Gold is probably the most often vainly mentioned element of the periodic table, despite the fact that from a practical point of view there is almost nothing useful in it. It is soft, heavy, and not suitable for making tools or instruments with which you can effectively hit your neighbor on the head. On the other hand, it is beautiful, expensive, rare and almost eternal. Based on the combination of these factors, humanity at some point (namely in the 5th millennium BC) for some reason decided that this was a good material by which to measure everything else. Iron, by the way, became popular only after a thousand years!
A lot has changed since those times, but gold is still important. Not least because it has found practical application in various fields. We found four places where you can mine the yellow metal completely legally and without paying for it with your health and life. You don't even need a prospector's hat and sieve.
Used electrical appliances
The main use of gold in modern industry is due to its resistance to corrosion and excellent electrical conductivity. This makes it an ideal substance for coating all kinds of contacts that are not supposed to be cleaned or touched at all. Therefore, the yellow metal is actively used in high-tech devices. And in smartphones as well.
The average smartphone contains about 0.025 grams of pure gold and 0.25 grams of pure silver. For comparison, gold ore contains from 2 to 100 grams per ton of pure metal. The smartphone weighs 150 grams; Accordingly, to extract 2.5 g of gold, you need 15 kg of phones. Or a ton of low-grade ore.
By the way, the other day news appeared that in 2015, Apple recovered a ton of gold from decommissioned iPhones and iPads and received $40 million in profit. However, to do this they had to sift through 90 million pounds of electronic waste.
sea water
Attempts to extract gold from sea water were made several times in the 20th century. The first experiments were carried out by the British in 1908, and the first patents were registered at the same time (they like to patent things that don’t work).
After World War I, Germany also tried to establish such production in order to pay indemnity. None of them succeeded due to imperfect technology. Scientists of that time could not even properly measure the concentration of gold in water; estimates differed hundreds of times.
According to modern data, the amount of gold in water (sea or fresh - it doesn’t matter) is on average 5 kg per 1 cubic meter. km. This figure, of course, depends on the specific body of water, but this is the order. According to current economic realities, extracting gold in this way is impractical. But there is no need to extract it.
For example, Lake Baikal contains 23,000 cubic meters. km of water. This is 115 tons of gold, which can honestly be included in Russia’s gold reserves. They cannot be taken away, like the bullion from Fort Knox, but there is definitely gold in the lake, unlike the American storage facility, and it is not going anywhere.
Gold mining began in ancient times. Over the entire history of mankind, approximately 168.9 thousand tons of precious metal have been mined, almost 50% of which is used for various jewelry. If all the mined gold were collected in one place, a cube would be formed the height of a 5-story building, with an edge of 20 meters.
"Golden Story"
Gold is a metal that humanity became familiar with at least 6,500 years ago. The oldest treasure is considered to be found in the Varna necropolis, which is located in Bulgaria, and the items are dated back to 4600 BC.
Gold has played an important role throughout human history and is still considered a reliable investment. Currencies have come and gone, but it has remained a universal and stable standard for thousands of years.
Owning this metal has always been prestigious. Not only wealth was assessed by the amount of gold, but position in society also depended on it. This is still the case today.
It was gold that was often the cause of wars and crimes, but at the same time it played a huge role in the progress of humanity in general. On its basis, a monetary system began to take shape, cultural values and architectural masterpieces were created, which are priceless and still amaze everyone. Thanks to the desire to produce this metal, scientists obtained many chemical elements, and gold rushes helped to discover and develop new lands.
How gold is mined in Russia
In the upper crust of the earth, gold is contained in small quantities, but there are quite a lot of such deposits and areas. Russia is in 4th place in the ranking for its production and has 7% of the world share.
Industrial gold mining began in 1745. The first mine was discovered by the peasant Erofei Markov, who reported its location. Subsequently they began to call him Berezovsky.
Today in Russia there are 16 companies that mine this precious metal. The leader is the Polyus Gold company, which has 1/5 of the share of the entire mining market. Diligent artels mainly mine metal in the Magadan, Irkutsk and Amur regions, Chukotka, Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk territories.
Gold mining is a complex, labor-intensive and expensive process. Such costs are reduced by closing low-income and unprofitable mines. Reducing volume and introducing new technologies that save capital are quite effective measures.
Gold mining process
As centuries passed, the process of extracting this metal was constantly changing. Initially, manual gold mining was popular. Miners obtained gold dust thanks to simple primitive devices. River sand was collected into a tray and then shaken in a stream of water, the sand was washed away, and the metal grains remained at the bottom, since they were heavier. This method is often used today.
