# Does Nitric Acid dissolved Gold powder?



## Franciz (Mar 21, 2012)

I have precipitate some gold from my Cyanide solution and wash with 50/50 Nitric acid, After washing the powder i left with some brown powder.
I try to soak the powder(GOLD) in 68percent nitric acid for 5-6hr, The solution turn yellow.
Do you guys think it dissolved some gold because i have read hoke's book and many thread in this forum its say nitric acid will not dissolve gold?

Thanks
Francis


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## Franciz (Mar 21, 2012)

From what i understand it turn yellow because of NO2 gas in the solution, But i just wanna make sure this theory that nitric will not dissolve gold even when it is hot.


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## Palladium (Mar 21, 2012)

No nitric acid alone will not dissolve gold. You should use hcl for your washes. Do not use nitric and then rinse with hcl without first incinerating your material again. 

Search the term stannous chloride :?:


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## philddreamer (Mar 21, 2012)

> Search the term stannous chloride



Indeed! 

Franciz, you would have had an answer before even posting, if you would have tested with stannous Cl. It's a must if your going to be refining!

Take care!

Phil


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## Franciz (Mar 21, 2012)

Thank you, I now can confirm. Nitric alone cannot dissolve any gold.... :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Thanks....


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## Oz (Mar 26, 2012)

How in the world did a thread about material cemented from cyanide get this far talking about adding acid or testing with stannous chloride without someone warning about it generating HCN (hydrogen cyanide gas)?

Franciz, you may know the dangers already and have a fume hood and proper safety gear, but I do not want to leave a thread open like this without the warning. All cyanide must be destroyed before acidifying or testing with stannous chloride!


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## Dr. Poe (Mar 28, 2012)

Oz is totally correct, but not the rest of you. Finely divided gold will not dissolve in diluted or hot nitric acid (0ver 70 Celsius)
But finely divided gold will dissolve very, very slowly in cold concentrated nitric acid (grams per year) just enough to color the solution yellow over time. Remnants of gold cyanide will also convert to HAu(NO3)4 releasing hydrogen cyanide and turning the solution yellow. You'd best take heed to Oz's warning. Dr. Poe


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## butcher (Mar 29, 2012)

Dr Poe,
You say :
"finely divided gold will dissolve very, very slowly in cold concentrated nitric acid (grams per year) just enough to color the solution yellow over time. "

I have not heard of this before, if it is fact it is indeed interesting, but for what we do I do not see it as relevant.


I do not understand why I should be concerned with the above statement.
I would not have finely dissolved gold stored for years in concentrated cold nitric acid.
The only time I would use concentrated nitric on gold is when I am making Aqua regia, and then it is my goal to dissolve gold, and unless I was trying to hide the gold from the Nazi troopers I would not store it this way for years.

Dilute nitric is used to remove base metals from gold, and this process is accelerated with heating.

So basically I say gold will not dissolve in nitric acid alone, unless chlorides were involved, I say this also so as not to confuse new members, who are trying to learn.


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## Franciz (Mar 29, 2012)

Oz said:


> How in the world did a thread about material cemented from cyanide get this far talking about adding acid or testing with stannous chloride without someone warning about it generating HCN (hydrogen cyanide gas)?
> 
> Franciz, you may know the dangers already and have a fume hood and proper safety gear, but I do not want to leave a thread open like this without the warning. All cyanide must be destroyed before acidifying or testing with stannous chloride!



Hi Oz,

I know the danger of cyanide, I always wash the cemented powder many times and very well with hot water before i treated it with nitric acid...

Thanks you for your advices...

Francis


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## Dr. Poe (Mar 29, 2012)

butcher said:


> Dr Poe,
> You say :
> "finely divided gold will dissolve very, very slowly in cold concentrated nitric acid (grams per year) just enough to color the solution yellow over time. "
> 
> ...


