My real passion - Prospecting

[bc.gold 3,403]

The microscope revealed my mistake, the quartz in the black sand did did not melt. Should have ball milled it as I did with the first sample to reduce the size of the grains.

[bc.gold 3,403]

From a junk lead acid battery I paid $10.00 for I recovered five pounds of litharge having a value of $293.80 Canadian dollars. This is the paste used on the positive plates.

 

The litharge is an ingredient used in the smelting flux as a collector of precious metals. While at the landfill today got 3 fairly large battery's and 3 smaller mower type.

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by bc.gold

[bc.gold 3,403]

The quartz about 1000 pounds brought back from B.C., ball milled and roasted. An unexpected surprise as the volatilies were gassing off, small eruptions caused the heavies to settle out in layers.

 

Top layer, tan in color then brick red then black on the very bottom. My first thought - magnetite. The deposited blacks turned out to be non magnetic, hopefully something precious.

 

Not sure when I'll get around to refining this material as someone gave me the heads up on a house being sold for $5,000.00. Needs work upstairs a leaking roof damaged the plaster, seems lath and plaster repair is a lost art.

 

The damage in minimal so I'll now have the opportunity to learn something new.

 

I'd almost bet my last dollar that the strange growth around the base of the tree if sold could cover the purchase price of the house. It's a very large burl that I'm going to dig out.

.

 

 

 

 

 

[Handy Don 12,214]

7 hours ago, bc.gold said:

I'd almost bet my last dollar that the strange growth around the base of the tree if sold could cover the purchase price of the house. It's a very large burl that I'm going to dig out.

Digging it out will be a bit of a job, and then cleaning. I agree, though, it is likely to bring a nice price at a mill that specializes in veneers of exotic woods. They'll want it whole, too!

[bc.gold 3,403]

Pretty colors.

 

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

Finally have all of the quartz milled into powder, ready for gold extraction.

 

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

7 minutes ago, bc.gold said:

Pretty colors

 

That's amazing!  What causes that?

[bc.gold 3,403]

35 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

That's amazing!  What causes that?

 

Gold would be Au, purple is a copper oxide and the blue most likely cobalt oxide.

 

Cupelling the lead button went all wrong, the bone ash I had purchased from a pottery supply house was a synthetic product and it would not soak up the oxides.

 

Once I brought this to their attention they refunded me in full for the purchase price and shipping, also changed their product identification to reflect the true nature of the product.

 

Edited June 22, 2022 by bc.gold

[Handy Don 12,214]

On 6/22/2022 at 12:45 AM, bc.gold said:

Cupelling the lead button went all wrong, the bone ash I had purchased from a pottery supply house was a synthetic product and it would not soak up the oxides.

What exactly is “ soak up the oxides”?

[bc.gold 3,403]

38 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

What exactly is “ soak up the oxides”?

Base metals, ie: copper, cobalt ,lead iron and zinc will oxidize at high temperatures these oxides float on top of the molten lead then migrate into the bone ash cupel.

 

Finally the lead will oxidize, leaving the noble metals behind as a precious metal button. The button will be a combination of noble metals contained within a particular ore sample, gold, silver and platinum.

 

Lead is used in smelting as a collector mainly because it's cheap, copper and silver also work. The latter metals are processed via electrolysis.

 

Metal oxides are also the basis for pottery glazes and used to add color to glass.

 

Color can distinguish a glass container, shield its contents from unwanted ultraviolet rays or create variety within a brand category. Color can be obtained by simply adding small quantities of different oxides:

• Chromium (for green)
• Cobalt (for blue)
• Nickel (for violet/brown)
• Selenium metal (for red)

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by bc.gold

[bc.gold 3,403]

Credits, Richard36.

 

Richard36 said:

Metallic Ores produce various Colors as they oxidize, and therefore stain the Host Rock(s) that contain them.
These stains are called Gossans.

The following is a list of the various Gossan Colors.

Yellows, Browns, Maroons, and Reds = ... Various Iron Oxides.
Black = ........................................ Manganese Oxides.
Green = ....................................... Nickel
Greens and Blues = ........................... Copper Sulfides, Oxides, Carbonates, Etc.
Bright Yellow = ................................ Molybdenum
Waxy Green = ................................. Native Silver, or Silver Chloride.
Oranges and Yellows = ....................... Arsenic
Pinks and Purples = ........................... Cobalt

The following is a list of Rock Types, and Metal Associations.

Granite = ........................... Gold and Silver.
Olivine Gabbro = ................... Platinum, Chromium, Nickel, Cobalt and Iron.
Dunite = ............................. Platinum and Chromium.
Peridotite/Peridotite Dunite = ... Nickel, Chromite, and Platinum.
Serpentinite = ...................... Platinum

The Following is a list of Gemstone, and Rock Type Associations.

