Copperas won’t green up

[g_axelsson]

Awesome. I like that you made that your self. I have had some of those crystals just like that after supersaturating a solution with the (online) ferrous sulfate, bottling it, and letting it cool. After it cooled some crystals just like that formed in the bottom of the bottle.

Just for fun, can the turbid Copperas be, for lack of a better word, "refined" and obtain some good clean solution or crystals? I think Aga above said "no" but I thought i'd ask [edited: for more opinions, no offense Aga].

If you filter and recrystallize it you should be able to pick out the pale blue crystals. But other than that I don't know of any ways to clean up oxidized copperas.

It's cheap to buy and easy to make yourself so I don't see any reason except purely academic to try to purify bad copperas.

Göran

 

[ARMCO]

Awesome. I like that you made that your self. I have had some of those crystals just like that after supersaturating a solution with the (online) ferrous sulfate, bottling it, and letting it cool. After it cooled some crystals just like that formed in the bottom of the bottle.

Just for fun, can the turbid Copperas be, for lack of a better word, "refined" and obtain some good clean solution or crystals? I think Aga above said "no" but I thought i'd ask [edited: for more opinions, no offense Aga].

If you filter and recrystallize it you should be able to pick out the pale blue crystals. But other than that I don't know of any ways to clean up oxidized copperas.

It's cheap to buy and easy to make yourself so I don't see any reason except purely academic to try to purify bad copperas.

Göran

Yes, it would be purely just to see if I could do it.

So, you simply let some steel dissolve in your left over sulfuric acid from the cell and then filtered and redissolved any crystals. Any other important considerations or steps?


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[g_axelsson]

That was about it.

Some links (from http://goldrefiningwiki.com/mediawiki/index.php/Copperas )
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19833#p217952
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=14026
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=21440

Göran

 

[anachronism]

Ascorbic acid is probably my next attempt.

Ascorbic is good- I use it a lot. It's not discussed much on here though.

 

[ARMCO]

Ascorbic acid is probably my next attempt.

Ascorbic is good- I use it a lot. It's not discussed much on here though.

The regular Safeway store and others like it don’t seem to carry just straight a ascorbic powder I could order it but I’m going to try “the natural pantry“. I think I can get some straight ascorbic acid powder from them.

Same thing? Saturated solution add until it’s all dropped?


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[anachronism]

No not at all. Just add it as powder. You can buy it as Vitamic C powder too on fleabay- the larger the pot the cheaper it is.

You will tend to get a finer precipitate than using "green sh*t" as I call it, and frankly it's amazing at getting out that last bit of gold from a solution that's got a stubborn bit remaining in solution.

There's no reason you cant use the green stuff for most of the drop and finish off with a teaspoon of Ascorbic.

Experiment, you'll enjoy it.

 

[nickvc]

I have also been interested in trying hydrazine, particularly for my stock pot solids which I dissolved in AR and which I have been struggling with. I have some hydrazine sulphate powder. I have only found one place online that instructed to dissolve it in distilled water and HCL. I did zinc in the past but that drops EVERYthing as you know. Unfortunately I have an inordinate amount of waste (stock pot) I am trying to reduce and process. And after zinc I have a bunch of dried solids, mostly copper powder laced with precious metals. I need to review Hoke on the stock pot again. lol

Thanks again gentleman.[/quote]

If you have used zinc then the values will be out and as the vast majority of the metal will be copper I would suggest trying to set up a copper cell and collect any values from the slimes, this reduces the amount of acids needed and will give you pure copper for future uses.

 

[ARMCO]

I have also been interested in trying hydrazine, particularly for my stock pot solids which I dissolved in AR and which I have been struggling with. I have some hydrazine sulphate powder. I have only found one place online that instructed to dissolve it in distilled water and HCL. I did zinc in the past but that drops EVERYthing as you know. Unfortunately I have an inordinate amount of waste (stock pot) I am trying to reduce and process. And after zinc I have a bunch of dried solids, mostly copper powder laced with precious metals. I need to review Hoke on the stock pot again. lol

Thanks again gentleman.

If you have used zinc then the values will be out and as the vast majority of the metal will be copper I would suggest trying to set up a copper cell and collect any values from the slimes, this reduces the amount of acids needed and will give you pure copper for future uses.[/quote]

Exactly. That has been the thought I keep returning to. Electrolytic cell to purify the copper and then process the slimes.

I have seen one video where the impure copper was poured into a roughly shaped ingot and suspended in the electrolyte by a wire.

Would one be able to just put the copper powder in s basket like a silver cell process?


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[Shark]

Would one be able to just put the copper powder in s basket like a silver cell process?

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I tried using a stainless bowl like many of the silver cells are using and it worked. The problem I had is that the copper didn't grow as crystals, but as a sheet. Peeling that sheet from the bowl was a lot more messy and time consuming than using anodes and cathodes. I always wanted to try using shot suspended in a bag and plating to a stainless sheet but I keep running out of room and time. Since I have several stainless sheets already cut to size that work well with my standard anode mold I just stick with that method.

 

[ARMCO]

Would one be able to just put the copper powder in s basket like a silver cell process?

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I tried using a stainless bowl like many of the silver cells are using and it worked. The problem I had is that the copper didn't grow as crystals, but as a sheet. Peeling that sheet from the bowl was a lot more messy and time consuming than using anodes and cathodes. I always wanted to try using shot suspended in a bag and plating to a stainless sheet but I keep running out of room and time. Since I have several stainless sheets already cut to size that work well with my standard anode mold I just stick with that method.

You know, I said copper powder but did mean shot.

I agree just straight to a stainless bowl would be more work.

I was wondering about possibly the copper shot in an anode basket like some of the silver cells. I imagine the anode slimes would collect in there. And that might not be optimal.

If a Pyrex glass or some other type vessel were used with an anode bar and either a cathode of pure copper or a stainless sheet suspended. I believe the pure copper plated onto your sheets that way would separate pretty easily. And the anode slimes would collect at the bottom of the vessel for collection and refining.

That’s how I envision it. However I’m certain the long experienced members of the forum have already done this in some form or fashion already.


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[Shark]

This is one of my old ones. I haven't taken any recent pictures, but this one was a good one. After I changed the power supply to a regular bench power supply it works like a champ.

 

[ARMCO]

This is one of my old ones. I haven't taken any recent pictures, but this one was a good one. After I changed the power supply to a regular bench power supply it works like a champ.

Ok. Cool. Thanks for sharing that.


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[prospector_pete]

I would not recommend using the Hi Yield Copperas directly into the solution. It just is not clean enough to be used that way.

Yep that's correct. I should have made that clearer in my post. Thanks Shark.

Jon

I always run it through a filter. Is that what you’re referring to? Should I run through a filter more than once?


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i too would like to know if copperas needs to be filtered to remove any bits of irn , as i saw sreetips do on his video

 

[FrugalRefiner]

There's a saying you'll see often here; garbage in garbage out. If there is anything that can be filtered from the copperas, why add it to a gold bearing solution? It just adds insoluble trash. Once the gold drops, the trash will be mixed with the precipitated gold.

Dave