[meteorite-list] Gold and Iridium content of meteorites(especiallyirons)
From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 11:56:36 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <8CE50C53BB8F64A-17DC-4F82_at_webmail-m034.sysops.aol.com> Mike referenced NWA 6932 (with the possible ug/g vs. mg/g issue): "4.12 ?g/g Ir, and 1.49 mg/g Au ... ... no ungrouped iron has a Au content within 20% and only Guin and Laurens County have Ir contents within 20% ..." Wasson also analyzed the tiny, weathered ungrouped iron Lewis Cliff 85369 (LEW 85369), TKW = 6.3 g; Antarctica, and determined: Iriduim 3.49 ug/g Gold 1.49 ug/g The Iridium is within 20% and the gold would seem to match exactly assumping this is not the golden iron as discussed*, so that comment also in the write-up would be interesting to follow-up upon. That, however, doesn't mean that these two distally spaced meteorites are a match since the Gallium differs by a factor of nearly two. Reference: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/249/4971/900.full.pdf Kindest wishes Doug *and if it were ...wow, what a marketing plug it will have -----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 > >Received on Tue 04 Oct 2011 11:56:36 AM PDT |
StumbleUpon del.icio.us Yahoo MyWeb |