Chasing after the black powder

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snoman701

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2016
Messages
2,108
Location
SE MI
When do you chase after it?

If I'm doing a primary reaction, and I filter my pregnant AR to rid it of sediment, I flush the filter until it's white again. I then toss the filter in the incinerate pile.

Now, when I'm decanting, I always decant through a filter. I find that on occasion, I have a tiny bit of black sediment in the filter. By tiny, I mean mg scale. I toss that filter in the same incinerate pile.

In the past, I've dealt with my filters by just pyrolizing/incinerating then mixing with borax, adding a tiny bit of water to make a paste, then put it in a crucible to melt. Seems to work quite well thus far.

Now, the mg in the filter. This is in a batch of about 5 g of gold. I'd photograph it to show you, but I doubt I could show the "speck" I refer to.

I'm just trying to decide if this is acceptable technique. I'd love to say there's no gold in the decanted fluid, but that's the purpose of the filter for me right now.
 
When it comes to a re-refine, I never filter. I leave the solution to settle completely. I then decant/draw the solution from any sediments. When it comes to the final bit of solution, rinse it into a smaller beaker. The smaller the better. Allow this diluted solution to settle completely and repeat. The last little bit of solution from this can go into the stock pot. This way, there's no filters to deal with. It can take a little longer but it's much cleaner.
 
In the past, I've dealt with my filters by just pyrolyzing/incinerating then mixing with borax, adding a tiny bit of water to make a paste, then put it in a crucible to melt. Seems to work quite well thus far.

And you melt this.......why?

This powder may contain a tiny, tiny, (did I mention tiny?) amount of precious metals. What you are doing in collecting it is fine, and even in incinerating / pyrolyzing it in small manageable batches is fine. But melting it makes your life harder.

Powders dissolve easier than metallic beads, easier, faster, and more completely. I suggest you continue your collecting and burning on a scale that suits you, and even processing it on a scale that suits you, but skip the melt.
 
4metals said:
In the past, I've dealt with my filters by just pyrolyzing/incinerating then mixing with borax, adding a tiny bit of water to make a paste, then put it in a crucible to melt. Seems to work quite well thus far.

And you melt this.......why?

This powder may contain a tiny, tiny, (did I mention tiny?) amount of precious metals. What you are doing in collecting it is fine, and even in incinerating / pyrolyzing it in small manageable batches is fine. But melting it makes your life harder.

Powders dissolve easier than metallic beads, easier, faster, and more completely. I suggest you continue your collecting and burning on a scale that suits you, and even processing it on a scale that suits you, but skip the melt.

I don't really know. I think it's because I'm used to the idea that it has to be melted. Obviously not the best logic.

Thanks for pointing that out.
 
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