Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Torch Fire Assaying Technique

Charles Butler Butler Lab has developed a test procedure to be used as a supplement to the oven titration minerals of noble metals. It is fast and inexpensive, most tests require 15 to 20 minutes.

It is an excellent tool perspective and field guide for drilling teams. It can also be used to test samples Mill Run and tails, leach solutions, chemical precipitates and any noble metal salts, including silver, gold and metals group platinum. It is ideal for the dry or wet assay concentrates its recovery system and the flow of water being used in said system. This water, when working with the holders of the minerals soluble in water, taking on board some of its values, unless measures are taken to save them.

The infinite number of possible settings torch flame to create reducing or oxidizing flames when they are needed. Consequently, only two streams are necessary and we rarely have a failure. When difficulties arise, we become aware of it in a minute or two, which allows the tester a chance to make the necessary adjustments of the torch, or the addition of either stream type.

1. When the dosage for the "noble metals" to free our metal values, you must create a liquid fusion "load testing." We do this by combining our sample milled with the appropriate dosage and flow even in a place crucible. then our adjusted oxyacetylene torch oxygen acetylene good value, we create the "reducing flame" necessary to liquefy the assay. intense heat of the flame applied directly down on the dosage, creates temperatures above 2000 degrees centigrade, which makes it possible to recover all the noble metals, if present.

2. It takes a "collector" to collect and store all the gold liquid, money or platinum group values ​​the sample tested may have contained. We accomplish this with our ingredients flow "litharge" powder of lead oxide. When you correctly, the warmth of our gear changes torch flame that lead litharge liquefied. This lead alloys, or combined with molten metals, except osmium noble, a group of platinum. During the dosage specifically for platinum metals, most testers add a silver medal "Inquart", either as a sheet or a yarn to act as their collector, that money alloy with all the platinum group metals. In addition, the extreme effects of PGM have on silver beads "," made to facilitate the recognition that the platinum metals are present.

3. The merger process must produce an advance of 1/8-5/32 inch diameter "button." This advance will start to appear as real shiny beads in 30 to 40 seconds after the application of the torch flame reducing the load test if everything works as expected. Failure of tiny lead balls, says "trouble." A few difficult ores require the addition of a second test measurement flow. When the merger is complete (all gas) and all the lead is deposited at the bottom of the crucible is empty "dairy", leaving the key lead in the crucible of "slagging"

4. This step is the main scorifying the button to remove the base metals "(" metals other than the noble metals) that have been picked up by the molten lead. This is achieved by adding a pinch of borax glass, then the application of strongly oxidizing flame torch. The main button to ignite, burn at over 3000 degrees centigrade. This intense heat changes the base metals "slag" or ash, which connects the molten glass as borax slag for disposal. The lead button a little smaller, containing all the values ​​that were present noble metals are poured on to an aluminum plate for cooling.

5. The next step is to "cup" button to dispose of the head. Our cups are small cups of bone ash. Porosity adsorbs liquid litharge, created by the oxidation of the lead button with the torch flame oxidant. Cupelling is completed, when the button, increasingly small, forms a ridge, by refusing to reduce the size further. After the torch is removed, most pearls will "Blick", or flash, just as they begin to cool, the moment they change from a liquid to a solid. These beads are called "golden pearls" because they can contain all or part of the precious metals, silver, gold, platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium and ruthenium. The tester must determine that additional testing.

All measurements and calculations are based on the volumetric principle, instead of by weight. That, since the scales sufficiently accurate for this work would be very expensive and inappropriate for use outside. A teaspoon accurately calibrated is used to measure the test material. Spoon five times larger is used for measurement of the flow. Noble metals are recovered in the form of a small round bead, its diameter is measured with a power 40X optical comparator, instead of weighing to determine the value of ore produced them. Through measurement and use our "solution fades," most of the minerals can be evaluated. However, some pearls need to be "split" with nitric acid and distilled water to remove the silver medal, while rebeaded before their ore can be evaluated. fading procedure lets us know when the separation is necessary. Indeed, separation is rarely necessary, because at least 90% of the tests can be evaluated through the use of natural observation and the "Procedure pearl fade." It easily identifies all the beads containing 75% or more, money and lets you know the approximate silver content ranging from 75% to 100%. The results are expressed in troy ounces "" silver or gold and platinum group metals per ton of materials that are analyzed.