Yes, I know, it's not a big deal. It just explains the coloring. Doc


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## AlZabrisky (Mar 29, 2012)

Poe, you obviously dont have the authority to say oz is correct, I am sure he precedes you in precious metal refining knowledge. As well as, please dont belittle the members here by telling them they are wrong, you again dont have that authority.
I have reviewed many of your posts and I conclude that you attempt to dazzle others with bs. Your efforts appear to be devious and misleading and trying to corrupt those of us who are simply trying to stick to known science, something you have not respected. Are you attempting to prey on the lesser educated for monetary gains??.
Your claim to doctoral success in geochemical research is baseless and unfounded. A search of data bases of institutions across north america have revealed that your "PhD" is non existent. Please help clear this up by giving details of this "thesis" and where it was acheived. Until then, I urge everyone to ignore the fantasy science of Poe. 
PhD is hard work and your claim to "Dr" may be a mockery to those who actually acheived this academic standing.


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## publius (Mar 29, 2012)

AlZabrisky said:


> Poe, you obviously dont have the authority to say oz is correct, I am sure he precedes you in precious metal refining knowledge. As well as, please dont belittle the members here by telling them they are wrong, you again dont have that authority.
> SNIP...


My understanding of chemistry is such that what Poe has said is correct. and No, I do not have a PhD, an MS, nor a BS in chemistry.

I am risking stepping on my own winky here, but you are the pot calling the kettle "black!" Until you make Moderator status (like Butcher) perhaps you should address this issue to those that control the forum. Just my 0.02 USD


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## AlZabrisky (Mar 29, 2012)

Winky? LOL.
in these modern times, kettles are electric and are not likely to get "black".


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## nickvc (Mar 29, 2012)

Gentlemen please let's have calm.
Whether the good Dr is correct will be proven on here by those with the knowledge to either challenge or support his comments, to me he seems to have an understanding of the finer points of chemistry as relating to precious metals, their recovery and refining. If he is correct or incorrect you can lay your money on it been proven here on the forum, I gave the Dr an unfriendly welcome but having read the moderators replies I apologised, we need all the experts we can gather who will freely give their knowledge and I hope Dr. Poe is one of them and will continue to help the others who need his specialized knowledge.
If anyone can add something constructive to this fracas either for or against please step forward.


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## butcher (Mar 29, 2012)

Let's not get into this, all over again.




Franciz,
I do not use, or am I knowledgeable about cyanide, I really do not know, but other metals salts like metal chlorides you cannot remove the chloride by simple rinsing, I would not think you could remove cyanide by simple rinsing, I would think heat or acid (forming deadly gas), or something else would be needed to break the bond, hopefully a member more knowledgeable will add his thoughts.


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## nickvc (Mar 29, 2012)

Cyanide is water soluble but even so I'd wouldn't advise anyone to mix any powders from cyanide solutions with acids without a good fume hood, the consequences could be fatal.
I stress every time cyanide is mentioned this is not for the home or amateur refiner, please use other safer methods outlined on the forum if you are not fully equipped to deal with it.

THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES WITH CYANIDE....


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## Palladium (Mar 29, 2012)

Some of the best members we have here on the forum has been bashed, crucified, and nailed to a cross at one time or another including me. The one thing all these people have in common is that they remain and stick it out regardless of what other may think or say. I to have had questions about the good doc from time to time and the way he presents his information and the validity of that information. With the brain power available to this forum if he presents information that is not correct it will be challenged and corrected by those with equivalent brain power. The one thing that is obvious is that the man has knowledge and that I have to respect. I’ve worked with many a people I can’t stand to even hear talk or be in the room with, but the one thing I have learned is to respect their knowledge. If the good doc is not what he appears to be it will come to light. Until then all I can do is observe and question. I might even learn a thing or two when I approach it with an open mind instead of condemnation.


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## Harold_V (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm constantly amazed at the ability of readers of this forum to disagree, even get a little testy, and yet remain mannerly. 

So long as this thread doesn't spin out of control, I will remain silent. 

