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Extraction of visible gold from quartz veining

Hello fellow gold enthusiasts,

My name is Adam, and my job/pastime/hobbies have allowed me to acquire a nice little collection of what I would consider pretty high grade gold ore. VG mineralizing along chloride seams in quartz veins, small nuggets near contacts, etc...

I have been reading some of the questions and answers posted here, and have learned much about Aqua Regia solutions, and precipitation of gold from said solution. I am basically just curious if there is a way for me to extract this type of gold from this type of formation, either chemical or mechanical.

As far as gold and chemistry and the likes go, I am pretty simple. I have a very basic understanding of chemistry, and geology, so I'm feeling pretty lost on this one.

I very much like to study the gold ore, looking at it, trying to figure out why the gold formed the way it did and so on, but also think that by now, I have a few ounces sitting in rocks that will soon be collecting dust... Might as well try to make a nice little bead, right?

I'm a total amateur, with lots to work with (in my mind, anyways). Let me know what you think.

Adam Gowen
Hobbyist - Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
May 19, 2011