Cody'sLab - 2022-04-06
In fire assays you essentially dissolve the rock with a flux and use lead to collect the precious metals into a bead. In This video I try using an over the counter bismuth compound as a non toxic alternative.
I genuinely did not expect the “layer” above the Bismuth droplet to look so crystalline and clear.
This is genius.
pretty sure that was the silica sand forming glass
@Vaelophis Nyx yeah I think he made a layer of borosilicate glass
@Hailfire08 Where did the boron come from?
@filonin2 From the borax
After everything you’ve been through and done, thank you truly for continuing to share with us. Personally, I learn something new nearly every time I watch. I wish you all the love and good luck I have to offer. Please stay safe and take care of yourself friend!
Edit: I’m so happy to see so many in agreement and grateful for the likes! I apologize for delay in response. I feel this may be disrespectful for me to share… Our dear friend lost an amazing dude, and very close friend along the way. Remember to love and show appreciation to those around you. I hope all of you will stay safe and take care as well!
What has he "been through"? I'm seriously curious...
@FriarTuck104 Life happens man, Life
Did I miss something?
@Lloyd F Life happens man, Life
@FriarTuck104 it's life. It happened
Wow! You could even see the gold bead "blink" once all the bismuth was gone. Very impressed.
The droplet slowly cools below the freezing temperature, getting in a super-cooled state. Something kicks off the freezing reaction and the whole thing freezes rapidly, giving off heat (Solidifying is an exothermic reaction) i.e. the droplet going from bright to dimm to bright. All the Bismuth was already absorbed by the crucible by the point we see the little gold bead :)
@Thompson Schwabbel Or you could just use the technical term: recalescence
@Muonium Ugh. You use big wurd!
@Brian Reddeman or you could just say: gold blick
@Brian Reddeman I have the feeling you replied to the wrong comment here. But yeah, stay safe.
I’m so proud of Cody for being such an accomplished scientist and chemist with only his left hand. ✊
Did he lose a hand? Wth have I missed?
@ramp agent 92 filming with one hand...
Never forget the Mushroom Experiment of 2018.. RIP Hand
@ramp agent 92 Accidentally touched some maths one day
@nessonance oh god why would you remind me of that traumatic experience? My hand is still burnt from the calculus. I forgot to wear gloves that day.
As tom from explosion and fire once said: bismuth is just lead for people who fear death
I remember watching the super long process of extracting bismuth from pepto bismol by nilered and Cody just puts it into a furnace and still get relatively pure bismuth
Not surprised that bismuth metal works as a collector metal, what did surprise me is being able to just throw Pepto tablets into the crucible and have them break down into metal like that. That is so much easier than Nile Reds way of getting bismuth metal from those pills lol.
All jokes aside though, that is brilliant and probably way safer than lead.
Well, Nile Red was doing it chemically. In other words, the gentle way. This is more like using a sledgehammer.
You ever swing a sledge? Sledge hammers are sick!
I love the sheer joy in Cody's voice at 2:45 when he realized he could safely film it.
I wouldn't call it "safe" but it's probably less hazardous. A respirator is still highly advisable in this situation.
As Explosions&Fire would say, “I’ve always thought of bismuth as lead for people who fear death.”
Please do a longer form video explaining why this works!
This.
Yes please!
I completely agree. I think I know why this works, but would love Cody to explain it.
But I think it works exactly the same way as using lead as an accumulator metal. Pepto contains metallic bismuth in it, so when it’s heated to high temps like this, the organic compounds (binders) burn away leaving just the metal. Then the process is exactly the same as cupelling with lead without the hazards of using lead.
Pepto has bismuth metal in it
@/u/ spockdad precisely.
I love your videos. They're always legitimately interesting and based on genuine learning.
Ok, that's hilarious that you just decided "ya know, im gonna use this random over-the-counter medicine, without any refinement, in place of lead."
And it just *works*.
Bravo Cody
Cody, you have to re-do this just use powdered bismuth. I’m curious to know if the savings on propane is greater than the cost of using something more expensive than lead. It would be a great experiment!
Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea, fire assey -- Pepto bismol~
Criminally underrated comment. You got a heart but deserve a pin.
that ad jingle has been burned into my brain
They need to make this! New packaging, the works! And, they definitely need Cody!!!
Just don't try to fire assay any of those previous things.
Also death if you end up drinking a whole bottle potentially.
Well that's pretty awesome. One still needs a furnace, crucibles, and all the other accessories, but this method of using a commonly available product to perform the process in a non-toxic way is a really impressive discovery.
Certainly not a discovery as Bismuth's use in fire assays is fairly well known but this is a delightfully creative use of a regular household product that has a side-benefit of not being (as) toxic, a very Cody setup.
@Fenris Waffles I assumed Cody didn't discover the chemical principle, rather I meant that he "discovered" that this realtively cheap, commonly-available source of bismuth will work for hobbyist purposes.
What a creative idea. Did you come up with this or did you hear about it somewhere? Great bedtime bonus.
I don’t know of anyone else doing this.
@Cody'sLab Some of your ideas are so crazy I think there's no way you could come up with all of them (I said crazy, but ingenious would also be appropriate).
@Cody'sLab Would mercury work better?
@Bob Weiram I don't know about working better, but the cost would be way higher and it'd be way more dangerous
@Bob Weiram the whole point is to use something nontoxic instead of lead. mercury completely defeats the purpose.
Wow, this is one of those things that you never think of and the someone like Cody does it and it's like dang, that's so simple how are we only now getting to this point.
Bismuth and lead share a lot of the same properties in terms of alloys and melting points. Bismuth was even often confused for lead because of the similar density and melting point.
But the thing they don't share is the toxicity.
The only thing is that lead is the thirty-sixth most abundant element while bizmuth is the sixty-fifth most abundant.
So while there is less of it, I still think my following statement applies because you have made assays safer in terms of resources used.
You deserve a Nobel in chemistry my guy,
This is extremely good info! If you did some recovery efficiency figures for different prescious metals this could become a standard technique! Hats off!
Cody, your glee that it worked, at the end, and your reason why? 100% my reaction, and what I'm expecting when I tell my dad about this. Cupelling, except for the toxic heavy metal fumes, is the best way to recover some gold he has trapped in a few metallurgically annoying places around the house. Yet again, you've answered a real-life question of mine (because I'm apparently a bit of a weirdo :) )
your creativity always amazes me, you come up with solutions to things that most people wouldn't imagine! always makes fascinating content
Cody if you could make a flux ingredients and ratios list with bismuth/bismuth subsylicate that would be epic
The cat was going to ask a question but I told her it's none of her bismuth. What a great idea!
What
@Gaius Caligula It's a pun. The phrase is normally "none of [her] business" but Cat replaced the word "business" with "bismuth" because they sound similar and it's funny.
Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You figure out how the frog works but it dies in the process.
@J.J. Shank The sadistic part of me loves pretending to not understand a joke, just to force someone to explain it. And then I can say "huh, that doesn't seem all that funny, but okay"
As someone who's recently been looking into my own little kiln set up for my prospecting hobbies this information is fantastic, Though I read a bit about bismuth I would never have considered pep for a safe and easy alternative lmao. Great content !
this is game changing. you need to do a followup on this, maybe use a different form of bismuth Flux that would appeal more to industrial fire assay processes. Or you could do a few more fire assays using some mined rock. eitherway, bravo for this successful trial
Would be interesting to measure the yields to see if it was as effective at recovery. I don't know why it wouldn't be, but still.
reactions with stabilizers and that sort of thing could reduce yields.
Now this is the type of video I love seeing from this channel. Please keep it up Cody I really miss seeing more videos from you.
Great concept! Love the video, hate that the poor bismuth had to die :.(
I was wondering, would olivine sand work instead of silica sand?
Oh dang, this is some real neat alternative chemistry for fire assay! Always wondered about the dangers of using Lead and any reliable alternatives, and I feel like perhaps chemists won't ask too many questions if you buy Pepto in bulk. Might ask if you eat Taco Bell a bit too frequently, though!
That’s awesome. I’ve always shied away from lead and mercury for processing due to toxicity. Mercury is easy to circumvent. Lead was the other roadblock. Thanks.
