Ugly PGM Native Metal

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Nountaineer

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 5, 2022
Messages
227
Location
Patagonia Arizona
This is apparently PGM that was separated during smelting at 2300 degrees for 3.5 hours in my new 8kg crucible .I inadvertently separated it from the platinum leaving the highest MP metal fused to the lower half of the crucible which I believe is platinum. I will use my oxygen/acetylene torch to puddle it and make a nearly pure platinum button. Can anyone tell me which PGM has the native metal that is dull and ugly in appearance?
NITRO_8_07072023_090033.jpg
 
I don’t know why you still think anyone can mystically divine what every substance is just by sight? Especially from some weird sepia-tone photos. I believe you’ve been told several times that you need to either do some testing, or send material out someone qualified for assay. Dissolve some in Aqua Regia and test it with stannous chloride. Or melt some into a homogenous bead, and find a pawn shop or other business that has an XRF gun to test it for you. That would give you some real results to go on, instead of wishful thinking that there just has to be something valuable there.
 
I have mentioned multiple times that I have tested the ore 10 times with x-ray spectroscopy and I asked a simple question for someone with actual experience with platinum group ore. I have seen an ugly PGM Native metal in my High grade concentrate, even one attached to a tiny piece of platinum. Lou might be able to answer my question.
 
Nountaineer said:
I have mentioned multiple times that I have tested the ore 10 times with x-ray spectroscopy and I asked a simple question for someone with actual experience with platinum group ore. I have seen an ugly PGM Native metal in my High grade concentrate, even one attached to a tiny piece of platinum. Lou might be able to answer my question.
Click to expand...
I have deleted the other post, we don’t allow double posting.
If you want inputs to this take pictures of the native metal in question and not the slag/metal mix after smelting.

Edit spelling
 
Last edited:
Nountaineer said:
I have mentioned multiple times that I have tested the ore 10 times with x-ray spectroscopy and I asked a simple question for someone with actual experience with platinum group ore. I have seen an ugly PGM Native metal in my High grade concentrate, even one attached to a tiny piece of platinum. Lou might be able to answer my question.
Click to expand...
Is this the same old subject on the same old pile of ??? without any (reliable) test results?
I've seen that picture before.
Why another thread?
you are sure it's PGM, but you do not know which PGM looks dull. Why are you sure?
If you tested the ore with XRF, where are the testresults? i have not seen one. And why not continue in your old thread on this same subject?
you tested the ore with an xrf or the metal buttons?
 
Nountaineer said:
I have mentioned multiple times that I have tested the ore 10 times with x-ray spectroscopy
Click to expand...

And we have tried to multiple times that an XRF read out on ore is TOTALLY UNRELIABLE !!!!!!!!!!

If you REALLY want to convince us that you have what you say you have you NEED to get some ACTUAL assays done by/from a reliable assay lab

Otherwise all you are doing is blowing the same old smoke - which is - I have something of great value because I say I have something of great value & I base that great value on my own very unreliable testing

Get some actual assays done by reliable assay labs !!!!!

Kurt
 
Martijn said:
Is this the same old subject on the same old pile of ??? without any (reliable) test results?
I've seen that picture before.
Why another thread?
you are sure it's PGM, but you do not know which PGM looks dull. Why are you sure?
If you tested the ore with XRF, where are the testresults? i have not seen one. And why not continue in your old thread on this same subject?
you tested the ore with an xrf or the metal buttons?
Click to expand...
I was not familiar with forums or procedures when I came and have made some mistakes. I'm not like anyone else here. I am not tech savvy. The screenshot emailed to me is on one of my phones and I downloaded it from the email. I simply don't know how to find it. Perhaps I can get someone locally to help find it. I lived in the national forest alone for 10 years for the purpose of prospecting with no regular source of money. Who else has lived such a life? This is why I own a rich silver deposit.
 
Use some of that silver to get an assay done. I’m not being smart here, just practical. You need an assay done and you need money to do it. It’s really that simple.
 
Further effort’s are useless. You have tried, several times. Now is when you need professional help if you want to keep moving ahead at a reasonable result. An assay will confirm you efforts are worth while or time to move on to other ground.
 
kurtak said:
And we have tried to multiple times that an XRF read out on ore is TOTALLY UNRELIABLE !!!!!!!!!!

If you REALLY want to convince us that you have what you say you have you NEED to get some ACTUAL assays done by/from a reliable assay lab

Otherwise all you are doing is blowing the same old smoke - which is - I have something of great value because I say I have something of great value & I base that great value on my own very unreliable testing
NITRO_8_07142023_082457.jpg
Get some actual assays done by reliable assay labs !!!!!