However, this is not the only extraction process. For example, in the past you could often find gold nuggets along rivers. They were thrown onto land during the erosion of gold-bearing veins naturally. However, by the 20th century there were no rich placers left, and they learned to extract gold from ore.
Nowadays, manual gold mining is rarely practiced; the process is completely mechanized, but at the same time it is very complex. A deposit containing 3 g of gold per ton is considered profitable. At 10g it is considered rich.
A few years ago, a method such as amalgamation was often used, which is based on the special property of mercury to envelop gold. Mercury was placed at the bottom of the barrel, then the gold-bearing rock was shaken in it. As a result, even the smallest particles of gold simply stuck to it. After this, the mercury was separated from the gangue rock, and with strong heating, the gold flaked off. However, this method also has disadvantages, since mercury itself is very toxic. At the same time, it still does not give up the gold completely, since the very tiny particles of the precious metal are poorly wetted.
The second method is more modern - gold is leached with sodium cyanide, which can convert even the smallest particles into water-soluble cyanide compounds. And then gold is extracted from them using reagents. In this way, it is possible to obtain precious metal even from already existing ones, which makes them profitable again.
Getting gold at home
Mining gold manually is also possible at home. In order to mine it, you don’t need to go to the mines and shake trays for hours. There are calmer and more civilized methods. There are a lot of objects around that contain gold. For example, old Soviet watches in their yellow cases contained real, pure precious metal without impurities.
In order to get it from there, you just need to buy such watches in very large quantities. Then you will need a plastic bucket and basin, an electric stove, razor blades, a heat-resistant glass pan, a brush and a cotton cloth for filtering, rubber gloves and a spray bottle. The chemicals needed are nitric and hydrochloric acids.
Recycling begins when you already have 300 cases on hand. The process will take only 4 hours, and you will use 4 liters of acid. From this number of cases you can get 75 grams of pure gold.
Who would have thought, but everyone, even children, carries gold in their pockets and bags every day. It's simple - each SIM card for a mobile phone contains a certain amount of precious metal. It can be extracted from there too. This is done in two ways: electrolysis or etching. For the latter, the chemical reagent “royal vodka” is required.
The simplest method is considered to be etching, in which gold is obtained due to the chemical inertness of the precious metal, namely its ability to react with other elements. For etching, you will need the oxidizing agent “regia vodka”, which is made from concentrated acids: hydrochloric and nitric. The liquid is orange-yellow in color.
Gold from water
Gold can also be mined from water. It is also contained in it, and in any: sewer, sea, water supply, but in very small quantities. For example, in the sea it exists in a proportion of 4 mg per ton. Despite this, it can still be extracted using quicklime, which will require only a ton per 4.5 thousand tons of water.
In order to obtain gold from sea water, you will need to mix it with milk of lime. After some time, the liquid must be released back into the sea, and the precious metal must be extracted from the sediment. Kirov engineers propose another waste-free method in which lime is replaced with ash from thermal power plants. This method is considered the least expensive of all known.
Golden bacteria
In Canada, scientists actually discovered bacteria that are capable of releasing gold from various solutions. Amazing, isn't it? For example, the bacterium Delftia acidovorans has a substance that releases precious metals from solution. And the reason is simple - she simply defends herself, protecting herself from gold ions, which are toxic to her. The second bacterium, Cupriavidus metallidurans, on the contrary, accumulates it inside itself.
Both were found in 2006 in “gold” mines. Canadian studies have shown that bacteria that accumulate gold manage to avoid poisoning due to their genetic nature.
Draghi
Gold is also mined using dredges. They are called floating mining machines that have dredging, processing or other equipment that provides comprehensive mechanization of the mining process. They enrich minerals and remove
The purpose of dredges is to develop flooded mineral deposits and extract valuable components (gold, platinum, tin, etc.) They are used mainly in alluvial, deluvial, deep- and coastal-marine sedimentary and placer deposits. The only exceptions are bouldery, strong rocks and viscous clays.
Types of dredges
Dredges are divided into two classes.
- Offshore, with the help of which deposits in the coastal zone and deep mines in lakes and oceans are developed. They are mounted on keel towed or self-propelled vessels, which ensure operation in storms.
- Continental, which are used to develop deposits on continents. Mounted on a flat-bottomed boat.
Dredges are classified according to:
- the type of energy used by the drive mechanisms;
- deep excavations of rocks in the section below the water level;
- type of apparatus (many scoops with an intermittent chain, with a continuous chain, a rotary complex, a dragline bucket, a grab bucket);
- scoop capacities (large, medium and small);
- method of maneuvering (rope-anchor and rope-pile).
