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Historical
Historical
Historical
1. Historical Introduction
Fathi Habashi
Laval University, Quebec City, Canada
Fathi.Habashi@arul.ulaval.ca
1
That is why prospectors and
adventurers rush to the scene
as soon as news of a gold
discovery are rumoured.
GOLD
Firstexploited by the ancient Egyptians
The basis of currency
Mass migrations to USA, Canada,
Australia, etc.
San Francisco, Johannesburg, Sydney,
Denver, etc.
An ounce costs $ 1800
2
The Golden Fleece
The alchemists’ transmutation of metals
In Banks
3
Oriental
bazaar
4
Gold in ancient world
5
Melting of gold
Beating of gold
6
Gold
foil
7
How can the transmutation of iron
or copper into gold be effected?
• Gold, the most noble of all metals, was
insoluble in all acids and alkalies known at
that time.
Aqua Regia
• It was the Arab alchemist
Jabir Ibn Hayyan (720-813
AD) who discovered that
a mixture of hydrochloric
and nitric acids can
dissolve the noble metal,
neither of which alone
can attack gold.
• In modern terms the
action of the mixture is
due to chlorine and
nitrosyl chloride:
3HCl + HNO3 Cl2
+ NOCl + 2H2O
8
Amalgamation process
Ore
Water
Grinding
in Arrastres
NaCl + CuSO4
Mixing in Patio
Mercury
Amalgamation
in Patio
Water
Washing
Gangue slurry
in Lavaderos
Mercury + Amalgam
Squeezing
through canvas
Amalgam
Mercury
Storage Distillation
Ingots
9
The arrastra
Mixing in patio
10
Retorting
Stamp mill
11
Amalgamation table
12
Plattner process
• Chlorine water or
bleaching powder
acidified with dilute
sulfuric acid were used
as early as 1848 to
leach gold from its ores;
the process was known
as the Plattner Process
after its inventor.
• In this process, a
solution of AuCl3 was
obtained, from which
gold was precipitated
by ferrous sulfate or
activated charcoal.
Patera process
13