So, we went out today and found a bunch of quartz with gold in it. Does anyone know a good way to remove it? All the research I have done is pointing to just crushing it and using mercury. The wife really doesn't want me to use mercury, but I will if I have to. So I was just wondering if anyone had any other techniques or ideas.
Thanks.
Replies
I get the sun/shade test, I have read also you may not be able to see the gold in the ore, and something about sulfieds...so you are saying that if it is not heavy its not gold, this certainly makes sense to me I just want to be sure before I discard it.
Thanks
Not really saying if it's heavy or not, 10 lbs. of feathers is equal to 10 lbs. of lead, the lead is more dense, but equal in weight to the feathers. The "density" of Gold, same weight and less occupied space.
Any process that gets you closer to pure, is classifying. Sluice, pan, or funace, they are all types of classifying. In order to determine if it contains Gold, you need to do some type of processing/classifying. After processing you will get the info you need. Start with crush and pan. If ya get color, ya might want to concider smelting your material.
In practical or everyday applications, weight means the same as mass as that term is used in physics. In modern scientific usage, however, weight and mass are fundamentally different quantities: mass is an intrinsic property of matter, whereas weight is a force that results from the action of gravity on matter: it measures how strongly gravity pulls on that matter.
The density of a solid material can be ambiguous, depending on exactly how its volume is defined, and this may cause confusion in measurement. A common example is sand: if it is gently poured into a container, the density will be low; if the same sand is compacted into the same container, it will occupy less volume and consequently exhibit a greater density. This is because sand, like all powders and granular solids, contains a lot of air space in between individual grains. The density of the material including the air spaces is the bulk density, which differs significantly from the density of an individual grain of sand with no air included.
So, weight is determined by the effect of gravity.
Density is determined by how tightly the molecules are packed together.
Density can be changed by changing either the pressure or the temperature,
and has no effect on weight. The weight remains constant.
stclair1952@yahoo.com
You said that you can "see" the gold in the quartz, if that is the case all you have to do is crush the quartz and pan the gold afterwards, there is no reason to "melt" or "smelt"it if it is "free" gold. i.e. gold that you can see.
Skip
I have found a big quarts boulder in a stream, it is rust stained and when I look closely I see what I thought was smal pieces(grains) of gold. I crushed some up and there was alot of it it my pan but it appears to be very light, I assume this is fools gold its very gold looking but it does kinda glitter. what do you or anyone else reading this think?
All in all, if you want to recover all the gold, visible or not, you must smelt. That increases carrot value too. The best you'll find in free gold is around 22 to maybe 23, smelting gets you into 24 c.
Fluxes that are used will get the gold to "drop out" and settle to the bottom of the crucible.
When the molten mix is poured to a mold, the gold will be at the bottom.
After cooling, the "slag" on top can be broken away from the gold.
That's a pretty short explaination, and basic at best.
It's really a more involved process than it sounds.
Here's another link that you may find helpful.
http://goldrefiningforum.com/
BTW, some of your samples may be more valuable to a jeweler in raw form that the value
of the gold it contains. Take a few larger pieces out on the town and see what kind of offers
you get. You may be pleasantly surprised.
If you want to get serious about refining your own gold, a must get is;
A Textbook of Fire Assaying, by Edward E. Bugbee.
Also known as Bugbee's Bible.
It was my textbook when learning fire assaying. I often refer to it today.
It will take you step by step, and let you know exactly what you need in order
to have a successful recovery.
Here's home made funaces,
......check out these choices.
http://www.google.com/search?q=flower+pot+furnace&sourceid=ie7&...
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