Gold Ore

[southfork]

A little sample that was found with a metal detector. Crushed by hand then panned to wash away some of the dirt and clay? The photo is macro so real small particles, but the quartz shows and what looks like iron and free gold. I think we need a small smelter to retrieve the values trying to speed up the recovery what's your thoughts ?

 

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[gold tramp]

You could always use nitric acid on your mercury…I believe you can use an aluminum can to drop your clean mercury from it…I personally have not tried it yet…

Ed T

I use the acid digest method.
Just don't talk about it online, nitric bad stuff some folk might not be saftey minded..
Sorry for jumping in on you story Southfork sometimes I forget my manners...
Gt....

 

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[JohnWhite]

I use the acid digest method.
Just don't talk about it online, nitric bad stuff some folk might not be saftey minded..

I still believe old timers knew a lot more than we know…probably because they were not afraid to try different things…

Some even used a potato retort…

Ed T

 

[southfork]

I use the acid digest method.
Just don't talk about it online, nitric bad stuff some folk might not be saftey minded..
Sorry for jumping in on you story Southfork sometimes I forget my manners...
Gt....

I've used nitric a few times also don't tell anybody jump in whenever you want. Most of the time I'm just talking to myself anyway.

 

[southfork]

The air tort is the step one uses before amalgam goes into retort, it removes excess Hg, just in case you didn't understand what I was talking about...
One doesnt have to use it, just sharing advice on refining process.
Another tool in you arsenal
Gt..

New one on me I just use the mercury until it wont roll around in the pan anymore. I have dirty gold also that won't amalgamate that gets a trip into the furnace.

 

[gold tramp]

New one on me I just use the mercury until it wont roll around in the pan anymore. I have dirty gold also that won't amalgamate that gets a trip into the furnace.

Just the grinding action when you crush you highgrade should take care of dirty gold not being taken up in hg.
Maybe different on gold up north..
Gt...

 

[southfork]

Just the grinding action when you crush you highgrade should take care of dirty gold not being taken up in hg.
Maybe different on gold up north..
Gt...

Even the free gold pickers we get out of the mill have impurities we have to deal with. The placer gold is a lot cleaner it makes nice buttons with only a melt.

 

[gold tramp]

I've used nitric a few times also don't tell anybody jump in whenever you want. Most of the time I'm just talking to myself anyway.

You use nitric to digest Mercury ?
Just wondering, the main reason I use air press so I don't have excess Hg to digest into the acid, and less Hg goin into stock pot.
Gt ..

 

[Tesorodeoro]

I've used nitric a few times also don't tell anybody jump in whenever you want. Most of the time I'm just talking to myself anyway.

No you’re not. I’m absorbing what you’re putting out. I just have nothing new to say. You’re doing good and I think we have a lot in common.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Nitric is peanuts compared to Hydroflouric, I see that stuff being casually talked about plenty

 

[Reed Lukens]

I didn't have a vapor break / cloth tube between the retort outlet and the catch jar. Very important the way I had it set it up could suck water back into the retort and steam escaping could burn you or blow your gold all over hell. Worst case possible explosion. When properly setup with the pump the water recirculates into a separate tank then back to the retort keeping the condensing tube cool.

Honestly, I'd just fill the cooling chamber with water and then put your clear hose back on - cut the hose in two, and angle them both up for an open vent. That's more then enough cooling water to recondense the vapors back into Hg. You can use a rag on the outfeed, but yours will work fine without. That's the largest cooling tank that I've seen on that sized retort. Cooling won't ever be an issue with that retort.

 

[southfork]

Honestly, I'd just fill the cooling chamber with water and then put your clear hose back on - cut the hose in two, and angle them both up for an open vent. That's more then enough cooling water to recondense the vapors back into Hg. You can use a rag on the outfeed, but yours will work fine without. That's the largest cooling tank that I've seen on that sized retort. Cooling won't ever be an issue with that retort.

Thanks I know it works great but I was attacked by a troll on another site saying it would explode the way it was. A whole group of the trolls friends joined in on the attack. So I tried to explain how it worked with the pump or without the vapor break so I posted it here like a disclaimer lol. I heated the chamber to cherry red as a test it did not suck any water back , But I will use the vapor break to be safe. Same troll that always attacked me on this site until it was given a time out and took all its marbles and went home.

