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

From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 22:29:59 -0400 (EDT)
Message-ID: <8CE5054A5849287-2AD4-FE48_at_web-mmc-m05.sysops.aol.com>

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

--
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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 Mon 03 Oct 2011 10:29:59 PM PDT