In the Russian Federation, dredges are now used for gold mining, mainly in the Far Eastern Federal District. However, mining by this method can negatively affect the ecosystem, destroy river landscapes, and severely pollute the area located downstream.
Therefore, this method can only be used if the development projects are carefully followed. Their implementation will require the reclamation of lands that have been disturbed by mining, as well as the restoration of forests, soil and vegetation of river valleys.
How to make a dredge for gold mining yourself
Many gold miners would like to have their own dredge and save a lot on costs, since the prices for this equipment are very high. In this case, the easiest way is to do it yourself. Despite the fact that the most inexpensive materials will be purchased, a certain amount will still be required to create the dredge.
Initially, you need to make lists and assembly diagrams; for this you can take as an example the most famous dredges for gold mining at the moment. Basically, the first stage is studying, the more you know about them, the better and better you will make your own.
Some important parts can be found in an ordinary landfill, and you can buy them for next to nothing, for example, an engine for a device. Next, you need to decide on the size of the dredge; the larger it is, the greater the amount of soil that can be processed, but its weight and cost will also be higher than that of a small assembled product.
It needs to be built with a hose diameter of up to 12 cm, so that you can handle the dredge yourself. The most optimal size is 10 cm. If you need compressed air, you need to purchase an air compressor, diving equipment and an air intake tank. However, this is not the first need; this can be done later.
In order to build the coveted apparatus, you will need: an engine with a pump, various tools (hacksaw, hammer, wrenches, screwdrivers). It doesn't hurt to buy a welding machine. You can buy used parts, but some that are especially important and problematic or difficult to replace, it is better to purchase new ones in the store.
Some dredge parts are often impossible to make with your own hands, so you still have to purchase them: engine, water pump, air compressor, hose, ore chute. It is the latter that is the most important detail; without it, gold simply cannot be captured, and accordingly, the entire constructed apparatus loses its meaning.
The dredge bell should be installed at the head of the sluice so that it directs flows of water and soil into it. The suction valve draws water into the pump (this is also one of the important parts). If sand is sucked in, the pump can quickly break down, so you cannot dredge without a valve.
The hydraulic elevator is placed at the end of the hose, while water is supplied to the beginning and a vacuum is created. It is best to use a suction nozzle here. It is difficult to operate an elevator on large dredges, so it is mainly used on small machines if the work takes place in shallow water.
The buoyancy of the apparatus is a separate stage in creating a dredge. This can be achieved in several ways. Initially, they used tires from trucks; they weigh little and are cheap. The only obstacle is that getting them is not as easy as it might seem. However, this would be the best option.
Now many dredge manufacturers use them. They are quite reliable, but also heavy. However, there are many options here too. Some dredges that are assembled at home have various plastic pontoons. One of the interesting ways is when they use plastic containers or barrels with a capacity of up to 40 liters. You can buy them quite inexpensively. If you don’t mind spending a large amount but buying something ready-made, then it’s easier to purchase from the manufacturer.
Another important detail that affects buoyancy is the frame. It is on this that the motor and the ore washing chute are attached. If you do it yourself, you can take simple pieces of aluminum, which are easy to find in any landfill. It will be inexpensive and requires almost no effort. If the frame turns out to be flat, then truck tires are simply attached to it.
You can check the operation of the dredge after it is completely assembled. To do this, take two dozen small pieces of lead, which are leveled and painted in a bright color. Soil is collected in the reservoir, and they are placed there. This is where you can try the dredge. See how many pieces of lead came back after washing the rock. During normal operation of the dredge, losses are only possible up to 2 pieces. If there is not enough lead, then you should check the entire assembly again according to the diagram, and if necessary, make additional improvements.
Future gold mining plans
There are fewer and fewer gold deposits, they are now being discovered mainly in South Africa, others are being significantly depleted, and deposits with low and average precious metal contents are simply unprofitable to develop.
According to experts, mineral reserves that contain gold can be developed for another 50 years. Then they will run out. Simply because humanity has been mining gold very intensively in recent decades. And there is less and less of it in nature. Now we have to find new opportunities for mining this metal in the coming years. The most promising method is considered to be gold leaching technology.
In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about ocean mining as another way to extract gold. There are a lot of sea placers and deposits, but the bottom has not yet been fully studied. It is possible that most of the deposits of the precious metal are hidden in the ocean. Our descendants will have to find out.
Any water contains a small amount of gold ions, which in theory could be isolated and collected into a more or less complete ingot. This is very difficult to do. However, the bacterium that Canadian microbiologists are studying knows one natural trick that allows it to literally live on pieces of precious metal.
