# HELLLP! subzero first attempt major screw up: is it fixable?



## luckymepc1 (Jun 17, 2012)

Hi I have been saving parts forever. Thought I'd try my hand at refining/recovery instead of losing money by selling my scrap on ebay. I chose the subzero method because it seemed the least harmful. 

My 1st mistake was to mix different types of scrap to this first batch (Duh) I guess I just wanted to see how the the gold disintergrates on each type. i had

10 oz of gold backed plated silicon wafers
about 5oz of some smashed ceramic cpus
about 25oz of misc pins and green board gold plated pieces
40 oz total

i used only about a pint of 32 hydrocloric acid to the whole bag of subzero starter kit. 
then when that green slime was done fizzing, i put the urrea, no fizz. 
then i did the whole bag of whatever that last stuff was
tried the coffee filter deal in a funnel...complete nightmare! 
so I tried the hand method...also complete nightmare.. 
tested the with drops for that blackish brownish purplish color 
washed it in two gallons of ammonia. 
as hard as i tried, there was still particles that i knew did not belong in there. washed that with tap water for days and let the mud dry in the sun. 
now i have about a cup or so of dried mud mostly cocoa color, but parts of it have some greenish. 

my question is, what can i use to start all over again to clean this mud of impurities. 
If there is anyone in az in the valley who can charge me a percentage of the yield to show me how to fix this mess?

I have alot more scrap too, and can pay you a percentage to watch you do it? Hope that is not an illegal forum question...
someone please help and yes I know i am a total dummy about this. But I figure you gotta start somewhere. 
Thanks for any advice you can offer
lost in the desert...


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## bikesallotta147 (Jun 17, 2012)

well your first mistake was buying shor.let me tell you a story i came on this forum with one question.like your self i got a answer that was hepful to kick me into reality.like me your first mistake was not comming here first.see like yourself after my first question i went and sat and read this forum.even into wee hours of morning.studing downloading hokes book witch can be down loaded from this forum use search with topics or questions.sit and read
questions of others and listsen to the answers they are given look at saftey first then look to what you will need. i started this way by reading first.i now produce lots of gold .seconed thing i did was built a lab with a scrubber and a fume hood.thanks to this forum it did not cost allot to do.cause if you keep trying with out reading your days will turn into months .and all flustration can be avoided by reading.i read for months on end then i tried . see don,t ever let people tell you knowledge is free it must be earned.stop and read.are humen nature puts us in a rush we want it now but that is a false in gold you rush it can have dissasterous results.take time thease guys are great if you learn it from square one .with the guys on here you will know it.


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## luckymepc1 (Jun 17, 2012)

yes, all about the hindsight... but that still does not answer my question....can my my be fixed?
no I didnt go shor... iwent a step worse to a dropshipper on ebay to shor! missing half of the directions and some "consumables"

looks like i will go acid then bleack or peroxide next time yes i watch the tutorials till im blue in the face, but cant seem to find one on fixing mud...
Anybody????

whatever advice anyone has is appreciated. 


PS no i thought i used all the subzero, i did not, spoonfuls vs weight ratio i thnk i did that one very close.i think when the urrea did not fizzle is when things really started to get out of hand..then everyone is cooking it with the regular aqua regia, but sub zero does not show any cooking. and then that filterin process just did not work with coffee filters. stuff was just going everywhere on my glass patio table...they made it look so easy in thr videos.


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## martyn111 (Jun 17, 2012)

My advise is to stop what you are doing until you have read and absorbed Hoke's book, the guided tour and the safety section on the forum.
All the info you are going to need to sort out your mess has already been discussed at great length and the best way to learn it is to do your own research.
I say that not to be awkward, a one paragraph answer is not going to help you in the long run, we aren't baking a cake to a set recipe here, I could give you a solution (no pun intended) to your problem but without knowing exactly what you have in your mess my proposed solution may not be accurate and then what do you do? 
With your own research you will be able to gather the knowledge to determine what reactions are taking place,and therefore what else you need to do to reach the goal of purifying your values.
As long as you don't dispose of any solutions or solids your gold is going no where, it will still be there when you have gained enough knowledge to extract it from the mess you now have.


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## kurt (Jun 17, 2012)

luckymepc1 - you NEED to stop what you are doing here right now & take some time to research & read things here on the forum & also read Hokes book (its a free down load here on the forum) 

I see that somewhere along the line you added ammonia to your process :shock: that can be VERY dangerous. mixing ammonia with metals that have been disolved in acids &then drying the solids can & will make explosive compounds that are heat & presure sensitive.

So - the first thing you need to do here is ad some water to what ever you have dried (use distiled water)

Then - STOP doing anything else untill you have taken some time to do some reading & research here on the forum AND down loaded C.M. Hoke's book & read it.

Other then that - yes - you can still recover any values that are in solution &/or in your solids (as long as you have not thrown anything away) but FIRST you need to do some research to get an understanding of refining & you need to have that understanding before you can even ask questions that make sense to get answers that make sense

Kurt


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## butcher (Jun 23, 2012)

What Great advice from our Good members.

Makes me think of an animal stuck in a trap and needing help out, well someone can help the animal out, but he will soon be stuck in the next trap, but if he gets an education learns how to get out of the trap himself, and understands how not to get caught in these trap's, he will not constantly be a trapped animal, but free and confident to roam the forest.


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