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

Tue Oct 4 01:22:58 EDT 2011

"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 µg/g Ga,
> 380 µg/g Ge, 12.0 µg/g As, 4.12 µg/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 ( µg/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
>>>>
>>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> --------
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