Gold ions are present in sea water, tap water, sewage water, and mining waste. They are only a few particles per trillion. They easily react with various chemicals, which makes them quite difficult to convert into the stable form characteristic of ingots that glow with a beautiful yellow light.
However, the bacterium Delftia acidovorans knows how to turn individual ions into nuggets. For this purpose, the microorganism uses delftibactin ( delftibactin) - a substance that causes gold to precipitate from solution. Bacteria thus create safe living conditions for themselves (ions no longer threaten their cells) and a pleasant golden home that many could only dream of.
In an article published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, scientists from McMaster University report that they were able to determine which genes are responsible for gold production processes and, for the first time, isolate the so-called delftibactin. If researchers obtain this substance in sufficient quantities, they may be able to fulfill the dream of many ancient alchemists - to turn water into gold.
Here, however, it is worth noting that you will need a lot of water. In addition, the substance created by bacteria no less readily draws iron ions from the water. This means that biologists can end up with nuggets of iron mixed with gold.
Be that as it may, the achievement of Canadian scientists can be used to purify wastewater, which, as is known, contains almost the entire periodic table, and to isolate gold from mining waste. Delftibactin may also be useful for creating gold particle catalysts, which are needed to speed up many chemical reactions.
Let us add that another type of bacteria is suspected of releasing gold from water, now being studied by microbiologists from the University of Adelaide. Representatives of the species Cupriavidus metallidurans Scientists discovered gold nuggets in biofilms that were found several thousand kilometers apart. These microorganisms accumulate inert gold nanoparticles inside their cells, also ridding themselves of dangerous gold dissolved in the surrounding water.
The magic word that makes dreams come true does not only exist in fairy tales. It sounds simple - gold. At its core, it is an ordinary yellow metal, which is how it got its name. The question of how to mine gold interested people 7 thousand years ago, in the distant Neolithic era. It was then that it began to gain incredible popularity due to its color, which was associated with the sun and the power given by the gods. Nowadays, few people associate it with the inhabitants of heaven, but as a symbol of power and wealth, gold not only has not lost its meaning, but has also become the standard of economic, and with it, political independence of all countries.
Gold in nature
It is important to know not only how to mine gold, but also where it came from on our planet. The answer to this question helps you understand where to look for this coveted metal. Scientists suggest that gold is formed during the explosion of neutron stars, when tons of dust containing gold, along with other metals, are thrown into space. Subsequently, the dust concentrates, forming star systems and planets. So it was with our Earth. Now the bulk of the gold is in its molten interior and is thrown out “drop by drop” to the surface with the lava. That is why gold-bearing veins, where gold can be mined relatively easily, are mainly located in places of post-magmatic and hydrothermal processes. Other igneous rocks, being lighter ones, are washed away over time, and gold remains in placers. The same thing happens with gold brought to Earth by meteorites. It can be found in pure form (gold nuggets), or in some minerals, for example, sulfides, arsenides and 15 others.
Properties of gold
Before we tell you how to extract gold and from what, let’s get acquainted with its properties. This knowledge will help you not to lose a single milligram of precious metal during extraction. So, what are the properties of gold?
- It is very dense and heavy. A golden ball with a diameter of only 5 cm weighs a whole kilogram! This property is used in the main method of its extraction - washing.
- It is very plastic, soft, and, as a result, malleable. Gold can be used to make threads as thick as a human hair and translucent plates thinner than paper. This makes it possible to use it even in SIM cards!
- It can melt and boil, however, the temperatures must be quite significant. Important: in its molten form, even without waiting for it to boil, gold can quickly evaporate.
- It is unusually inert, that is, practically insoluble in acids (only in aqua regia and a few other solvents).
All these properties of gold are used in methods of its extraction both in nature and at home. 
Where is gold mined?
There are several countries in the world to which nature has given gold deposits. These are China (the leader in gold mining), Australia, Russia, Canada, the United States, South Africa, once-Soviet Uzbekistan, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Indonesia, Ghana and New Guinea. Gold mining is also carried out in other countries, but in too small quantities. Our country ranks third after Australia and China. Russian citizens are undoubtedly interested in where gold is mined in Russia. We have 37 companies engaged in this business. The leader among them is Polyus Gold. Almost 95% of the total volume of gold is located in the Far East, in the Amur, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Irkutsk regions, Chukotka, Khabarovsk Territory, Yakutia (Sakha), Buryatia, Transbaikalia, Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. At the same time, the maximum production is carried out in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the maximum dynamics of its increase is observed in the Sverdlovsk and Magadan regions and in Chukotka. But in Transbaikalia, less and less gold is being mined. Among the mines and deposits are Kupol, Kyuchussky, Maysky, Karalveemsky, Vorontsovsky, Eldorado, Devil's Trough, Sukhoi Log and others. 