Kurt
Click to expand...
I greatly respect your expertise Kurt but you are apparently not familiar with the machine that has been used on this ore. X-ray spectroscopy has been used by this company and the results were always accurate and they Fire Assay also. No appreciable difference in 13 years so you are comparing apples and oranges. Do you recognize Sperrylite?
 
Nountaineer said:
I greatly respect your expertise Kurt but you are apparently not familiar with the machine that has been used on this ore. X-ray spectroscopy has been used by this company and the results were always accurate and they Fire Assay also. No appreciable difference in 13 years so you are comparing apples and oranges. Do you recognize Sperrylite?
Click to expand...
X-ray spectroscopy is actually XRF.
If they have the correct library and are properly calibrated and operated by skilled trained personnel,
they can be relatively accurate.
And fire assays do not tell too much regarding PGMs as I understand it.
If you want reliable information a NiS assay is needed, An ordinary fire assay can tell you some, but not the full picture.
 
PM alloys containing various combinations and concentrations of gold, silver, nickel, iron and PGMs can look like that but without an accurate assay, you're judging a meal by its' wrapper. What could go wrong with that?
 
I am working with that which has been available to me. I will indeed have the platinum group testing done. It is coming up when I find a lab that I can afford to use. I do appreciate the information you all have shared with me but my original 2 needs have not been met. I understand the need for test results.I am still not able to get my furnace to the advertised 2450 degrees even though I am preheated the propane and blowing air into the combustion chamber
jphayesjr said:
PM alloys containing various combinations and concentrations of gold, silver, nickel, iron and PGMs can look like that but without an accurate assay, you're judging a meal by its' wrapper. What could go wrong with that?
Click to expand...
I understand but am more interested in the highest temperature ore remaining in the crucible. I assume that the ugly PGM Native Metal is indeed PGM and simply asked for an expert here to tell me which one is ugly but no one here has that kind of experience with PGM. Is rhodium an ugly metal?
 
Nountaineer said:
I am working with that which has been available to me. I will indeed have the platinum group testing done. It is coming up when I find a lab that I can afford to use. I do appreciate the information you all have shared with me but my original 2 needs have not been met. I understand the need for test results.I am still not able to get my furnace to the advertised 2450 degrees even though I am preheated the propane and blowing air into the combustion chamber

I understand but am more interested in the highest temperature ore remaining in the crucible. I assume that the ugly PGM Native Metal is indeed PGM and simply asked for an expert here to tell me which one is ugly but no one here has that kind of experience with PGM. Is rhodium an ugly metal?
Click to expand...
None of the PGMs are ugly.
They are all white enough to be used as Jewelry, maybe except Ir (Too hard to melt and form) and of course Os and Ru.
Ore on the other hand are almost always ugly.
But to me it seems you are just melting the assumed ore.
It is not possible to get the metals out of an ore without the correct flux and collector metal.
You have been told this a multiple of times and still continue with your old ways it seems like?
When are you going to listen to the advice you are given?
 
Nountaineer said:
I was not familiar with forums or procedures when I came and have made some mistakes. I'm not like anyone else here. I am not tech savvy. The screenshot emailed to me is on one of my phones and I downloaded it from the email. I simply don't know how to find it. Perhaps I can get someone locally to help find it. I lived in the national forest alone for 10 years for the purpose of prospecting with no regular source of money. Who else has lived such a life? This is why I own a rich silver deposit.
Click to expand...
I thought you had a rich PGM and Au mine.
 
Nountaineer said:
I lived in the national forest alone for 10 years for the purpose of prospecting with no regular source of money. Who else has lived such a life?
Click to expand...

Per the bold print - I have & I have posted about it several times here on the forum along with pictures of living such a life to back up my story

You can read about it along with pics here (bottom of page 1 & top page 2) this thread ----------

https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/ore-identification-please-help.29622/
That is just one of the several stories I have told about my time living in the National forest here on the forum

I lived a piece of history

Kurt
 
Why are you so set against an assay when it is the next logical step to take?

One major possibility is that an assay may simplify the process of recovering major value and minimal cost. With large amounts of ore that adds up to money in your pocket and faster getting it to said pockets. I could see avoiding it if it cost thousands of dollars, but even then, if the ore is good enough, it still saves you time and backaches. Fair trade off to my old bones.
 

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