Dissolving rust to free trapped gold

[KevinInColorado]

OK guys, easy question...what's the cheapest way to dissolve rust away? This pic is a pan full of rusted junk I've collected while prospecting. As you can see the rust has had time to bind up lots of other stuff. It's going to be too cold to prospect this week so I guess it's time to dissolve the rust to free any gold. Some of this is from a really rich mountain claim but I still want to be smart about this...no point spending $10 to get $5 of gold now is there!?

 

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[G1sammons]

Well if the rusting process occurs down in the bottom of the creek bed, the rust binds whatever is next to it into the rust matrix. In my rusty pieces, you can see pebbles trapped in the rust. Since this stuff is from the bottom layer of gravels in gold bearing creeks, it may have gold trapped in it...all the heavy stuff tends to end up in the same parts of the creek bed right? So, it's time for me to find out! At the moment it is soaking in vinegar with sulphuric acid added to it when the vinegar acid seemed to run out. An experiment for sure.

wise move I'd say! I would have never though to have tried that but I do find gold in a river not far from here and it's lock up in rust a lot .. Good luck seems like there's a product called iron out also simlar to clr which they have at most grocery stores

 

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[KevinInColorado]

wise move I'd say! I would have never though to have tried that but I do find gold in a river not far from here and it's lock up in rust a lot .. Good luck seems like there's a product called iron out also simlar to clr which they have at most grocery stores

thanks! For now I am trying to do it with stuff I already have on hand...cause it seems silly to spend $10 to get $5 of gold, especially if I don't have to.

 

[LP13]

To get rid of the rust an organic acid could be useful such as oxalic. It is good for rust removal, and it is sold at the hardware store as wood bleach. Spendy though, but it is commonly used to clean crystals of their iron oxide coating.

 

[PaulieNoNuggets]

Do you own a tumbler/polisher? Maybe run the rusty stuff in a tumbler overnight with a bunch of dry sand, then once the metal looks clean/rust free, pan the sand.

 

[yelnif]

Hello Kevin, you bring up an interesting problem- and some interesting responses. The electrolysis process I believe will result in you 'gold plating' your anode piece
(copper, iron pipe, or silver spoon)- at least that is what others have said on some of the other forums here when asked about cleaning up old/ dug coins. CLR is more for lime deposit removal from hard water- but might work on rust also. NHBandit's use of molasses and water is the most safe- just not sure if packed rust would respond the same as surface rust.
Have you thought about using a rock tumbler? That is how they break up rocks to get to the gold- basically that is what you have, a really rusty rock.
No plating, chemicals, or dangers that way. Environmentally safe to boot.

 

[KevinInColorado]

To get rid of the rust an organic acid could be useful such as oxalic. It is good for rust removal, and it is sold at the hardware store as wood bleach. Spendy though, but it is commonly used to clean crystals of their iron oxide coating.

Good to know. I am trying to be cost effective here but may resort to that if other strategies fail me.

Do you own a tumbler/polisher? Maybe run the rusty stuff in a tumbler overnight with a bunch of dry sand, then once the metal looks clean/rust free, pan the sand.

I think I will try this if chemistry fails to be cost effective. Some of the pieces would need to be cut up to fit in my little tumbler.

Hello Kevin, you bring up an interesting problem- and some interesting responses. The electrolysis process I believe will result in you 'gold plating' your anode piece (copper, iron pipe, or silver spoon)- at least that is what others have said on some of the other forums here when asked about cleaning up old/ dug coins. CLR is more for lime deposit removal from hard water- but might work on rust also. NHBandit's use of molasses and water is the most safe- just not sure if packed rust would respond the same as surface rust. Have you thought about using a rock tumbler? That is how they break up rocks to get to the gold- basically that is what you have, a really rusty rock. No plating, chemicals, or dangers that way. Environmentally safe to boot.

I think you're probably right about the electrolysis, too risky. Tumbling may end up the answer. It is soaking overnight in white vinegar with GLB Spa Cleanse added to it. That stuff is basically sulphuric acid so maybe that'll do it. Time will tell.

 

[LP13]

If that doesn't work, you could try vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. It eats up a whole list of stuff and is very eco-friendly and not hazardous really. Just good old 5% vinegar and 3% cheap hydrogen peroxide like in your medicine cabinet. It's called paracetic acid. Just mix it 50/50 by volume. I use it to clean my cons of lead, iron, copper and stuff. It eats a whole host of metals up pretty quickly and probably some of their compounds as well.