Amalgamation
This is one of the oldest and most harmful methods of gold mining, officially prohibited in Russia, but used in other countries by our artisanal gold miners. It involves the use of mercury. How to extract gold by amalgamation? To do this, mercury is added to a plastic or glass tray containing sand and very fine fractions of gold. She will not dissolve the coveted metal, but will draw it into her balls. To help the process, you need to turn the tray, allowing the mercury to roll over the entire surface of the sand. Mercury beads containing gold are called amalgam. It is collected, separated from the sand and subjected to either treatment with hydrochloric acid, in which mercury will dissolve but gold will not, or by evaporating the mercury over a fire. This can be done in a simple frying pan. In acid, the gold freed from mercury settles in flakes to the bottom, after which it is thoroughly washed. If you don’t want to lose mercury, you need to dip a piece of foil into the acid. This simple technique allows the mercury to precipitate. You can extract gold from amalgam by simply filtering it through suede or tarpaulin, but in this case there is always a large loss of expensive metal. 
Flushing
This is the most ancient and environmentally friendly method based on the high density of gold. Flushing is used both in industrial mining and in individual mining at placer deposits. It consists of washing the rocks with water. In this case, all light particles are removed, and heavy particles, including gold, remain at the bottom of the tray. The disadvantage of this method is that too small particles of gold are washed out with water, significantly reducing its production. Some people are interested in whether it is possible for private individuals to mine gold. Yes, you can. Russia has passed a law allowing prospectors to work in small deposits and spent gold-bearing veins. To do this, you need to buy a license, which is valid for 5 years.
Cyanidation
This least labor-intensive method is based on dissolving gold in hydrocyanic acid. How to extract gold by cyanidation? It is necessary to crush the rock that contains the noble metal, pour it into a waterproof tray, and fill it with hydrocyanic acid, in particular sodium cyanide. It will begin to seep through the rock, dissolving the gold in the process. The resulting solution is poured into a separate container. The gold it contains is precipitated, for example, with zinc dust, and hydrocyanic acid is returned to the process. 
Flotation
This method cannot be called pure gold mining, but it significantly enriches the rocks and facilitates the further process. “Fleet”, “flotter” in translation, is what keeps afloat. It turns out that there are rocks that get wet well and settle to the bottom, and there are those that do not get wet, but are only enveloped in particles of liquid, like air bubbles, and thanks to this they “float” on the surface. This is flotation. It is used to extract gold from sulfide, gold-pyrite, gold-copper and some other minerals. The ore is crushed, filled with water and oil (for example, pine), and mixed. Gold particles float to the surface. In industry, instead of oil, they can use air passed through a mixture of water and crushed ore, and some other reagents. Further purification of gold is most often carried out by cyanidation.
How to mine gold at home
The methods of industrial gold mining are, of course, interesting, but for most citizens they are not very practical. Not everyone can afford to go somewhere to Siberia, to abandoned mines. Yes, this is not necessary, because you can become a prospector without leaving the walls of your own apartment. How to mine gold at home? There are several methods. The easiest and most popular since the times of the Union is the extraction of noble metal from watches and other yellow products. It turns out that previously, using the inertness of gold, that is, its anti-corrosion properties, many metal objects were coated with it. Of course, the percentage of gold in them is small, but it is also small in rocks.
Thus, ore containing only 5-10 grams of gold per ton is considered rich. What should you do with your watch? First, collect as many of them as possible. Next, take an inert container (glass, plastic), put the watch there, fill it with nitric acid and wait until it dissolves everything except the gold. The resulting solution must be filtered through several layers of gauze, and the gold that has settled on it must be placed in vodka and allowed to stand for a day. You will get a brownish precipitate. Next, rinse it all thoroughly with water, filter again and set to melt. To make this last step effective, soda is added to the melting gold. It must be remembered that the desired metal can evaporate, but when melted, excess impurities leave it, and it itself turns into a small ingot. 
Gold from radio components
Gold is used in circuit boards and radio components due to its inertness and low electrical conductivity. How to extract gold from radio components and microcircuits? Aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids), which is prepared immediately before the process, is suitable for this. This infernal mixture dissolves gold at room temperature. There is even a historical example of dissolving gold medals in aqua regia to hide them from the Nazis. The process produces the chloraurate ion, to which sodium sulfide is added. The gold should precipitate. It is filtered, washed and melted into an ingot.
