GOLD

Anna Leclair
• Mass of solute= 0.1gb

• Mass of solution= 1 million g

• ppb=( mass of solute/ mass of solution ) x 10^9

• ppb=(0.1/1,000,00) x 10^9 =0.1 ppb

• Molar concentration:
• Mass of solute = 0.1g
• MM of AU=196.97 g/mol
T H E M O S T A P P R O P R I AT E WAY
T O E X P R E S S T H I S
C O N C E N T R AT I O N D E P E N D S O N
T H E I N T E N D E D U S E .

• L of solution: 1000 L

• Mol/L= ( mass of solute/ molar mass) x (1/L of solution ) x (6.02 x 10^23 molecules/mol)

• Mol/L = (0.1/196.97) x (1/1000) x (6.02x10^23) = 5.08 x 10^-10M

• Percent concentration = ( amount of solute/ amount of solution) x 100%

• Amount of solute= 0.1 g

• Amount of solution = 1 million g

• % concentration = ( 0.1/ 1,000,000) x 100= 0.00001%

• The concentration of gold in seawater is very low, so a
large volume of seawater would be needed to extract 5g
of gold.
• 5 g of gold x ( 1 million g of seawater/0.1 g of gold) x 1 L
of seawater / 1000 kg of seawater) = 50,000 L of sea
water.

• So, approximately 50,000 L of sea water would be needed

to extract 5 g of gold at this concentration
A T E S T I N G S O L U T I O N T H AT
C O U L D B E U S E D T O E X T R A C T T H E
G O L D U S I N G A P R E C I P I T AT I O N
R E A C T I O N I S A S O L U T I O N O F
S O D I U M M E T A B I S U L F I T . S O D I U M
M E T A B I S U L F I T E I S A R E D U C I N G
A G E N T T H AT C A N R E D U C E G O L D
I O N S T O M E T A L L I C G O L D , W H I C H
C A N T H E N B E P R E C I P I T AT E D O U T
O F S O L U T I O N

. T H E B A L A N C E D E Q U AT I O N F O R
T H E R E A C T I O N B E T W E E N G O L D
I O N S A N D S O D I U M
M E T A B I S U L F I T E I S : 3 A U ^ 3 + +
N A 2 S 2 O 5 + 3 H 2 O → 3 A U +
2 N A H S O 4 + 4 H + T H E T O T A L I O N I C
E Q U AT I O N F O R T H E R E A C T I O N
I S : 3 A U ^ 3 + + 3 S 2 O 8 ^ 2 - + 6 N A + +
3 H 2 O → 3 A U + 6 N A + + 2 H S O 4 ^ - +
4 H + T H E N E T I O N I C E Q U AT I O N
F O R T H E R E A C T I O N I S : 3 A U ^ 3 + +
3 S 2 O 8 ^ 2 - + 4 H — > 3 A U + 2 H S O 4 ^ -
+ 3 H 2 O
T H E C O S T O F E X T R A C T I N G
G O L D F R O M S E AWAT E R I S
E X T R E M E LY H I G H . W H I L E T H E R E
I S G O L D I N S W E AT E R , T H E
C O N C E N T R AT I O N I S V E RY
L I T T L E . T H E C O S T O F
E X T R A C T I N G G O L D F R O M
S E AWAT E R I S E S T I M AT E D T O B E
A R O U N D $ 5 , 0 0 0 , P E R G R A M S O F
G O L D , M A K I N G I T M U C H M O R E
E X P E N S I V E T H A N T H E
T R A D I T I O N A L
M E T H O D S O F M I N I N G G O L D .

I N M Y O P I N I O N , E X T R A C T I N G
G O L D F R O M S E AWAT E R I S N O T
E C O N O M I C A L LY V I A B L E . I T ’ S
FA R T O O E X P E N S I V E T O B E
D O I N G W H E N W E H AV E T H E
M O R E
T R A D I T I O N A L WAY S W H I C H A R E
M U C H M O R E A F F O R D A B L E .
 METHODS USED TO
EXTRACT GOLD
F R O M S E AWAT E R
•Extracting gold from seawater is a highly challenging and expensive process,
and there is currently no commercially viable method available for its large-scale
extraction. However, there have been some experimental methods attempts done
in the past by scientists. which include
•1. Nanoparticle Method: In this method, gold nanoparticles are added to
seawater to concentrate the naturally occurring gold particles. The gold
nanoparticles are then removed and collected for further purification
•.2. Electrolysis: In this process, seawater is passed through an electrolytic cell,
where the gold is extracted from the water by a chemical reaction and then
deposited on a cathode.
H T T P S : / /W W W . A T L A S O B S C U R A . C O M
/ A R T I C L E S / G O L D - O C E A N - S E A - H O A X - S C I E N C E - WAT E R - B O O M - R U S H - T
REASURE

HTTPS://SCIENCE.HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM/GOLD4.HTM

H T T P S : / / O C E A N S E RV I C E . N O A A . G O V / FA C T S /
GOLD.HTML#:~:TEXT=ONE%20STUDY%20FOUND%20THERE%20IS,A
% 2 0 M I L E % 2 0 O R % 2 0 T W O % 2 0 U N D E R WAT E R .

H T T P S : / /W W W . S C I E N C E D I R E C T . C O M/ S C I E N C E / A R T I C L E / A B S /P I I
/0012821X9090060B