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Black sand recovery

Posted by Wallace Gosset on March 31, 2015 at 6:28pm in General Discussions

Afternoon folks

Here in our area(Caribou) we have wonderful mineralization.  Gold, platinum, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, peridot, opal. The black sands we have in our cons contains alot of micro gold and gold covered with an oxide of iron. By fluxing the black sands and smelting them we recover all the gold. A hard-rock miner friend from Kamloops B.C. showed me this secret. Four out of ten particles of black sand was gold in disguise.  We made some pretty nice bullion buttons from our  buckets of  BlackSand. Soda ash, potassium nitrate, silica sand, borax all mixed together in proportion wilth the black sand when smelted yields a gold button in the crucible. Safety is a first, so remember you are working with chemicals, high temperatures, molten glass and metals that produce noxious gasses. So approach this project with care and respect. But what great results.

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Replies

  • Ahmed A. April 1, 2015 at 12:36pm

    Thanks Wallace , for the writeup !

    • Nick B > Ahmed A. April 1, 2015 at 2:29pm

      Yes, good info.

      I have made small gold buttons from melting fine gold by using a mapp gas torch and a Burno ceramic crucible.  I have just added a tablespoon of Borax to help remove impurities.  Pretty simple and straightforward.  

      I doubt the mapp gas gets much hotter than about 2000 degrees F.  Is this a simple smelt or just a melt?

      I have buckets of black sand to experiment with, which is why I asked about the percentages of the ingredients you mention.  It sounds like its a "pinch here and whatever feels right" kind of process.

      Thanks

  • kchacha April 1, 2015 at 9:18am

    Wallace - Do you pre-treat your black sands in any way, such as roasting/cracking, acid wash, etc?  Thanks!

    • Wallace Gosset > kchacha April 1, 2015 at 10:19am

      Morning K

      Used to soak the black sand in acid(muriatic) but the smelting overcomes it all. Sketchy working with acid(fumes, corrosive) so I dropped it and smelt the whole mix. Iron oxide burns off as a product of melting. 2800 degrees does the trick.

      • kchacha > Wallace Gosset April 2, 2015 at 7:49am

        Thanks, Wallace.  I figured the heat and oxidation would take care of it all without a need for "pre-treatment."  Just what I wanted to hear!  I have finally gotten my gas fired smelting furnace ready to go and the black sands I have saved over the years are on the list for dealing with.

      • Nick B > Wallace Gosset April 1, 2015 at 10:43am

        Thanks for the replies.

        Still would like to know the percentage of each ingredient to amount of black sands.

        Thanks

  • Nick B March 31, 2015 at 8:47pm

    Very interesting.  What are the proportions of each ingredient to the proportion of black sand?  

    Are you only treating non-magnetic black sands or all black sands?

    I may try this someday with my black sands.

    Thanks for the info.

    • Wallace Gosset > Nick B April 1, 2015 at 10:10am

      Morning Nick

      Used to separate the non magnetic before smelting, but Frank showed me the values that I was missing. Now the whole works goes into the crucible. Wife used to have pottery studio. Now she's a quilter, but have three kilns. Outside.

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