Before starting the dissolution process, you need to sort gold-containing parts from others. Next, you should try to remove as much as possible from the “correct” radio components everything unnecessary. Particular attention should be paid to metal parts, such as caps and legs. If possible, they should be collected with a magnet. Boards can be placed in a mixture of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a 2:1 ratio.
Gold from water
Incredible, but true: gold is found in any water, from which it can theoretically also be extracted. In what concentration is it contained there? It turns out that it is approximately 5 kg per square km, and in sea water it is several times more than in tap water. There is also a relatively large amount of gold in melt water flowing from the mountains and in silt sediment, especially mineralized ones. It is estimated that a ton of Red Sea mud contains approximately 5 g of gold. The main way to extract it is as follows: add quicklime to water, filter out the precipitate, pour the water back into the sea or river, and subject the sediment to further processing, for example, cyanidation.
Virtual gold
For all gambling people who care about the process of gold mining, computer scientists have come up with the game “Minecraft”, the goal of which is to become a successful gold miner after passing dozens of tests. How to get gold in Minecraft? You need to go through several levels, “work” as a miner, turn the mined ore into ingots, and only then use it to make, for example, battle armor. You can also look for the desired metal in ancient castles and dungeons, and “ask around” people you meet on the difficult roads of passing levels. To real gold miners, this seems like empty fun, but the game Minecraft has conquered all continents except Antarctica, and brought its developers so much money that any miner would envy.
A small French company has developed and is selling technology that turns water into gold. Fortunately, there is no alchemy here, just wastewater and its contents. The technological process is based on the physisorption of traces of rare precious metals from industrial water runoff.
Nowadays, a fairly large number of reagents are used in laboratories to determine the level of water and air pollution. And the methods for determining pollution are also different. In the case of water, this may be a general chemical analysis, analysis for the presence of heavy metals, and others. Of course, all these tests can only be performed by qualified specialists in laboratory conditions. But often you want to check all this on your own, so that you know what you breathe and what you drink.
Based 80 km southeast of Paris, Magpie Polymers has implemented the latest technology, which is based on a procedure developed in 2007 at the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (Switzerland). The company provides a technique that allows the recovery of even traces of precious metals that may have ended up in plant wastewater.
Granules of an organic polymer created by Magpie Polymers, which is designed to trap trace amounts of precious metals in wastewater (AFP photo).
The process involves using tiny, flat beads of organic polymer through which a water outlet is forced. Gold, platinum, palladium and rhodium are some of the most expensive metals - particle by particle stick to the granules, separating from the rest of the flow.
One liter of this wonderful organic polymer is enough to treat 10 cubic meters of wastewater, which allows you to collect from 50 to 100 grams of precious metals, and this is the equivalent of $4,000–$8,000. (Obviously, everything greatly depends on the type of production and materials used. We are probably talking about very specific industries like catalytic converters, electronics, etc.)
Technologies for separating impurities in water in general and metals in particular have existed since the 19th century and work well in ordinary cases. These methods rely on the use of strong acids to first dissolve whatever is contained in the wastewater, followed by the release of dissolved salts. How practical and expensive this is is an important question, but not the main one, because such an approach does not work at all in the case of chemically resistant noble metals.
All this was not so important until recently, but then there was an economic crisis that drove up prices, and just at the same time it became known that existing open reserves of platinum were being depleted, and the demand for precious metals was only growing with the development of new technologies (mobile electronics , catalytic converters, fuel cells, industrial catalysts, etc.). And here is the result: today, half of the platinum used in the world is obtained through processing.
According to company representatives, the technology can be used with no less success to capture hazardous metals: lead, mercury, cobalt, uranium. True, in this case it is worth remembering that the same lead, after treatment with acid, will go into a dissolved state and cannot be caught on the “sticky” polymer.
Magpie Polymers does not disclose the details of the structure of its polymer, nor the names of its clients, but claims that the technology has already been implemented in some production facilities in France, England, Belgium and Switzerland, and Germany and Spain will soon be added to the list.
Prepared from Phys.Org.
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Nowadays, a fairly large number of reagents are used in laboratories to determine the level of water and air pollution. And the methods for determining pollution are also different. In the case of water, this may be a general chemical analysis, analysis for the presence of heavy metals, and others. Of course, all these tests can only be performed by qualified specialists in laboratory conditions. But often you want to check all this on your own, so that you know what you breathe and what you drink.
TOTO starts selling water-saving shower head
Thanks to the Air-In Shower system, the water flow is aerated, resulting in larger droplets: this allows you to save water while maintaining the effect of bathing under a regular shower. TOTO Corporation is bringing to the market replacement shower heads with Air-In Shower technology, which reduces water consumption by a third compared to conventional products of comparable size. TOTO shower with Air-In Shower system (photo DigInfo TV).
