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Author Topic: So many minerals is not fun  (Read 3955 times)

SirHoneyBadger

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #30 on: May 11, 2010, 06:06:03 pm »

Titanium might indeed be impossible for our dwarfs to refine (although, in a fantasy environment...), but tungsten atleast seems like an alchemist could possibly refine it, with hydrochloric acid and heat.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2010, 06:13:40 pm by SirHoneyBadger »
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Hyndis

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #31 on: May 11, 2010, 06:33:06 pm »

Aluminum used to be the most valuable metal in the world because it was so rare. Far more valuable than gold. If you wanted to really impress people you'd break out the aluminum silverware for dinner.

With electricity to extract it from ore, aluminum is one of the cheapest and most common metals in the world, rivaling iron.


In the game aluminum is accurate. Its hard to get more than a tiny handful of aluminum at any one time. Platinum is much more common than aluminum. Even adamantine is easier to get than aluminum.
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G-Flex

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #32 on: May 11, 2010, 06:38:06 pm »

Titanium might indeed be impossible for our dwarfs to refine (although, in a fantasy environment...), but tungsten atleast seems like an alchemist could possibly refine it, with hydrochloric acid and heat.

I haven't been able to find any tungsten-refining process that is that simple. If you have, then provide a link or something.
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SirHoneyBadger

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #33 on: May 11, 2010, 07:13:15 pm »

Titanium might indeed be impossible for our dwarfs to refine (although, in a fantasy environment...), but tungsten atleast seems like an alchemist could possibly refine it, with hydrochloric acid and heat.

I haven't been able to find any tungsten-refining process that is that simple. If you have, then provide a link or something.

I wouldn't say "simple". Doable for a trained alchemist? I think so. From what I'm reading, you take scheelite and combine it with hydrochloric acid--which medieval alchemists could produce--then heat at high temperature it until it decomposes to water and tunsten.
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G-Flex

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #34 on: May 11, 2010, 07:16:40 pm »

Are you sure about that? This site claims that decomposition by use of hydrochloric acid just leaves tungsten oxide behind, not tungsten.
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SirHoneyBadger

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #35 on: May 11, 2010, 07:38:48 pm »

Are you sure about that? This site claims that decomposition by use of hydrochloric acid just leaves tungsten oxide behind, not tungsten.

http://www.minormetals.com/content/html/minormetals/about/AboutTungsten.htm

Oh, sorry, then you reduce it with charcoal to get the tungsten. And nope. I'm not certain (not a trained chemist).
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G-Flex

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #36 on: May 11, 2010, 07:56:10 pm »

Quote
Fausto Elhuyar found an acid in wolframite that was identical to tungstic acid.

It's not really clear from this how they isolated that acid from the wolframite.
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SirHoneyBadger

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Re: So many minerals is not fun
« Reply #37 on: May 11, 2010, 08:01:32 pm »

Quote
Fausto Elhuyar found an acid in wolframite that was identical to tungstic acid.

It's not really clear from this how they isolated that acid from the wolframite.

Yeah, the whole thing is slightly on the vague side... Not opaque, but not as straightforward as it could be. I have to agree with that.
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