same process used by the EPA to remediate arsenic based Superfund sites. All of this is in the link i posted. A lot of research was put into this so if I post a link to someone's question please read it.

 

[Mad Machinist]

Give me a little.

Clay,

As you can see, my partner in mining posted up. We have a good chance here. Wish us luck.

 

[Just_curious]

I don't think it's illogical in any sense what I just said. It's literally the same thing that people are doing with computer scrap in home...the only difference being this is in a rock, which obviously brings another element to it. I may not be conveying what I'm trying to say correctly through text. But I know this much, there's no way in a million years that nitric acid OR aqua Regina is anywhere near as bad as cyanide, or as hard to dispose of. These are chemicals that anybody can get ahold of through hardware and farming stores. People handle nitric acid and aqua Regina on a daily basis for nearly testing, carrying a bottle around in their pants pockets, etc. I would also like to clarify, I'm not trying to hard rock mine lol. I'm just trying to unveil the contents of 2 rocks lol

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[SaltwaterServr]

Hopefully this link works...

Yeah, it did. The article is split between a lot of adverts, but it shows a few different companies that have developed bio-oxidation of arsenopyrite ores.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...013%2009.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2_nI5neS0tEVmetBDcdg2N

 

[against the wind]

Very informative and educational.
How little I know.

 

[augoldminer]

Arsenopyrite is a gray looking metal. like lead Sulfide but harder.

In most cases it will not sound off a metal detector.

But in the alleghany calif mines it can have a core of gold inside it and will show with a detector.

The old time miners did not know this and many times discarded it in the dumps.

 

[AnnaMountain]

Well, I haven't been chewed out or mocked yet....does that mean that everybody agrees (at least from the photo's), that this is indeed some gold ore varient?

Best thing to do is get yourself a streak tile and see what color it streaks. Crush it to powder, and pan it out if its gold. Simple as that. Keep in mind specimen value is oftentimes much higher than gold content.

 

[605dano]

I have some arsenopyrite ore that makes my metal detector sing. It always reads 41 to 44 on the readout which is a non-ferrous reading. The bigger pieces you cannot get within a foot or two without the detector overloading. It has a strong garlic sulfur smell. It will also set off pinpointer. It is so hard that a sledgehammer has a real hard time busting it. I think it's the arseno setting off the detector but I could be wrong.

 

[Just_curious]

I have some arsenopyrite ore that makes my metal detector sing. It always reads 41 to 44 on the readout which is a non-ferrous reading. The bigger pieces you cannot get within a foot or two without the detector overloading. It has a strong garlic sulfur smell. It will also set off pinpointer. It is so hard that a sledgehammer has a real hard time busting it. I think it's the arseno setting off the detector but I could be wrong.

Did you compare it to my photos? I was using my nugget detectors and they don't have vdi, but sounds just like mine. I wish it was free mill inside of it instead of refractory/chemical leaching

 

[Just_curious]

Did you compare it to my photos? I was using my nugget detectors and they don't have vdi, but sounds just like mine. I wish it was free mill inside of it instead of refractory/chemical leaching

Assuming you're assuming that yours contains gold.