Black Sand Samples

[alloy_II]

Samples from two different areas, once the weather improves - smelting will begin the top sample certainly shows promise, both by weight and microscope image.

For those interested in smelting the attached file is about the various flux's used and their purpose.

 

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[Ohiogoldfever]

Lead is a reasonable collector the only draw back is it sits on the bottom of the crucible, litharge ( lead oxide ) mixed into the flux would be more beneficial.

Litharge mixed into the flux with a carbon source ( flour ) while being heated in the charge converts the lead oxide into metallic lead where it rains down through the mix collecting gold as it makes its way to the bottom of the crucible.

I have not yet given up on the idea that the litharge needed for my smelt is obtainable from the positive battery plates from a lead acid battery.

The battery I had obtained for this purpose had been in a discharged state for a very long time which caused a layer of lead sulfate to form on the positive plates.

After giving this some thought I don't think the lead sulfate is going to be a problem, the addition of scrap iron into the crucible - its purpose is to convert sulfides into metallic form.

Time permitting I plan to conduct this experiment tomorrow, will post results.

Cool. Roto metals sells pure lead pellets. Pretty cheap too. Keep the questions out of your smelt

 

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[Tesorodeoro]

The litharge paste is pressed into a honeycomb grid made of a lead / antimony alloy.

This alloy of lead is much harder than soft lead and it's not suitable to make bullets from.

I have the plates soaking in distilled water, later I'll put the plates into a cast iron frying pan to melt the lead then collect the litharge.

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The cost to smelt at 1000 degrees for an hour likely will far outweigh any values you recover. But interesting experiments.

 

[arizau]

Are you working with concentrates? If not then why not?

 

[KevinInColorado]

Very interesting journey you are on here. Just one correction for you: lead oxide isn’t a salt, it’s an oxide. Lead chloride is a salt. Salts are defined as metals combined with chlorine. Salts separate as ions in water, oxides don’t separate until reduced (as you describe above in your redox comments).

 

[alloy_II]

Litharge from battery plates has way to much elemental sulfur to deal with, instead I'll be using lead.

Got four buckets of coal from the neighbors basement, just need to make some crucible tongs and were good to go.

Pure litharge from lead acid battery paste.

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

Litharge from battery plates has way to much elemental sulfur to deal with, instead I'll be using lead.

Got four buckets of coal from the neighbors basement, just need to make some crucible tongs and were good to go.

Pure litharge from lead acid battery paste.

I am excited to know how you do. Glad to hear you’ve acquired some clean lead. I don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground but I do know you don’t want to be dealing with anything in your smelt that you can easily eliminate.

Come on big money!!!

 

[alloy_II]

Learning more about lead acid battery's, the one I choose had been in a discharged state and probably at it end of life stage.

Litharge from the positive plates is possible but my donor is also giving me a lot of sulfur. Most of which I've been able to separate from the litharge by heating everything in a covered stainless steel pot on the Coleman OUTSIDE.

The sulfur melts and settles to the bottom of the pot and the litharge carefully removed from the top layer.

I'm going to grab another donor battery one with some charge left in it, then give the litharge recovery another go.

If I end up with a bunch of sulfur, I'll build a retort to distill the sulfur out from the litharge.

Hot water attempt to melt sulfur, need to check if sulfur reacts with aluminum. If not then I'll try the large pressure cooker.

Here's what I have so far.

 

[alloy_II]

I'm going to be famous, this morning I received a copyright request to use one of my images I had posted onto another forum a couple of years ago.

Told him to consider the image as open source no credits required.

I had smelted some catalytic converter comb into a large piece of lead to collect the platinum sisters, iridium showing of her beautiful iridescent colors.

Source.
Catalysts that accelerate chemical reactions in the catalytic converter are Platinum, Palladium, Iridium and Rhodium.

On the picture below this one, the bottom side of the lead, the bright shiny sections consist of other platinum sisters. Had I poured this into a cone mold all the heavy platinum group metals would have settled to the bottom.

 

[alloy_II]

Persistence pays off, the finished product, with a bit more being prepared from the same donor.