The following facts, by comparing the assay procedure torch with conventional fire assay furnace, will also indicate the ways in which this technique has advanced the art for the prospector and miner.

1. There is no oven heat mass, only a small test weighing a few grams of pot and two ounces.

2. "Load merge" in the conventional test, just sits there, inside the crucible, without the benefit of any significant mechanical agitation to ensure that the molten lead comes in contact with the melt together during fusion. In our method, the crucible is manually shaken around in a circular motion, and in addition, the flame is used to stir the melt, ensuring complete alloy of lead and precious metals contained within.

3. The process eliminates the Elimination of All beads cups, cleaning and weighing. It is a daunting task at best.

4. The whole process is carried out under the visual observation, from beginning to end. This allows immediate adjustment, if necessary, to correct problems caused by certain minerals annoying.

5. The lightweight, mobile devices can be taken to a field site if necessary.

6. With the test procedure of the flame can develop, demonstrate and promote its gold, silver or platinum property.

7. Probably the most important is the fact that we receive a reply in minutes instead of hours, days, or even weeks.

J-Tech (Jensen Technologies, LLC) has developed a capacity to full scale fire test. Please inquire for availability.

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Simple methods for the treatment of gold

The easiest way and the cheapest place for the artisanal miner to recover fine gold concentrates can be done in six simple steps. You will need a plastic pan, distilled water, household lye, an ounce of mercury, nitric acid, a Pyrex measuring cup, safety goggles, rubber gloves and apron rubber, a flat copper bar or a copper foil and assorted sizes of bottles of gold. You may also wish to use a magnet minor. If you have a glass rock, you will need a piece of steel hexagonal bar that fits into the groove ball bearings or more stainless steel.


Place concentrated food in a plastic gold pan (about half full) and cover concentrates with distilled water. Add a tablespoon of detergent for cleaning concentrates and stir the liquid around for several minutes. This will remove surface impurities such as dirt and oil, gold. If you have a glass rock used instead. Fill the glass 1/3-1/2 full, cover with water, add 1 tablespoon of laundry for her, and let it run for about an hour.

Pour the water at load and add fresh water to it, and add one ounce of mercury.
ATTENTION! When using detergent, you should wear goggles and rubber gloves (and a rubber apron is a good idea, too) to avoid having any spilled or splashed on skin or in eyes.

ATTENTION! When using the mercury, you should wear goggles and rubber gloves (and a rubber apron is a good idea, too) to avoid having any spilled or splashed on skin or in eyes.

ATTENTION! Do not inhale vapors from mercury or laundry!


Slowly stir the contents with mercury. As the mercury moves around the stove, it will resume all the finest gold in the pan. The more gold there is, the steeper the mercury becomes. If you use a dryer, do the same thing, but in a glass, you can add a stainless steel hexagonal bar to ride inside, or more stainless steel ball bearings. The steel bar will crush the black sand, and free gold, which is fixed on the black sand. Run the drum for at least three hours.

Once you have collected all the gold pan from the black sand beach, or use a magnet in a plastic bag to retrieve the black sand, leaving only the mercury load of gold and mercury. Mercury free roll easily, where mercury laden gold is rigid and does not run well. Place your container mercury inside another pot of gold, and mercury free throw in the container. Using another pot it keeps spreading on the floor or ground. If you spill mercury on the floor (carpet or living room), you will be sniffing evaporation for years!

Now that you have a ball of solid gold laden mercury in the plastic bowl, rinse them in a glass measuring cup. (I buy pie pans and cups pyrex in thrift stores all the time.) Now add enough water to cover the ball of mercury. Work outside and the wind, add a few drops of nitric acid (usually available in small bottles in stores prospecting). Continue to add nitric acid until you get a bubbling or fizzing action against mercury (avoid breathing vapors!). The acid dissolves the mercury and traces of silver. After a while, stops and effervescent at the bottom of your cup is a blob of bronze metallic color is gold! You can get your mercury dissolved in nitric acid by placing a copper bar or flat sheet of copper in acid and let stand overnight. The next day, the mercury is removed from the solution and set itself on copper and then you can scratch the mercury copper and put it in your storage container.

