A Magnet Will Not Tell You if Metal Contains Gold, Platinum, or Silver
. . . But Here’s Why You Should Carry One Anyway
Gold, platinum, and silver are the three precious metals that we write about most often on this blog. And as you know, a magnet will not be attracted to them. Why? Because they do not contain iron, which attracts a magnet. That’s another way of saying, gold, platinum, and silver are non-ferrous metals. (“Ferrous” means that they contain iron.)
But there are still reasons to carry a magnet when you go hunting for precious metals. The biggest of those reasons is that a magnet will help you identify metals that are not gold, platinum, or silver. That is another way of saying, you can use a process of elimination to eliminate some metals that are not gold, platinum, or silver.
What Metals Do Not Attract a Magnet?
Gold, platinum, and silver, as noted above.
Aluminum
Bismuth
Copper
Lead
Lithium
Magnesium
Manganese
Molybdenum
Pewter
Rubidium
Tantalum
Tin
Titanium
What Ferrous Metals Do Attract a Magnet?
Iron
Steel (by definition, all kinds of steel contain iron)
Nickel
Cobalt
Some alloys of rare earth metals
What About Alloys of Gold, Platinum, and Silver that Contain Iron?
You are probably wondering whether there are certain alloys of gold, platinum and silver that contain iron and that a magnet will attract. If there were such alloys, that magnet you are carrying will stick to them.
It’s a complex question to answer, but here is what you need to know:
Iron and gold cannot be mixed to form an alloy– they are kind of like oil and water and will not form chemical bonds
Iron and silver also cannot be alloyed.
Iron and platinum can be mixed to form alloys. However, those alloys contain such a small amount of iron that they will not attract a magnet.
So, the lesson is, do not expect your magnet to attract alloys of gold, platinum, or silver.
What About Piles of Mixed Mine Waste, Black Sand, and Other Jumbled Materials?
If you are exploring a pile of sandy materials that has accumulated near a mine or inside a factory, you could stick a magnet into it to see whether any of that material clings to it.
If you do that, you will probably find that some small shavings and pieces of metal will cling to your magnet. That does not mean that there is no gold, platinum, or silver in the material you are examining. It only means that along with the other metals that are present, iron is there too. So that batch of material could be valuable. Some of it could be.
So Carry a Magnet when You Hunt for Precious Metals, But Use It to Eliminate the Possibility that the Scrap You Find Contains Gold, Platinum, or Silver
And if you are not sure what kind of metal you have found, call our precious metal refining consultants at 800-426-2344. You can send us a sample to evaluate and we will issue you a report on exactly what metals – precious and otherwise – you have found.