Is it pyrites?

Orchid,

I like to know how can we determine if we have pyrites? We dug
numerous rocks covered with gold-like substance, our tunnel’s current
depth is 130 feet and we are eager to know if we hit the jackpot?
PLEASE ADVISE !!!

Arhiz

Hi,

A little nitric acid will tell the tale in short order… pyrite
will dissolve very quickly in nitric… depending on the purity of
the “gold” you get different reactions… hope you have found your
“treasure sierra madre” :>)

monk

Arhiz, Pyrite is a brittle iron sulfide. It will turn to powder if
you smash it with a hammer. Gold is very malleable. If you heat a
small sample with a torch, pyrite will turn into a black magnetic
bead. Gold will melt into a bead also, but will be tarnished only on
the surface ( due to a little copper and silver naturally alloyed with
it) scratch the surface and the gold will show through. Please note
that this is a very rough field test and if you really want to know
what you have, take a sample or two to an assayer,or metal refiner.
…Where did you say this mine is located? :slight_smile: Will Estavillo

130 FEET! You’re ambitious tunnelers. Is this hard rock mining? I do
hope you have all your structural timbers where you need them.

Pyrite is a brittle mineral and gold is soft, malleable. Tapping with
a hammer will turn pyrite into powder, gold will flatten if it’s a
large enough piece.

Scrape a piece on the unglazed back of a ceramic tile; Gold will
leave a gold metallic line, pyrite will leave a black line. Try to
melt some of it into a bead of metal; pyrite won’t cooperate on a
small scale, and with enough of it you’ll probably get iron, not gold
(pyrite is iron sulfide) If it IS gold in a rich vein, you’ll get a
little bead of metal that’s yellow, very soft, and can be easily
flattened with a hammer.

That said, gold CAN occur in with pyrite in small but worthwhile
ammounts, giving “fool’s gold” substantial value, but the odds aren’t
very good if all you know is that the rocks are golden colored. I
believe most of the gold mined today is dispersed so finely throughout
the ore that it can’t even be seen with the naked eye. In that form
you’d need to smelt a ton of it to get anything measurable; a tenth of
an ounce per ton is a rich ore. Any ore in which you can see the metal
at all is VERY rich.

To be absolutely sure you’ll need a pro to assay the ore. Good luck.
Alan Heugh

Arhiz

Take a piece of unglazed, white porcelain and rub the material over
it. If it leaves a black streak, it is pyrite; a gold streak it may be
gold, but certainly other tests should be run.

Lee

Hello Arhiz,

If you hit Pyrite with something made out of iron,you will see little
sparkles of fire and it smells like sulfur.The real thing will not
sparkle and is much heavier then pyrite.Another way to go is,use some
jewelry pickle and place some of your material in it.The gold will
not react but the pyrite will.

Regards Pedro
Palonso@t-online.de

Hello all,

I’ve been in america and while I was having a splended time in
Wyoming,Montana and other places,my friend showed me the papers which
had an article of “invisible gold”.The survey of the vane or area
costed about 60,000 $US and was sold for 8 million $US. What I’m
trying to say is that you really do not have to see the gold
actually,but you have to find the right place and spot to dig for.In
matter of fact,New sealand has a goldmine of exactly the same
invisible gold on the top of a very small location (approx 50
persons).They work 2 to 3 months to cover the costs and all the rest
is pure profit.Creme de la creme is next true story.In a place in
Australia called "Kilkivan"lives a person (John Parsons)who ownes a
gold mine.This guy (and some people from Austria)found out that gold
ions can be combined with bacteries !!!The bacteries
(pedomicrobium)are using the gold as a protective shield building a
kind of piramide on there back as a sunblocker or radiation
protection shield.So again,the real strength is the combination of
all the little ones.Maybe not a bad idea to look for those little
goovy bacteries.

Regards Pedro
Palonso@t-online.de