A MODEL FOR METAL CLUSTER-BEARING AMORPHOUS COLLOIDAL SILICA
The foundation for the unique observations described on this website is the discovery and identification of a heretofore undescribed type of precious element-bearing amorphous colloidal silica. Presented as a structural model, this silica unit consists of a cluster complex of one of the precious elements, or possibly one of the other heavy transition elements, chemisorbed to a monomer or low polymer of amorphous colloidal silica. Symbolically, this unit is here referred to as c/a.c.s.; the “c” representing a single element cluster of one of the transition elements, and the “a.c.s.” referring to amorphous colloidal silica. Present as very small particles, perhaps less than 3 nanometers in diameter, these strongly sorbed clusters tend to be below the “critical size nucleus” and thus are not easily detected analytically; as a result they do not exhibit many of their correspondingly characteristic bulk metal properties. Within the earth’s geochemical environment, c/a.c.s. is highly mobile and widely distributed in various waters and brines as well as most (if not all) rock types, alluvium and other geologic materials. This silica unit may be suspended as a colloid, and is soluble in natural waters and brines as a silica complex. ( See also.) Precious element-bearing a.c.s. is very resistant to chemical dissociation into “c” and “a.c.s.” Experimenting with a wide variety of chemical, pyrometallurgical, and other methodologies, little or no indication of the actual dissociation of precious element-bearing a.c.s. has been observed. The exceptions to this statement are a partial to total dissociation of precious element-bearing a.c.s. using very high temperature furnaces, such as plasma and laser furnaces, and high temperature fusions resulting from the ignition of specialized thermite mixtures.
Geologic materials containing appreciable and potentially economic amounts of a specific element or elements in the form of c/a.c.s. are here referred to as precursor ore. As used, the term “precursor ore” is applied in a very broad sense and would include such geologic materials as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, coal deposits, various types of alluvial deposits, as well as fresh water and brines. This term is perhaps somewhat confusing in that, for example, a subject ore deposit may contain both classical deposits of gold as well as precursor-type gold. It should be noted that in this situation both types of gold would have to be identified and recovered using separate methodologies.