Gently pour the remaining liquid and neutralize the acid with baking soda, a little at a time until you get no reaction of the acid and baking soda. Gently rinse the gold medal in the cup with fresh water, avoiding hard jet that could wash right Gold Cup. Let it sit somewhere until it all dried up. Now you can use the method you prefer to transfer your gold to cut your bottles in gold.
Fusion and make a button Doré

When you think you have enough saved this fine flour gold and want to make a "button", the following procedure works well. You will need a briquette charcoal, a little borax, and a propane torch.

Cut a small depression in a piece of charcoal just large enough to hold your gold. You can use a charcoal briquette if you start by flattening the top and bottom of the briquette to not tip or wobble.

Put your fine gold in depression.

Turn your propane torch flame and play on gold. Gold has a relatively high melting point, so it may take some time. Continue with the flame until a bright red "pearl".
ATTENTION! Some propane torches are used to flaring a little when you push down range flame. Make sure you have a low flame and propane tank is at a small angle before passing the flame on gold. A sudden thrust at this point could blow your gold right out of the hole, so it fit.


Keep the flame of gold, add a pinch of borax to gold, and mount the heat slightly and carefully. As gold becomes warmer, it changes color to a bright greenish orange to approach melting it. All fine gold particles coalesce into a luminous ball.

Remove from heat and let cool slowly on its own. After cooling, you have your first Gold button and it will be nice and bright and shiny. Fine gold is pure gold and because we used nitric acid earlier, we reduced some of the money that was allied to gold, which makes it even more pure. This button Doré could run 95 - to 98-percent pure, with traces of silver and copper.
Creating Nugget Jewelry

Creating chips for making jewelry is just a way to double or triple the value of your gold. You will need a glass cup measure Pyrerx, stainless steel tweezers, and some sulfuric or hydrochloric (muriatic) acid (you can buy sulfuric acid in some stores prospecting or pool-supply stores).

Fill your cup half full glass with sulfuric acid (see above cautions on the use of acids). After you melt the gold block charcoal as in step 4 above, the block quickly resume charcoal and pour molten gold button in the cup of acid. As it cools quickly, it forms interesting shapes. Whenever you do this, it is a different form. You can make small earrings, or more for pendants, etc.

Remove false "nugget" with stainless steel tweezers and rinse with tap water. If the texture is too "rough" looking, you can machine your "nugget" in a glass with water and sand to smooth edges and give it a more natural look.

Pour the acid back into its container and rinse your glass cup with water.
Note: Remember, a little home-made nugget is solid gold, not plated! To sell your gold as buttons Doré, it is necessary to first dose. To sell to a dealer, you could lose 12 percent or more of the spot price. Jewelry making good, you can not do anything other than triple the value of gold! If you had one ounce 1/4 gold, 95 per cent pure, it would be worth $ 95 spot price of say $ 400 per ounce. Now, subtract costs 12 percent buyer and you end up with only $ 83.60. Taking that same ounce quarter of gold, creating a "nugget" out of it, then make jewelry out of it, you can get $ 200 to $ 300 for it! Quite a difference!
Another note on the black sands: Sometimes black sands carry gold values ​​which can not be seen due to impurities or chemical bond with some other minerals, such as selenium and tellurium, which should be broken chemically to reveal the gold medal. The money is not money predictive in nature, but rather a dark gray to black. Platinum has actually been dumped because he was not seen. The best thing is to take a sample well represented down to a test of fire, or make a chemical dosing yourself. At the very least, get a pestle and mortar (cast iron), a sample crush to dust, and pan to see if there is any color. But never throw away black sands, unless you are sure it is empty of anything of value. In fact, if you had 55 gallons dozen of it, you could make a tidy sum of money!

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