What a neat trick! Get the lead out if you don't need it.
One nitpick, I would guess bismuth fumes are less toxic than lead fumes because lead is pretty bad whereas you can eat Pepto Bismol, but don't overdo it. Most fumes are at least somewhat bad for you. Whatever's left is probably outweighed by using electric rather than gas heating though.
Bismuth is quite benign to the environment and our health thankfully.
@Rival Form matters. Fumes are usually somewhat bad for you even if they consist of stuff that would be harmless to eat. Lungs are picky like that.
Love this length and format of video Cody. I’m always up for a chicken hole base video… but these short style are really cool
Certainly a lot less toxic than lead for those working around it and the environment and probably cheaper if you are doing a lot of assays. Seems to work well.
good job sonny Jim ....never thought using Bismuth subsalicylate to act as a collector metal..... nice
@Ask Jeff Williams Good to see you here. So c'mon, LET'S GO!
Let's get those monkers!
@dionh70 yep me and Slim love watching Cody do his thing
@scrappy doo Oh Yeah !!!!
The meow at 2:02 is everything
Is this BUDDY??
@Nick Corin Right, I hope it is. Seems like Cody would've said something if he came back, but maybe not said anything if he didn't....
@Nick Corin That'd be great to hear.
He also burned the shit out his finger 😂😂 played it off tho you can hear his flesh burn 🥴😂
Cody, you made my day. Just raw passion for applied science.
I mentioned using bismuth for fire assays at one of the mines I worked at in order to avoid lead and all the permitting requirements and they looked at me like I'm crazy.
Well now you have proof, go show them
So, was this viable then, or did you go back to using lead? It looks awesome, does it work in practice? It appeared to require a hefty dose of pills for that bead. Thanks for the videos.
This is insane and such a stroke of pure genius. Is it cheaper than using lead or was this just a hypothesis put into a testing stage?
The excitement on Cody's voice at the end gave me extra years of life
Pretty neat. bismuth has a lot of potential for non-toxic alternative chemistry to replace lead.
Hello, thanks for the video and I have a question:
do you make your own crucibles?
if so, how and what do you have to pay attention to.
I need some for copper and brass but they have to withstand the heat of charcoal....
Awesome! So, how does this compare cost-wise (at your home laboratory scale anyway)?
Hi Cody! Will there be any algae panel update? I love the idea of this project, and wonder if You continue thinking about it, or just put it away for some time?
Yes. I am still working on it.
@Cody'sLab yeah!!!
@2:35 If you wouldn´t know, you could think of it as a star formation in an interstellar nebula. Great vid, thank you! By the way, from which book you have obtained so much practical geological and metallurgical knowledge in the first place ?
His family's ranch used to be his family's mining claim, and then he went to college to be a geologist and got most of the way through before life happened. So lots of books, plus much life experience.
True! Such artistic eyes you got
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe assays are to determine if there are precious metals in ore correct? Since you used pure gold powder, I would love to see this experiment tried again with ore that has been otherwise confirmed to have gold in it, or some other precious metal, to see if it really is a viable method.
Also it's just super fun to watch!
the reason he poured gold is because he didnt have ore that he knew had gold in it, so its easier to just sprinkle some in there to simulate that there was gold ore
@Bug Smith Yah I figured as much. I'm just saying it would be neat to see if the results were the same with genuine ore. Plus it is just fun to watch.
You never fail to amaze! How is Chickenhole base coming along? I’ve been eagerly awaiting an update ;)
Do you think you'll do this in the future so you can watch the bead form? Or will you stick with lead because you're used to it and it's cheap?
That is the most satisfying thing I've seen in a long time. Cody's enthusiasm is priceless!!! ✌️😎✨💚
Nice. Yeah it having no lead oxide fumes is a huge benefit.
Always love your videos Cody, brother
Bulwian - 2022-04-06
No bullshit, No clickbaits, Just pure passion, We need more people like You, Mr. Cody. Interesting as always. Best wishes.
Kacey - 2022-04-07
Seriously, Cody is a National Treasure.