A question about saftey

[AY2000]

Hello all, I am relatively new to gold refining (and obviously metal refining in general) and to be completely honest I would like some help. From what I've researched and learned this hobby can be very fun and engaging, but also pretty dangerous if saftey precautions arent taken into account. So I was wondering about some of the dos and don'ts of metal refining in genral (from a saftey aspect) because I am super interested to get into this hobby (as well as learn a bunch more about chemistry in genral) but like I am super NOT interested in maiming (and posibly causing permanent damage/ or even death) to myself or others. cause I see all the time these people saying "oh hey yeah you can get a bunch of these chems and these scrap and just mix em up and you'll end up with some good metal that you can profit from" but they take like no saftey precautions whatsoever and like I dont want to end up like that type of person. I hope you all can help. Good day (or night) to you all.

 

[Yggdrasil]

It is all in here.
Search for safety in the Library or on the forum itself. You will have days of work just reading that
Then if something is unclear, ask here again.
Welcome bye the way

 

[Shark]

The easiest way to avoid mistakes is to ask first.

To explain a bit. When you are ready to attempt your first batch post a detailed outline you think Will work and allow the forum to critique the plan. You will then have a plan before making bigger mistakes.

 

[Martijn]

Welcome to the forum.
You've found the right place to start your study and you have the right attitude towards this interesting and dangerous craft.

To repeat the best advice given: ask first.

First and most important one is safety and then dealing with the toxic waste you will create. This can not be poured down the drain. It kills all life and destroys the water treatment facility bacterial processes.

Some general rules in chemistry: never add water to acid, always acid to water.

Most reactions need some heat to properly work. And most reactions generate heat.
The recipe for a runaway reaction. So if you start cold with a lot of material and acids to react, it will get hotter and react more intense. This can cause a boil over or worse.

That leads to another advice: never fill a beaker more than 1/3 full. Leave room for the reaction.

Get some experience with small acquaintance tests like described in Hoke's book.

Study the processes you intend to use.
You can get lost in all the different ways to achieve the same result.

Start with recovery processes and collect the concentrated pm's for further refining.

What is the kind of material you want to recover pm's from?

Again, when you get lost, ask.

Study, take notes in your own refiners manual.
One link where basically everything is:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/library-index-thread.22351/
Have fun and be safe.

Martijn.
(Edited to add fun)

 

[Martijn]

On safety: think prevention in stead of personal protective equipment.
How to avoid exessive gases to form and escape from the reaction vessel.

Long sleeves and trousers, closed clothes, plastic gloves and safety glasses are standard PPE though. An apron is also very wise to use.

Never handle anything chemical without gloves. Metal salts are highly toxic and some accumulate in the human body.

Look up the acids and salts on Wikipedia for their properties and look for MSDS sheets to find out how to handle them and what the dangers are.
Have printed MSDS sheets of the chemicals you use and follow the advice and precautions.

If you need a mask to perform a process, you're doing somethong wrong.

Have neutralizing water near you. Baking soda solution.

Always use a catch basin in case of a breaking beaker.

Use clean and scratch free beakers from heat resistant laboratory glass.

An eye opener on what can go wrong and to learn from others mistakes:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...imple-question-and-get-a-simple-answer.21412/
Martijn.

 

[Shark]

If you do get acid on you that needs to be neutralized, rinse with water first then the baking soda. Certain reactions when neutralizing some acids are worse than the acid alone.

 

[malphorian1973]

This is just my opinion but I think you should ALWAYS label your chemicals, solutions, salts, and anything else that you might get mixed up with something else. Mixing the two wrong items together could be EXTREAMLY dangerous!

 

[Paul73]

This is just my opinion but I think you should ALWAYS label your chemicals, solutions, salts, and anything else that you might get mixed up with something else. Mixing the two wrong items together could be EXTREAMLY dangerous!

That is an excellent way of thinking. I find that a marker, and a roll of tape , is very helpful for keeping things organized and identified properly. I have a box of Avery 4013 computer labels left over from my dox matrix printer days that I find very useful.