Almandine = ......... Diorite, Hornfels, and Schist.
Andradite = .......... Granite Pegmatites, Carbonates, Hornfels, and Skarn.
Grossular = .......... Skarn, Marble, and Hornfels
Pyrope = .............. Peridote Dunite, and Gabbro.
Spessartine = ........ Granite Pegmatites, and Blue Schist.
Uvarovite = .......... Serpentinite, and Peridote Dunite.
Corundum = .......... Syenite, Nepheline Syenite Pegmatite, Hornfels, and Gneiss.
Beryl = ................ Granite Pegmatites, and Schist.
Tourmaline = ......... Granite Pegmatites, and Schist.
Spinel = ............... Hornfels, Marble, and Gabbro.
Topaz = ............... Granite pegmatites.
Zircon = ............... Granite Pegmatites, Diorite, Nepheline Syenite, and Carbonatite.

Edited June 24, 2022 by bc.gold

[bc.gold 3,403]

On 6/12/2022 at 2:21 AM, bc.gold said:

The quartz about 1000 pounds brought back from B.C., ball milled and roasted. An unexpected surprise as the Not sure when I'll get around to refining this material as someone gave me the heads up on a house being sold for $5,000.00. Needs work upstairs a leaking roof damaged the plaster, seems lath and plaster repair is a lost art.

 

The damage in minimal so I'll now have the opportunity to learn something new.

 

I'd almost bet my last dollar that the strange growth around the base of the tree if sold could cover the purchase price of the house. It's a very large burl that I'm going to dig out.

.

 

 

 

Yesterday was the first time I had been in Strathclaire at noon, my house is located directly behind the municipal yards. I now know why the house sold cheap.

This very loud siren sounds daily at 7 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Yet as your entering town they have a sigh posted, prohibiting the use of Jake brakes within the town limits. A noise by-law.

I'm on a mission, later today I'm going to take a decibel measurement of the siren then use whatever recourse is available to have this thing silenced.

I believe if i were to advertise the house for rent arranging appointments for 12:00 noon my potential renter would run for the hills. A civil suit brought against the town for loss of revenue might possibly cut the power to the siren.
 

[lynnmor 7,305]

What would be the purpose of this siren besides annoying the neighbors?

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

2 hours ago, bc.gold said:

sounds daily at 7 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

 

Why?

 

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

What would be the purpose of this siren besides annoying the neighbors?

 

I think I know... It's to prevent alien robots from taking over the town.  It's working so far!

 

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

Unknown to me the town residents had submitted a petition to council, resolution was passed to silence the siren.

 

This afternoon purchased a building salvage rights a case of beer. Will post pictures later tomorrow, some really nice heavy planks, poles and tin roofing.

 

In the meantime I'm working a small sample of my milled ore, first time using cyanide.

[bc.gold 3,403]

9 hours ago, bc.gold said:

Unknown to me the town residents had submitted a petition to council, resolution was passed to silence the siren.

 

This afternoon purchased a building salvage rights a case of beer. Will post pictures later tomorrow, some really nice heavy planks, poles and tin roofing.

 

In the meantime I'm working a small sample of my milled ore, first time using cyanide.

Now that the siren has been silenced my location in town is perfect, I have the municipal yard across the road to the right of me, a vacant derelict house directly across with a vacant lot next to it.

 

The fire department does not use a siren to summon their volunteer members, they've been using pagers for years.

 

On my side of the street the house bordering my lot the guy works out of town during the summer months and Jack my other neighbor is a fellow with similar interests.

 

In the Village I previously lived the population is predominately Ukrainian and native they give ya the finger as a greeting while here the town is mostly Scots and everyone waves at ya.

 

Tramps and Thieves by Cher for Elphinstone hits a home run.

 

You may recall the incident where my pick up truck was stolen from the yard and a home invasion we had one evening while we were asleep and Pat had woke up to disrupt the theft in progress.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by bc.gold

[bc.gold 3,403]

The roof is 30 sheets wide galvanized tin, got to hot up there quit for the afternoon.

 

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

On 6/21/2022 at 11:05 PM, bc.gold said:

Finally have all of the quartz milled into powder, ready for gold extraction.

 

 

Small sample of ore, the amber solution is gold in cyanide, the darker one is gold being displaced with zinc.

 

 

 

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

From four gallons of leach, the zinc cemented out plenty of gold. This will be further refined to separate the gold, silver and any platinum that maybe present.

 

There was no visible gold in that quartz, it was hidden in the sulfides.

 

The gold in the filter is from cementing the leach liquor with zinc, the somewhat baron leach was then passed through an actuated carbon filter. The liquid leaving the carbon filter came out crystal clear.

 

When this project has been completed the carbon will be dried then burned, any precious metals will be in the ash to be further refined.

 

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

On 6/12/2022 at 10:15 AM, Handy Don said:

Digging it out will be a bit of a job, and then cleaning. I agree, though, it is likely to bring a nice price at a mill that specializes in veneers of exotic woods. They'll want it whole, too!

 

Stump was too rotten, amazingly was using the angle grinder nearby and some sparks set the stump smouldering like a Halloween punk. Gone on a week roots an all just a hole to fill in now.

[bc.gold 3,403]

An update on the BC quartz, from six pails of ball milled ore I'm down to this.

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

Gold from computer scrap being electroplated from the leach onto steel wool, later the wool gets dissolved to recover and further refine the gold into a higher purity.

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

 

 

[bc_gold 71]

More gold from the quartz, the leach is so dark red needed a light behind the jar.