Harold


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## maynman1751 (Mar 30, 2012)

Harold_V said:


> I'm constantly amazed at the ability of readers of this forum to disagree, even get a little testy, and yet remain mannerly.
> 
> So long as this thread doesn't spin out of control, I will remain silent.
> 
> Harold



I can't agree more Harold. We all should be adults here and respect each other and be able to have an intelligent and peaceful debate without lowering ourselves to inflammatory or unnecessary, insulting statements. These types of 'confrontations' can indeed be knowledge sharing experiences and be beneficial to the forum as long as they are done in a professional manner.


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## publius (Mar 30, 2012)

AlZabrisky said:


> Winky? LOL.
> in these modern times, kettles are electric and are not likely to get "black".


I was going to say "Richard" but I thought I would run afoul with the Moderators.

Still, water is the "universal solvent," and it is my understanding if you place a substance in water, hot, cold, under pressure or not, some of that substance will go into solution.

Pot an Kettle... Like the sow calling the boar dirty (or dinner)... Better?  :roll:


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## butcher (Mar 30, 2012)

publius,

Water is not always a solvent for all materials, the term soluble, or insolubility does have varying degrees, it is like saying all heat is hot. And by the way the tone of you last post does not go into solution well with this forum, it almost sounds insoluble, something about it just does not sound right, or mix well, maybe just backing off and trying to sing a new tune, would sound much better to us all.

When I had children they would test things to see how much they could get by with, sometimes they may try and touch the stove to see if it would burn them.

If we keep touching this hot stove somebody will get burnt.


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## publius (Mar 30, 2012)

Humor, like sarcasm, sometimes does not translate well in the forum.

If you find any one of my posts that think is odd, understand that I am trying to be humorous, not boorish. I do thank you for your kind admonishment. I will avoid getting burned. At 57 years old, I find that I have tested sufficient number of boundaries to know that there are none that need additional testing. And If I have not said it yet, "Congratulations on being given the privilege to moderate this great forum!"


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## Franciz (Mar 30, 2012)

Am i the one who cause all the arguing? :shock: :shock: :shock:


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## Palladium (Mar 30, 2012)

Franciz said:


> Am i the one who cause all the arguing? :shock: :shock: :shock:



Nope! Your doing great. It happens from time to time when you have a group diverse as the forum.


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## publius (Mar 30, 2012)

Franciz said:


> Am i the one who cause all the arguing? :shock: :shock: :shock:


No Sir, you are not the cause. In fact there is no argument, just polite, passionate discussion! 8)


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## butcher (Mar 30, 2012)

I think all of us miners and refiners, just miss the sunlight, and have not had enough fresh air cooped up all winter.

Franciz, it is us who should apologize to you for disrupting your thread, and learning, I am sorry, and my hopes are we can get back onto discussion, so we all can learn more.


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## Franciz (Mar 31, 2012)

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## stardust18 (Mar 31, 2012)

Hello everyone on this great forum. This is my first post and also English is not my language. So please do not kick me a lot. With regard to the issue under discussion - but nitric acid is able to dissolve the gold. If you are using a reagent - it is a different degree of purity.
But even the purest nitric acid chloride contains impurities, so it happens, as in aqua regia. Number of course small, but still, this effect is present.
Thank you for your attention.
Alex.
:roll:


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## butcher (Mar 31, 2012)

stardust18, 
I agree with you, this is where our stockpots come in very handy.

Much of what we may describe is chemistry is relative, it is not always black and white, there are many gray area's.

welcome to the forum good first post, especially considering English is not your language.


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## Palladium (Mar 31, 2012)

stardust18 said:


> Hello everyone on this great forum. This is my first post and also English is not my language. So please do not kick me a lot. With regard to the issue under discussion - but nitric acid is able to dissolve the gold. If you are using a reagent - it is a different degree of purity.
> But even the purest nitric acid chloride contains impurities, so it happens, as in aqua regia. Number of course small, but still, this effect is present.
> Thank you for your attention.
> Alex.
> :roll:



Very good post.
Welcome to the forum!


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## Franciz (Apr 1, 2012)

I have heard from some of the old-timer gold refiner locally that is still using traditional ways to refine gold says when they recover the gold by smelting the material they wish to refine in a crucible with borax<Only Borax> and use lead bar and a small portion of Copper wire as a collector they say there are some gold dissolved in the nitric acid and they are losing some gold.

