[meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of meteorites(especiallyirons)

From: pshugar at messengersfromthecosmos.com <pshugar_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:01:35 -0700
Message-ID: <20111003220135.979558876a36f2d1b40acd6b9bcaf01e.810f7be495.wbe_at_email09.secureserver.net>

Mike,
You just need to upgrade the software
from window 98 to something more modern
like WinMe. Hehehe
Pete


> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of
> meteorites(especiallyirons)
> From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, October 03, 2011 9:59 pm
> To: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com>
> Cc: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>
>
> Hi Doug and List,
>
> It sounded awfully high to me also, but what do I know? LOL
>
> Quoted below is the text from the write-up. Notice, the gold content
> is the only element listed in milligrams.
>
> Here is the text from the Met Bull write-up :
>
> Northwest Africa 6932 (NWA 6932)
> (Northwest Africa)
> Found: 2008
> Classification: Iron meteorite (ungrouped)
> History: Reportedly found in the Algerian Desert
>
> Petrography: Plessitic octahedrite with isolated (<5% of area) sparks
> and spindles of kamacite; longest bands are ~8 mm long and 0.2 mm
> wide. The material may be reheated; the fine plessite has a granular
> appearance and there are small dark ellipses that may reflect
> resorption of phosphide. No heat altered rim was recognized. Stucture
> Opl.
>
> Geochemistry: Composition: 4.51 mg/g Co, 69.8 mg/g Ni, 82.4 ?g/g Ga,
> 380 ?g/g Ge, 12.0 ?g/g As, 4.12 ?g/g Ir, and 1.49 mg/g Au. The
> meteorite has no close compositional relatives. For example, in the Co
> range from 6.2 to 7.5 mg/g, no ungrouped iron has a Au content within
> 20% and only Guin and Laurens County have Ir contents within 20% of
> that in this iron, but these irons differ in several other
> compositional respects.
>
> Specimens: Several additional masses are known.
>
> Best regards,
>
> MikeG
>
> PS - I am having internet connectivity issues and my connection is
> running about as well as a 500-pound man right now. So I think I will
> sign off until tomorrow morning and hopefully it improves then. LOL
>
> --
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
>
> Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
> Facebook - http://tinyurl.com/42h79my
> News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
> Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
> EOM - http://www.encyclopedia-of-meteorites.com/collection.aspx?id=1564
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------c
> On 10/3/11, MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com> wrote:
> > No way Mike, that there are 48 grams of gold in that 32 Kg hunk of tkw.
> >
> > ... Unless this is such an anomoly that comes from the Star of the
> > Woman of the Golden Atom, I think none of this makes any sense and that
> > the units are micrograms per gram ( ?g/g ), and if that is the case
> > there is not 48 grams of gold in them thar TKW, haha, more like a total
> > of 0.03 grams in the whole 32 Kg mass to go refining. And if you read
> > it somewhere, there is the possibility that the reference is wrong.
> > Was the article peer reviewed? (my comment isn't ;-))
> >
> > Kindest wishes
> > Doug
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
> > To: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
> > Cc: meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> > Sent: Mon, Oct 3, 2011 9:45 pm
> > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of
> > meteorites(especiallyirons)
> >
> >
> > Hi Gang,
> >
> > I was just curious about exactly how much gold is bound up inside a
> > meteorite with a higher than average content, like the one in this
> > example.
> >
> > Personally, I share the same sentiment as most of you - it would be
> > heresy to destroy a meteorite to extract something that is available
> > here on Earth, even if it wasn't cost-prohibitive.
> >
> > At 41 years old, I have made it this far in life with terrible math
> > skills, so this old dog isn't going to take any refresher courses. I
> > was hoping one of the more skilled (and intelligent) members would act
> > as a human calculator and cipher this question for me. :)
> >
> > So in this particular case, the 32kg iron meteorite contains ~1.5 troy
> > ounces of gold, with a current market value of ~$2550.
> >
> > What sparked my curiosity was the apparently high gold content that
> > was measured in milligrams and not the usual micrograms one expects to
> > see.
> >
> > One last question, perhaps rhetorical in a sense, has anyone ever seen
> > gold in a meteorite? I mean, has there ever been a visible "bleb" or
> > gold inclusion in a meteorite? Or is all of the gold bound up on a
> > molecular level and invisible to the naked eye and 10x loupe?
> >
> > I guess there won't be a gold rush to the asteroid belt....
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > MikeG
> > --
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> > Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
> >
> > Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
> > Facebook - http://tinyurl.com/42h79my
> > News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
> > Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
> > EOM - http://www.encyclopedia-of-meteorites.com/collection.aspx?id=1564
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 10/3/11, Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >> 1.49 mg per gram is one part in 671.
> >> 1/671 of 32 kg is 47.7 grams of gold.
> >> There are 31 grams per troy ounce; gold
> >> is priced in troy ounces; there are 1.537
> >> troy ounces oif gold in that 32 kg, or
> >> $2551.94 at today's (10/03/11) price.
> >>
> >> Cost you more than that to extract it...
> >>
> >>
> >> Sterling K. Webb
> >>
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > -
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Stuart McDaniel" <actionshooting at carolina.rr.com>
> >> To: "Michael Gilmer" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>;
> >> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> >> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 7:57 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of
> >> meteorites(especiallyirons)
> >>
> >>
> >>> Oops, I was wrong.....It would be
> >>>
> >>> 32,000gr / 1.49mg = 21475 mg
> >>>
> >>> 21,475/1000 = 21.475 gr
> >>>
> >>> Right, anyone??
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Stuart McDaniel
> >>> Lawndale, NC
> >>> Secr.,
> >>> Cleve. Co. Astronomical Society
> >>> IMCA #9052
> >>> Member - KCA, KBCA, CDUSA
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: Michael Gilmer
> >>> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 8:33 PM
> >>> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> >>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of meteorites
> >>> (especiallyirons)
> >>>
> >>> Hi List,
> >>>
> >>> In perusing through the latest additions to the Met Bulletin today, I
> >>> was reading the compositional data for NWA 6932 (iron, ungrouped). I
> >>> noticed that the gold (Au) content was listed at 1.49mg/g. Is this
> >>> sort of data as straight-forward as it appears, or is there more to
> > it
> >>> that this layman is missing? In other words, how much gold is in
> > this
> >>> meteorite? The TKW of this meteorite is 32kg. So, with 1000g in a
> >>> kilo, and 1000mg in a gram, how much gold is in this celestial hunk
> > of
> >>> iron? (my math is horrible)
> >>>
> >>> Second question, what is highest known gold content in a meteorite
> > and
> >>> what meteorite is it?
> >>>
> >>> Third question, some meteorites also have high iridium content. What
> >>> is the highest known iridium content in a meteorite?
> >>>
> >>> I am not suggesting in any way that meteorites should be refined or
> >>> melted down to extract their precious metals content, but given the
> >>> high value of metals such as gold and iridium, has any profiteer
> > tried
> >>> such an endeavour? Or would the process be too complex and
> > expensive?
> >>>
> >>> Best regards,
> >>>
> >>> MikeG
> >>>
> >>>
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >>> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
> >>>
> >>> Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
> >>> Facebook - http://tinyurl.com/42h79my
> >>> News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516
> >>> Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone
> >>> EOM -
> >>> http://www.encyclopedia-of-meteorites.com/collection.aspx?id=1564
> >>>
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
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Received on Tue 04 Oct 2011 01:01:35 AM PDT