 

[alloy_II]

Final product 5 pounds of litharge with a Canadian dollar value of $293.80

Recovered from a $10.00 donor automotive lead acid battery and maybe $5.00 worth or propane used for heat.

Instead of using flour for my carbon source, I'm going to use recycled activated carbon recovered from an automotive emission evaporation canister ground into powder.

 

[alloy_II]

One of my black sand samples has copper in it and I'm thinking a bit of sulfur in the litharge would convert copper into a sulfate which then reacts with the scrap metal to produce an oxide that reports to the slag.

The carbon smells of hydrocarbons, just another source of carbon.

 

[alloy_II]

Note to self.

I read that with some high sulfide ore assays the flour is omitted, and from one to four nails added.

The nails serve to reduce the litharge to lead, as well as reduce the sulfides.

 

[alloy_II]

 

[alloy_II]

Getting there, ordered the material for the furnace and came up with a great idea for the tongs.

Furnace supplys should be here by the end of the week, just in time for the weather to warm up a bit.

 

[alloy_II]

Another sample to smelt, the rock was layered with fools gold, after incinerating to get rid of the sulfides . I can see some gold.

The equinox 800 is giving 39/40 on the visual display on gold 1, being new to the game these numbers mean nothing to me at the moment.

 

[gold tramp]

Another sample to smelt, the rock was layered with fools gold, after incinerating to get rid of the sulfides . I can see some gold.

The equinox 800 is giving 39/40 on the visual display on gold 1, being new to the game these numbers mean nothing to me at the moment.

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You could just crush the rock and use a gold pan to get your values sulfides would be not even be an issue.
Smelting a rock doesn't make sense to me...
Smelting is for making Bullion not roasting ores ...
Gt....

 

[alloy_II]

You could just crush the rock and use a gold pan to get your values sulfides would be not even be an issue.
Smelting a rock doesn't make sense to me...
Smelting is for making Bullion not roasting ores ...
Gt....

It's an exercise in smelting, here's what the gold pan would miss without the use of mercury.

The sulfides are an issue, they tie up values in disguise.

Sample from the incinerated rock.

 

[gold tramp]

It's an exercise in smelting, here's what the gold pan would miss without the use of mercury.

Sample from the incinerated rock.

View attachment 2021124

Gold pans don't miss anything, the panner does, it's actually the only tool you need to find even the tiniest speck of gold it's a miners most important tool.
Mercury is for collecting those specks...
Sulfides don't hide values someone is giving you bad info....
I deal with sulfides in just about every batch I mill so I can tell you from experience believe it or not they don't disguise the values and simply grinding pretty much cures sulfide issues..
Gt...

 

[alloy_II]

Gold pans don't miss anything, the panner does, it's actually the only tool you need to find even the tiniest speck of gold it's a miners most important tool.
Mercury is for collecting those specks...
Sulfides don't hide values someone is giving you bad info....
I deal with sulfides in just about every batch I mill so I can tell you from experience believe it or not they don't disguise the values and simply grinding pretty much cures sulfide issues..
Gt...

Gold pans don't miss anything, the panner does, it's actually the only tool you need to find even the tiniest speck of gold it's a miners most important tool.
Mercury is for collecting those specks...
Sulfides don't hide values someone is giving you bad info....
I deal with sulfides in just about every batch I mill so I can tell you from experience believe it or not they don't disguise the values and simply grinding pretty much cures sulfide issues..
Gt...

I'm not after nuggets or even visible gold, so the gold pan does not fit into the scheme of things.

Pyrochemistry at the moment has my interest, I'm after the gold invisible to the human eye.

If I ever find myself in need of a gold pan, you can be assured it will be a metal pan and not one of plastic made from petroleum.

 

[gold tramp]

I'm not after nuggets or even visible gold, so the gold pan does not fit into the scheme of things.

Pyrochemistry at the moment has my interest, I'm after the gold invisible to the human eye.

If I ever find myself in need of a gold pan, you can be assured it will be a metal pan and not one of plastic made from petroleum.

After a long day tabling extremely fine gold, panning samples with my plastic pan, don't really know how I should respond to you.
Good luck with the invisible gold experiments...
Gt....