A new method for extracting uranium from water makes it possible to obtain it at almost half the price
Although uranium mined from the seas is still five times more expensive than uranium mined from ore, a new technology proposed by Robin Rogers of the University of Alabama could have huge implications for the future of nuclear power. A new technology for extracting uranium from seawater was presented at the 244th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.
A bottle that draws water from the air itself
The prototype of a device that independently condenses water even from relatively dry air was an extraordinary beetle native to Namibia. The beetle Onymacris unguicularis, living in the Namib Desert, is famous for its unique ability: to extract water every morning, it raises its abdomen up towards the wind and lowers its head down.
Silicon nanoparticles will help release hydrogen from water
As it turned out, metal hydrides are far from the most effective way to safely store hydrogen in a limited volume. A team of researchers led by Mark T. Swihart from the State University of New York at Buffalo (USA) has developed a method for producing hydrogen from water using silicon nanoparticles.
Hasselblad is preparing a premium Lunar camera
The 24-megapixel mirrorless camera will be made from materials such as carbon fiber, wood, leather, titanium and gold. The price of the new product, which is scheduled to be announced in the first quarter of 2013, will be about 5,000 euros.
Nokia intends to make Lumia and PureView smartphones waterproof
It has become known that Nokia intends to make the new smartphones of the Lumia and PureView series waterproof. Thus, according to Nokia Vice President for Western Europe Conor Pierce, water resistance will be achieved thanks to superhydrophobic nanotechnology. It will repel water and stop its penetration into the device itself. According to Pierce, water is repelled by lotus petals in a similar way. It should be noted that last year Nokia already demonstrated the operation of such technology.
Samsung is ready to buy iPhone 4S for $300
Samsung is offering to buy back old devices from potential Galaxy smartphone buyers. Samsung decided to take such an unusual action in order to promote its Android devices, although only in the United States. The price of old devices depends on the model, performance and their appearance. So for an iPhone 4S in perfect condition you can get a maximum of $300. Samsung even accepts its own devices, for example, you can get up to $140 for the Galaxy S II, and only $15 for the popular HTC Desire in 2010 in perfect condition.
A lipophilic membrane has been created to purify water from oil contaminants
The Chinese tried to reinvent the wheel by developing another “terribly” effective leophilic membrane that allows oil to be separated from water by simple filtration. Unfortunately, the product, with all its advantages, does not solve any previously discovered problems of the method itself. Donghua University (China) has developed a new type of membrane that can separate oil from water.
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Installation for extracting gold from water - Lenta-SDM - nlEgin.ru
Important information about copyright certificates. Installation for extracting gold from water - “Lenta-SDM”. Methods and devices for extracting rare earth and precious metals from water and various wastewater were published in the journal (see magazine “IR” No. 5, 2004, “Golden Tails”, “IR” No. 3, 2009, “It’s time to wrinkle the sea”, “IR” No. 5 2011 “For precious metals with living water”).
Gold from water (incredible experiment, catching free ones) - www.youtube.com
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD - How to get gold from water - www.youtube.com
Canadian scientists have learned to extract gold from water. Special bacteria helped them with this. How do they get it?
Mining gold at home from jewelry and water - GrammZolota.ru
Naturally, the percentage of gold contained in water is very small, but if you seriously engage in this business, you can make quite good money. Let's consider the example of gold mining from sea water. earning money does not require full-time work, so you can combine this process with your main job; high profitability of the gold mining process: you spend less than you get; The gold mining process does not require special skills or special tools.
How to mine gold at home? - stan-bogat.ru
The only drawback is the risk of injury. But by following safety precautions - wearing an apron, rubber gloves, and a respirator - the risk of causing damage to health is reduced to zero. Similar articles. How to make a house for a cat. How to check gold for authenticity. Checking water quality at home. Buying gold coins.
How to get gold. Do-it-yourself gold mining. Thanks - SovetClub.ru
How to get gold. Gold extraction technology is based on several procedures that have been used by many people for a long time. After this, take one piece containing gold and place it in the prepared mixture. Technical parts contain a lot of copper, so the mixture will most likely turn green with a darkish tint. You need to evaporate it until the volume of water is reduced by half.
Russian scientists have found a way to extract gold from water - clubklad.ru
All gold from the stream is adsorbed on the plates. The sorbent is periodically cleaned from the plates and melted in electric furnaces. After smelting, gold is obtained in the form of ingots. If leading gold producers do not buy the patent in the near future, then in 2014, fundamentally new installations for extracting gold from water, both industrial and for individual use, will be developed on its basis.
