The Platinum Cannon Shipwreck - 20th Century Alchemy- Chapter 6- Synthetic Production- 4

The Platinum Cannon Shipwreck
A modern tale of Alchemy
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Chapter 6 Synthetic Production of Precious Metals from Black Sands

STEP SEVEN.

Allow the reaction to cool. Carefully remove all material from the container, weigh and record the weight. This step is very important, for without it, you can not quantitatively determine the efficiency of the reaction.

STEP EIGHT.

It is now necessary to pulverize the residue to a fineness of <200-mesh. At this time, the experiment is complete. The next phase will provide the analytical knowledge of the transmutation results.

Determination of Reaction's Success

To determine the success, it is necessary to analyze the metals present after the reaction versus those that were present before the reaction. For silver and gold, this is normally accomplished by a fire assay, a procedure briefly discussed in Chapter IV. If you do not have fire assay capabilities, there are numerous laboratories who can supply this service for you. For additional information on this assay procedure, consult your local technical library.

Normal reporting of metal weight in fire assays here in the United States is in ounces per pound. The U.S. industry refuses to accept the metric system. The rest of the world uses the metric system, so fire assay weights are listed in grams per ton. As I previously stated, I will continue to use the metric system, i.e. grams per ton. There are several logical reasons for this. The industry laboratories commonly report results in "parts per million" (ppm). In using the metric form, there are 1,000,000 grams in 1.0 metric ton. By using the metric system, you can directly convert ppm's to grams per ton. An example would be: 231 ppm = 231 grams per ton. For the purpose of this section, we are only concerned with ppm. This is due to our requirement to calculate the actual weight of silver and gold before the reaction, so we can compare it to the end results.

To perform a fire assay on this material, the following flux should be used for each 15.0 gram sample:

50.0 grams Lead Oxide (Litharge)

40.0 grams Borax

20.0 grams Soda Ash

10.0 grams Silica

3.0 grams Flour

1.0 grams Fluorspar
124.0 grams Total

Take 15 grams of the pulverized black sands from before the burn and 15 grams of the residue and separately mix each with the above flux. Be sure to use an identification system so you can readily identify which sample is which. Place each sample in a 1,000°C furnace for 2.5 to 3.0 hours. Remove from the furnace, pour the molten mixture into a conical mold and allow to cool.

Following solidification and complete cooling, use a hammer and wire brush to remove the lead button from the slag. Place the clean lead button in a cupel and return to the furnace at 1,000°C. Leave for 1.5 to 2.0 hours, or until the reaction is complete. Remove the cupel from the furnace and allow to cool. Once cool, remove the beads from the cupels, clean, weigh and record the weights of each bead.

The next step requires taking each bead and place them in separate 30% nitric acid (HN03) solutions to dissolve the silver. Be sure to positively mark which sample is which. Decant the solutions, wash and dry the residues. Then weigh the residues. If you are not already aware of these procedures, please refer to a metallurgical reference, or consult a qualified person.

Mathematical Determination of Results
For Gold and Silver

The AFTER ignition calculations for gold and silver are:

A. Bead wt in grams X 1 X 10+6 g/ton = Ag g/ton Unadjusted
15 grams sample wt

Parted wt in grams X 1 X 10+6 g/ton = Au g/ton
15 grams sample wt

Ag g/ton unadjusted
- Au g/ton (or in ppm)
Ag g/ton adjusted (or ppm)

To calculate the AFTER ignition weight of gold and silver in grams:

B. Ag g/ton adiusted x after/ignition residue wt = Total Ag g
1 X 10+6 g/ton

Au g/ton x after ignition residue wt = Total Au g
1 X 10+6 g/ton