If not, give hydrochloric (muriatic acid) a shot, it might make ferric chloride out of the rust (iron oxide III=common old rust - here is the wikipedia description of it " Rust consists of hydrated iron(III) oxides Fe2O3·nH2O and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH), Fe(OH)3). It works slowly on FeO3(magnetite) which is tough stuff to dissolve, so it might work on red rust too.

And if you do any etching of circuit boards or have a friend who does (ferric chloride is a viscous yellow looking stuff, looks almost black when in a bottle), you would get a bonus out of the deal, because ferric chloride is the most common chemical used for etching circuit boards.

Good luck.

 

[sharanne1118]

How about Navy Jelly for Rust? Available at any Hardware store. It did a great job on my old coaster bike I restored. It costs less than $7.00?

 

[justinfisch01]

Not sure on the price but WD-40 came out with a new rust remover for the auto industry. It comes in a plastic jug similar to an antifreeze bottle. I saw it on Spike TV during Powerblock of auto car shows.

 

[KevinInColorado]

So glad I started this thread, lots of good ideas coming out. Thanks, all three of you, good pointers to consider.

 

[NHBandit]

Just added FYI type stuff. Regular WD40 sucks for removing rust. That's not what it's designed to do. WD stands for "water displacing" and its purpose is to repel water and in the process, to prevent rust from forming. It was originally designed to be used by the military to prevent corrosion from forming in underground missile silos. It was never intended to remove rust or to loosen bolts for that matter. There are MANY chemicals on the market that are much better at doing those things. Take it from a retired auto mechanic with 40+ years experience.

 

[G1sammons]

Just added FYI type stuff. Regular WD40 sucks for removing rust. That's not what it's designed to do. WD stands for "water displacing" and its purpose is to repel water and in the process, to prevent rust from forming. It was originally designed to be used by the military to prevent corrosion from forming in underground missile silos. It was never intended to remove rust or to loosen bolts for that matter. There are MANY chemicals on the market that are much better at doing those things. Take it from a retired auto mechanic with 40+ years experience.

Just a bit wrong there it came from NASA there general purpose was to remove water on rocket engines wd 40= water displacement formula # 40 !

 

[Frank D.]

Here you go Kevin. Sold at Lowes for under 8.00, and works good.

 

[kevin1]

i doubt that my Coca Cola would work very good and infact it may pzz me off a little. my Coca Cola has to much rum and lime in it to work for this idea! and it would seriously curtail my socially active evening around the campfire!

May not take off rust, but it sure takes the edge off. LOL

 

[Goldwasher]

precisely why it needs to stay away from anything going into a gold pan. I remember a Myth busters where they used some hot sauce to cut through a rusty prison bar.....

Just a bit wrong there it came from NASA there general purpose was to remove water on rocket engines wd 40= water displacement formula # 40 !

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hot sauce, wow, that's thinking creatively. My own experiment with the sulphuric acid spa filter cleaner seems to be working but it was too smelly so it got put outside overnight. Problem there is it's only 1 degree F outside so it's frozen solid and not proceeding with the chemical reaction I'm sure :-(

 

[A_Sly1_U]

I was in a place where we'd find layers of iron oxide where the flood layers in the gravel changed. The iron oxide wasn't everywhere, just in small patches. I suppose it formed as iron rich black sand deposits oxidised. Crushing was enough for me to free up the gold in the stuff I found. It was the nicest pans I worked all summer. Your mortar and pestle is probably all you need to get any gold out.

 

[bedrock bubba]

Oxalic acid will do the trick!

Or, use muriatic acid, and let it soak a few days. Use gloves and goggles, and dont breath the fumes.

Do not use tile cleaners with hydroflouric acid in them! That will dissolve the gold, and is dangerous stuff!

 

[KevinInColorado]

I was in a place where we'd find layers of iron oxide where the flood layers in the gravel changed. The iron oxide wasn't everywhere, just in small patches. I suppose it formed as iron rich black sand deposits oxidised. Crushing was enough for me to free up the gold in the stuff I found. It was the nicest pans I worked all summer. Your mortar and pestle is probably all you need to get any gold out.

crushing would be cool if this wasn't pieces of she avidly rusted iron and steel trash from the old days. I'm stuck waiting until it warms up so I can do this outside...due to the fumes

 

[G1sammons]

crushing would be cool if this wasn't pieces of she avidly rusted iron and steel trash from the old days. I'm stuck waiting until it warms up so I can do this outside...due to the fumes

cant wait to see ! its like a treasure hunt in a bucket of rust!