Gold mining. Methods of gold mining. Mining gold by hand - fb.ru
Initially, manual gold mining was popular. Miners obtained gold sand thanks to simple primitive devices. River sand was collected into a tray and then shaken in a stream of water, the sand was washed away, and the metal grains remained at the bottom, since they were heavier.
How gold refining occurs at home - mining - inzoloto.ru
One of these substances is dissolved in water in the following proportions: 10–12 g of solution per 1 g of gold. This is important! The gold obtained in this way can be used exclusively for your own purposes. Its sale on the territory of the Russian Federation is prohibited. One of the alternative ways to obtain yellow precious metal is to extract it from radio components.
Gold from water (incredible experiment) | hlamer.ru | Beautyview - hlamer.ru
Gold from water, this video showed a way to get gold from water or trying to get it. Result? It worked, but, admittedly, such a small amount. But as for copper, I didn’t expect this; I got a lot from water. Also, there was also some kind of metal in the solution, iron or nickel or something else, I don’t know? Still, for those who are interested in gold itself? There is and will be a continuation in water, since the experiment itself is interesting and unique.
Extracting minerals from sea water - geoman.ru
When seawater passes over these particles, the gold is believed to adhere to the surface of the sulfides. In addition, mercury has also been proposed as a material for extracting gold from seawater. Despite many attempts to extract gold from seawater, there is only one known case in which any significant quantities of this metal were obtained.
Gold mining at home. Extraction of gold from REA. - www.abramovae.ru
We extract GOLD from old equipment. How to get GOLD at home, easy and simple! How much gold is in the Nokia 5110 phone? Now we have three solutions of gold chloride. We filter the solution with dissolved gold until insoluble particles are completely removed, then add twice the volume of cold distilled water to this solution and let it settle.
Gold mining at home: obtaining, extraction - golden-inform.ru
What can you get gold from? You can get precious metal at home from ordinary radio components, which are found in almost every apartment. They can be found in old phones, laptops, computers and other equipment. When collecting radio components, pay attention to microcircuits, connectors and transistors, individual parts of which are plated with gold. It is not easy to obtain gold from them at home, since many such parts are required to extract a more or less decent amount of metal.
Tip 1: How to get gold from radio components - www.KakProsto.ru
Tip 2: How to get gold from radio components. Let the resulting mixture stand for 4 hours, remembering to stir it periodically. Filter the precipitate using a dense filter, rinse with water (with a small addition of hydrochloric acid), dry and melt at a temperature of at least 1100°C under a layer of borax (to protect gold from evaporation).
How to get gold from water. Based 80 km southeast of Paris, Magpie Polymers has implemented the latest technology, which is based on a procedure developed in 2007 at the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (Switzerland). The company provides a technique that allows the recovery of even traces of precious metals that may have ended up in plant wastewater.
How to get gold from water | Earth - Chronicles of Life - earth-chronicles.ru
How to get gold from water. Based 80 km southeast of Paris, Magpie Polymers has implemented the latest technology, which is based on a procedure developed in 2007 at the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (Switzerland). The company provides a technique that allows the recovery of even traces of precious metals that may have ended up in plant wastewater.
How to get gold from water - Sur Bere | Diaries.Ykt.Ru - dnevniki.ykt.ru
How to get gold from water. find a ship with gold ore that was recently lost in the Sea of Okhotsk. Or the concentration of precious metals in “waste” waters must be much higher than "trace amounts"! A deposit is considered industrial if it contains 2 grams of gold per 1 ton, and alluvial deposits contain 0.5 - 0.15 g/ton or even less. According to the above calculation, there are 50 grams of gold in 10 cubic meters of “waste” water, i.e. in 1 cube d.b. 5(!!!) grams of gold!!!
The process of extracting gold from radio components - goldmania.ru
For those people who have decided to make money from gold, I would like to say that it is quite difficult to buy watch cases with gold-plated frames, and it is unlikely that you will be able to get gold from dishes with gold paint applied to it. When “borax” is dissolved in water, it hydrolyzes, and the aqueous solution of “borax” acquires a slightly alkaline reaction. When “borax” is heated with metal oxides, it acquires colored compounds – borates.
Extracting gold from sea water | Science evolution - xroniki-nauki.ru
According to his calculations, it turned out to be 8 billion tons. Today we know that Arrhenius's data is greatly exaggerated, but there is no exact data yet. Disputes about the average gold content of seawater flare up again from time to time. Cruising the tropical zones of the Atlantic Ocean, they made 89 samples of sea water for gold, taken from a variety of points and at different depths, even from a depth of more than five kilometers.