 

[gold tramp]

I found being extra safe is to ones benefit, use common sense, general rule you first guess is usually the right one..
Take what others say into consideration sometimes they may know more than you...
Stay safe..
Just my opinion...

 

[southfork]

alloy - II is the one on the attack on another forum he was just banned. Still active on here went by stoneware on the other site. I thought it was a Bot or AI but it kept copy paste of my old threads from this site. I don't think it likes me

 

[southfork]

I melted my 15-gram gold sponge from the retort ended up with 11.5grams of gold. I used a cheap carbon graphite crucible from the local hardware store half of it disintegrated. China junk I just cut the sponge into small pieces to fit in the crucible and let the furnace melt out the sands that were stuck to the sponge . Turned out ok with just a little glassy slag on one side / end of the button might be part of the crucible? The outside was eaten half way nearest to the edge of furnace couldn't take the heat. And the inside had little pieces popping off.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

alloy - II is the one on the attack on another forum he was just banned. Still active on here went by stoneware on the other site. I thought it was a Bot or AI but it kept copy paste of my old threads from this site. I don't think it likes me

Some folks do coding as a hobby and use open source “ChatBot” software that they use to create AI bots. They use these Bots on discussion forums as a way to test them out AND teach them. Occasionally they have to correct or amend responses as required. As a result many times you get vaguely applicable responses followed up by something more coherent. Not saying this is the case here but there is a large community of coding nerds that spend their free time doing this. I expect a trophy 🏆 for this contribution.

 

[southfork]

My pump arrived for the retort works great ran a little test its a little 110 AC aquarium pump. I hooked everything up and ran a little dirty mercury 59 grams in and 53 grams of mercury out maybe the loss was water and dirt. I had a 1.5 gram sponge in the chamber. I had a video but file to large. Just checked the catch jar and there's a little more mercury it must hangup in the cloth vapor break.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

My pump arrived for the retort works great ran a little test its a little 110 AC aquarium pump. I hooked everything up and ran a little dirty mercury 59 grams in and 53 grams of mercury out maybe the loss was water and dirt. I had a 1.5 gram sponge in the chamber. I had a video but file to large. Just checked the catch jar and there's a little more mercury it must hangup in the cloth vapor break.

That could be an indication that some is being lost through the air. Just something to always consider. I understand it supposed to be a closed system

 

[southfork]

That could be an indication that some is being lost through the air. Just something to always consider. I understand it supposed to be a closed system

Outside and upwind always it's odorless and invisible. That little cloth vapor break is not closed in my opinion.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I have my workshop in an industrial park that is zoned for legal cannabis work, the neighbors have a set up for making extracts with butane as a solvent called a “closed loop extractor” it’s a big stainless steel retort of sorts where they transfer liquid butane back and forth through the plant material and use temperature change to vaporize it out of the solution and condense it into a container for reuse. They use a lot of dry ice. I wonder if you could do use a similar setup for mercury. I have never used a retort but I have plenty of experience helping a friend with a setup to make hand sanitizer during the pandemic and it seems if your distillate is vaping off you need less heat or as I assume with the vaporization temp or merc you need some cold water. All the modern retorts I have seen for sale are super small in the condenser compared to vintage examples. The retort I found on our claim had a water jacket like 3 feet or more long.

 

[alloy_II]

On the other forum from which i was band, one of the questions I had asked Southfork is if he had pressure tested the retort.

A simple procedure using a pressure gauge, valve to close the system no more than 30 psi and 20 minutes observation time.

Some of the welds look very poor, I suspect some may have porosity from flux inclusions. I also suspect the end caps are made of cast iron.

Cast iron contains a lot of carbon which make welding it rather difficult, it's easily gas welled with brazing rod or stick welded with nickle rods.

I don't see any thread sealer used, as the bottom cap is heated it will expand.

If speaking my mind leads to another ban or extended vacation, so be it. At least my mind will be at ease for having voicing my concerns.