:roll: I forgot to mention about the process about how they do above, Ok, First after smelting the material in a very big furnaces with borax, Lead Bar and some copper wire<if the material does not contain copper> for about 2 1/2Hr they set aside and give it some time to cool and use a solid sharp iron rod with a hammer and slowly chip out the borax until it reach the bottom of the crucible and it will left with a piece of at least few Kgs of Lead metal. 

They then remove the big piece of lead from the bottom of the crucible, Melt it again in a big homemade melting dish until the whole piece reach its boiling point then slowly remove the impurity by using a thin steel rod to tuck it out bit by bit until it became a nice boiling metal with no trace of any impurity or any trace of borax.

Lastly use a big stainless steel spoon to tuck it and pour in pail of water to make Shot.
After rinsed 1-2 times, Finally soft boil it with nitric acid in a Big Stainless steel mixing bowl.
Without using AR method, The result is 99.95up.

But however using this method I have never see them recover any PGMs before even the material has high PGMs in Content.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I am just trying to share with you guys that in my country most of them process this way and this is the way they do it.


Francis


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## Dr. Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

I guess it's time to clarify some things: gold cyanide is not soluble as AuCN in water, but does dissolve in acids. It's the excess potassium cyanide that turns the gold +1 cyanide to the gold +3 cyanide which is soluble in water. The plus one valence of gold cyanide is sometimes formed by an insufficient reduction with the cementation agent. Any one willing to go down into the basements of my old Alma maters (yes that was plural) then find a reader for old microfilm could do me the favor of transfering my transcript data to a computer. :| Dr. Poe


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## AlZabrisky (Apr 2, 2012)

I am willing to pursue your (LOL) alma maters. Basements? Sure. Microfilm reader? I can find one.
Please submit more information in this regard.
Name of institution (LOL).
State.
Year of graduation.
Subject of doctoral (LOL) work.
I await your response and look forward to diving into fiction.


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## Palladium (Apr 2, 2012)

Are we like children here and need to be corrected more than one time or can we act like adults and not play these childish games.
As long as Doc Poe is willing to contribute he has as much right to be here as anyone. That includes the right not to be mocked or made fun of in a way as to belittle him or his education. If you can prove him wrong then do so, if not then he has no more to prove than anyone else here. This needs to stop now!


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## publius (Apr 2, 2012)

Palladium said:


> Are we like children here and need to be corrected more than one time or can we act like adults and not play these childish games.
> As long as Doc Poe is willing to contribute he has as much right to be here as anyone. That includes the right not to be mocked or made fun of in a way as to belittle him or his education. If you can prove him wrong then do so, if not then he has no more to prove than anyone else here. This needs to stop now!


+100


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## AlZabrisky (Apr 2, 2012)

Relax.
Poe posted data that I am trying to substantiate. That is all.He has shown willingness to resolve the matter in his last message and I am trying to assist him as requested.

Abstract:
When someone present themselves as an authority on a particular subject with claims of higher academic acheivements, those less knowledgeable are likely to accept any information that is presented without verification. They usually accept such information based on the assumption that some higher approved authority has verified the academic standing that are being presented, hence its validity.It is called trust and its a wonderful thing. Ashamed are those who take advantage of it.
If Poe came on this forum and shared and exchanged information like everyone else, then thats ok. However, when he took a handle as a"DrPoe" and further elaborated that he has a *PhD in geochemical research*, then he needs to be held at a higher standard. Unsuspecting contributors might engage him off this forum based on the assumption that this wonderful forum has accepted without question the validity of his unsubstantiated academic standing. I say NO, this forum is far too valuable to many to allow such claims to go unchecked, especially since some of poe's claims challenges known science.


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## Dr. Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

Thank you guys. The formation of gold nitric as well as the dangers of acids and cyanides are well documented facts.
I'm sure that Harold is keeping a watchful eye upon those whom would promote discourse here on the forum. Dr. Poe


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## Palladium (Apr 2, 2012)

I can answer that pretty quick for you. Are you that authority to question his credentials? Does their seem to be a consensus among the members that we need to? Is their a committee about this somewhere? Or is it just you it seems?

