Golden poo
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This was a study done 21 years ago on Werribee sewage farm sludge,,,,
"Average grades of 0.77 g/t Au and 18.8 g/t Ag have been documented for a measured resource of 770,000 m3 (of an estimated 1.62.5 million m3 contained) at a density of 1.0 g/cm3 and an average moisture content of around 40%. Laboratory-based extractive metallurgy of the Werribee sludges has demonstrated that Au, Ag and Zn can be removed with relative ease by heap-leaching using modified conventional technology, albeit with prohibitive reagent consumption. The extraction of the precious metals also results in the variable removal of contaminant metals such as Cd, As, Sb, Hg and Cr which may render the sludges fit for sale as agricultural fertiliser"
You may recognise one author, noted for his interest in gas production......
"Average grades of 0.77 g/t Au and 18.8 g/t Ag have been documented for a measured resource of 770,000 m3 (of an estimated 1.62.5 million m3 contained) at a density of 1.0 g/cm3 and an average moisture content of around 40%. Laboratory-based extractive metallurgy of the Werribee sludges has demonstrated that Au, Ag and Zn can be removed with relative ease by heap-leaching using modified conventional technology, albeit with prohibitive reagent consumption. The extraction of the precious metals also results in the variable removal of contaminant metals such as Cd, As, Sb, Hg and Cr which may render the sludges fit for sale as agricultural fertiliser"
You may recognise one author, noted for his interest in gas production......
So where does this gold come from?
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/sewage-sludge-is-flush-with-gold-and-platinumSwinging & digging said:
"Metals get into wastewater in a variety of ways: from electronics and jewelry manufacturers, mining, electroplating and industrial catalysts. Researchers estimate that, globally, 360 tons of gold accumulates in sewage sludge every year."
What a 
oop: of a job that would be-unless the price was RIGHT!!! :money:
oop: of a job that would be-unless the price was RIGHT!!! :money:mbasko said:
I had assumed all of the above.
Though I did hear a radio segment speaking about it perhaps 23 years ago.
Researches first thought the gold came from above sources you mention, though found out the source
of the gold was coming out of gold bearing stream catchments, we know there is dissolved gold in ocean water.
From memory the segment I heard was reporting on analysis of waste water from Castlemaine in Victoria, once
a very rich alluvial goldfield.
Might head out to Gulgong & do a few test pans tomorrow layful: oop: :lol:
layful: oop: :lol:
mbasko said:Might head out to Gulgong & do a few test pans tomorrow
I expect you will come back with about one turd of a gram... :goldpan:
and a smell you cant get out of your nostrils
I'm a bit doubtful about that. There is limited gold in the Werribee catchment and in other areas overseas that have gold-rich sewage (eg Tokyo, where it is being recovered). And there is plenty of gold in industrial processes and medicines. Sea water is not particularly elevated (around 6 parts per trillion gold) - with modern analytical techniques we can detect almost any element in anything. And concentrations would be much lower in fresh water than seawater - in seawater gold can form a chloride complex because the water contains 3% salt. The water used at Werribee is either fresh water of the sewage system or Werribee and other local river water, not sea water. Elevated values in Swiss sewage correlate with an area with gold refineries. My suspicion is that it has nothing to do with gold in fresh streamwater, but in gold being transported as gold organic complexes much more soluble than simple ionic gold. Chlorination and chloramination of water produces cyanide, phosphine (which forms gold ligands) is generated naturally because of high phosphorous contents, and various sulphur compounds occur naturally,Swinging & digging said:
[In Germany] "Sludges from industrial areas tend to possess higher precious metal values than those from rural regions. Thus industrial discharges contribute significant quantities of precious metals to municipal wastewaters and sewage sludges"
[In Switzerland] "the concentrations of metals varied across the country. And in Ticino where a number of gold refineries are located there's an unusually high amount of gold passing through treatment plants....Bloomberg notes that Switzerland is a "major gold-refining hub," with about 70 percent of the world's gold, on average, passing through Swiss refineries each year".
[In Japan] "An official in Nagano prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, said the high percentage of gold found at the Suwa facility was probably due to the large number of precision equipment manufacturers in the vicinity that use the yellow metal".
That does not explain why the wastewater samples from Castlemaine contained high levels of gold present compared to other areas.
Was a radio segment from perhaps 23 - 25 years ago? Could have been ABC radio in Melbourne?
I just happen to be visiting family and heard what they were saying, pretty sure a University was mentioned, maybe Monash.
I just happen to be visiting family and heard what they were saying, pretty sure a University was mentioned, maybe Monash.
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