Hi, I've registered to ask advice, although now I don't know if this is the right place to ask!
I want to 'pan for gold' with my kids as they have seen it on the tv and like the idea of it. I've bought some Fools Gold (Iron Pyrite) on eBay, but the colour appears much duller and not gold like than how I remember it. Is there a way to make it brighter, or is it possible to buy some that is more 'gold colour' ?
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Pyrite is what it is. The reason it is called "fools gold" is because it often occurs in quartz veins in the vicinity of gold deposits and in alluvial deposits in gold bearing areas. Can one make it look "golder"? No, but gold can look similar to pyrite when it is naturally alloyed down with other metals.
Pyrite does vary in how goldish it looks, depending on surface oxidation or impurities. I don't know how easy it would be to alter with any particular piece though.
If the pyrite is heavily oxidized (tending to rusty brownish on the exterior) you can get rid of the oxide coating by immersing it quickly in dilute acid, say 5% HCl. Quickly dip it, take it out & rinse. Lemon juice or vinegar may work also. There's a good chance though that if you do that the pyrite will come out so "clean" that it will look more metallic silver-ish than yellow; the yellow will come back over time as the surface naturally oxidizes again, but it might be weeks or months.
Actually I think it is much better to pay fro some REAL gold concentrates and pan for the real stuff. My sister was doing this with her kids about 01years ago and asked me for some concentrate. I got some on ebay from a reputable seller and her comment was "But... there was a LOT of gold in it". To which I replied - "it isn't much fun if there isn't any gold in it."
A gram of gold is less than $40 now, and that makes for a lot of flakes.
Thanks for the replies. I've tried vinegar, but not much difference. Coke seemed to brighten it a bit. I have some Nitric Acid so I will try that later. Also the idea of buying real gold doesn't seem too bad now!
When my son was a wee lad, I took him and his friend "panning for a day" every summer in California's gold country. Jamestown, Placerville, the American River. They usually found a bit of gold and other interesting minerals and rocks that they tried to identify.
They always had a fun day and good Show and Tell when school resumed.
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