And adding to that why would you send me this pm? What does a man named Sue have to do with this topic? Be careful??? Be careful of what? You? Then you went on to quote what i wrote in the thread. Yes i was talking to you and you knew it or else we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Write them emails in your sly way and then say oh!! I meant it some other way. Do you think this is all he he and ha ha? Do you not understand we have rules here that you must and will abide by. Are you trying to get banned? Don’t kick at the cat!


AlZabrisky 
Private message
Member 
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:23 pm
Sent: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:28 pm 

From: AlZabrisky 
To: Palladium 

Re: Does Nitric Acid dissolved Gold powder?



AlZabrisky said:


> Did you fall under the spell of a man named Sue??.
> Please be careful.






Palladium said:


> Are we like children here and need to be corrected more than one time or can we act like adults and not play these childish games.
> As long as Doc Poe is willing to contribute he has as much right to be here as anyone. That includes the right not to be mocked or made fun of in a way as to belittle him or his education. If you can prove him wrong then do so, if not then he has no more to prove than anyone else here. This needs to stop now!


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## Oz (Apr 2, 2012)

AlZabrisky said:


> I am willing to pursue your (LOL) alma maters. Basements? Sure. Microfilm reader? I can find one.
> Please submit more information in this regard.
> Name of institution (LOL).
> State.
> ...


AlZabrisky,
I agree that if a member posts something on the forum they should be prepared for others to ask them to substantiate said facts or ask if it is just opinion. I care not if that is a chemical procedure, or a piece of paper from an academic institution proving a certain level of mastery. Please read once again what you wrote, would you not be offended if someone wrote to you in that manner? There is nothing wrong with your questions, but there is in the mocking nature of what you said. I find it very distasteful! It would be fine if you did not feel the need to have “lots of laughs" at everything you questioned, and your last sentence does nothing less than call Dr Poe a liar. That behavior will not be tolerated on the forum.

It speaks very well for Dr Poe that he chose to reply in such a mannered and measured way after such disparaging and rude commentary. Remember that it was Dr Poe that was offering details about himself that elicited your response. Unfortunately the questions you wished answered, because of how you asked, leaves Dr Poe little good reason to follow-up.

Much of what Dr Poe has written here has been discussed very thoroughly, and often left as respectful people agreeing to disagree. To be clear, question anything you see here, but be polite.

As a side note, I left school before even completing the 9th grade, to what standard should I be held to then?


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## AlZabrisky (Apr 2, 2012)

OZ, I agree with you and I humbly withdraw the attempt at humor. LOL = Laugh out loud and not Lots of laugh ( more of a dry chuckle). It was meant as good humor and not to mock.
I respect your moderation and the knowledge you bring to the forum. You have freely shared valuable information with everyone, but you have not made claims as to your academic prowess.
However, I am still looking forward for a response from poe with regards to his alma maters.


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## Palladium (Apr 2, 2012)

Franciz said:


> I have heard from some of the old-timer gold refiner locally that is still using traditional ways to refine gold says when they recover the gold by smelting the material they wish to refine in a crucible with borax<Only Borax> and use lead bar and a small portion of Copper wire as a collector they say there are some gold dissolved in the nitric acid and they are losing some gold.
> 
> :roll: I forgot to mention about the process about how they do above, Ok, First after smelting the material in a very big furnaces with borax, Lead Bar and some copper wire<if the material does not contain copper> for about 2 1/2Hr they set aside and give it some time to cool and use a solid sharp iron rod with a hammer and slowly chip out the borax until it reach the bottom of the crucible and it will left with a piece of at least few Kgs of Lead metal.
> 
> ...




I would love to hear more about your experiences Francis. Please continue.


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## stardust18 (Apr 2, 2012)

In addition to my first post: When soldering the gold dissolves in the solder, the solder is dissolved in nitric acid - together with the gold located there. It can also be your loss. Thank you for your attention.


