[meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of meteorites(especiallyirons)
From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 00:22:58 -0500 Message-ID: <AC1403DE3DCC408A92C3D84CE300DD56_at_ATARIENGINE2> "The Girl in the Golden Atom" can be read online here: http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue21/atom1.html And it can be downloaded as an eBook in many formats here: http://www.manybooks.net/titles/cummingsr2109421094-8.html Unfortunately we can't ask Ray Cummings, who died in 1957, about the star and problems with the shrinking ray, but he would know -- he was Thomas Edison's publicist! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Cummings Sterling K. Webb ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "MexicoDoug" <mexicodoug at aim.com> To: <meteoritemike at gmail.com> Cc: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 11:31 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of meteorites(especiallyirons) > Hi Mike, Stuart and fellow astrochemisticists, > > The Bulletin is not a peer reviewed place, it is just the world being > held on a few Atlas' shoulders who are nice enough to slave over it > and an occasional inaccuracy could happen. Perhaps it was an issue of > optical character recognition since mu, the prefix for micro (as in > micrograms) looks a lot like an m, if you put your astronomer's cap on > you'd suspect that the simple explanation it is just a run of the mill > typo that will now be corrected. > > But ... since we haven't analyzed this meteorite, we can't be sure. > > For my argument that it is hogwash that this meteorite would have all > that gold (so, the bigger picture is, that don't spread the idea that > there are up to 48 grams of gold in a 32 Kg chunk of iron meteorite or > folks will forget where it came from and the next thing we know the > newspapers will be proclaiming that meteorites are loaded with gold). > > OK my argument, referencing Anders & Ebihara, 1982, yes the same > Anders that (karmaca) Martin kindly contacted not too long ago who > invented the term "poor man's space probe" for meteorites, showed that > in the Solar system there is nearly one hundred-million times more > iron than gold in the elemental abundances in the Solar System. Well, > if an iron meteorite has in round numbers, 900 mg/g of iron (90%), > then moving the decimal over 7 zeros, we get 0.000009 mg Au/g, which > is 0.009 mg/g which is 9 ug/g. Granted, 9 is off by a factor of 6x > more than is reported for the meteorite but at least we are not a > factor of nearly 200 off (1500 ug/g = 1.5 mg/g). > > That's all I can say, based on a nice guy's work from 1982... but I'm > less peer reviewed than the Bulletin so we need someone who is closer > to the analysis. Or, perhaps go through a bunch of irons with > published analyses and just see if anything is over say, 10 ug/g, in > which case that would make a far more interesting story than a > footnote to an analysis on what star made all that gold and why. Was > it the home star of Girl from the Golden Atom? Did their society get > obliterated? Did the incredible shrinking ray malfunction when > reforming their marriage ring? And what of our adventurous and > debonair young and gifted chemist? Stay tuned till next time ;-) > > Kindest wishes > Doug > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael Gilmer <meteoritemike at gmail.com> > To: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com> > Cc: Meteorite-list <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> > Sent: Mon, Oct 3, 2011 11:00 pm > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of > meteorites(especiallyirons) > > > 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 >>>> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> -------- >>>> ______________________________________________ >>>> Visit the Archives at >>>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >>>> Meteorite-list mailing list >>>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com >>>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >>>> >>>> ______________________________________________ >>>> Visit the Archives at >>>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >>>> Meteorite-list mailing list >>>> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com >>>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >>> >>> >> ______________________________________________ >> Visit the Archives at >> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >> Meteorite-list mailing list >> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >> >> > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > Received on Tue 04 Oct 2011 01:22:58 AM PDT |
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