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## Franciz (Apr 3, 2012)

Palladium said:


> I would love to hear more about your experiences Francis. Please continue.




Dear Palladium,

I am willing and happy to share all of my experience. Please let me know what you would like to hear from me.

Best Regs
Francis


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## Palladium (Apr 3, 2012)

Anything that has to do with gold refining in your culture. Or anything about your life in general you want to share. I think its cool to learn how others live and function aside from the normal BS we go through everyday in our culture. Makes my wants and complaints I have seem small in comparison. You seem like an interesting person.


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## Franciz (Apr 3, 2012)

Palladium said:


> Anything that has to do with gold refining in your culture. Or anything about your life in general you want to share. I think its cool to learn how others live and function aside from the normal BS we go through everyday in our culture. Makes my wants and complaints I have seem small in comparison. You seem like an interesting person.




My family has no chemical knowledge at all but my father was a refiner here :lol: I saw them refine gold since i was a boy :lol: But there is nothing much i can share about their process because no matter what material they wish to refine, The just smelt it with lead and copper into a button.
The only thing i know lately is they are losing gold in their used borax, I know because i send it for assay. I have many tons of this borax, :lol: :lol: :lol: 

The story start since mid last year When i saw a post on my local website teaching how to recover gold using chemical. I called up and go to the person place which took me 12hours to reach there who agree to teach me with a fee of about USD2000/-.
All i learn from him is using electrolysis method with cyanide solution. I bring there 2pounds of P.Pro CPU and recovered 2.5g of Gold but it took him 8Hr for the process :x < I know the gold is not fully recovered but the person who teach me insist>
After paying the USD2000/- i feel that i should find another way to learn and should try my best to make it success :lol: :lol: 

I have never think my father method is the best in fact i am think his method is the lousy as each time he process he are throw away some amount of gold and had never seen any PGM from him even some of his material like goldsmiths dust, sweep which contain PGM.

There is only 1 time i am proud of him is few years back ago he came back home with 30L of unknown solution and he is able to recover 300g of gold and 44KG of silver in 30L solution :shock: :shock: :shock: But that is the only time. :lol: 

Now i am consider full time of this project doing research and reading and the most beautiful part is i am a member of this forum as there is so many ''real'' experience refiner who i can ask and learn and it is FREE :lol: :lol: :lol: 
After asking so many stupid question here and some reading today i have ordered a few hundreds dollar of the chemical require for gold and PGM :lol: 

I will not stop until i success:lol: :lol: :lol: 

Francis


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## Palladium (Apr 3, 2012)

If you need any help just ask Francis. 
The name francis, is that like your real name or just a screen name? The reason i ask is because of the country your from francis just seems like a strange name from there.


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## Franciz (Apr 4, 2012)

Palladium said:


> If you need any help just ask Francis.
> The name francis, is that like your real name or just a screen name? The reason i ask is because of the country your from francis just seems like a strange name from there.




It is my nick name, My name is Pornsak. I got the nick name Francis when i study oversea for my O-level :lol: 
I prefer Francis because it sounds more international :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Oz (Apr 4, 2012)

Franciz said:


> I prefer Francis because it sounds more international :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


I understand completely, there is much prejudice in this world and while living in Europe I saw many do the same in picking a generic name when dealing with others in a different country. Tell us which you prefer to be called by, as I will not allow country or ethnic prejudices on this forum.

Glad to meet you …….


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## Franciz (Apr 4, 2012)

Oz said:


> Franciz said:
> 
> 
> > I prefer Francis because it sounds more international :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
> ...



I will prefer to be called Francis :lol: More international,,, Haha...


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## Westerngs (Apr 4, 2012)

I vaguely remember that Bugbee mentions nitric acid dissolving small amounts of finely divided gold. I will dig out my old copy of Bugbee and see if I can find that again.

Funny thing. Just yesterday I received samples of silver dissolved in 1:1 nitric acid and was asked to determine if any gold went into solution when dissolving the silver (trace gold content in silver being dissolved). I will post findings later.


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## Westerngs (Apr 5, 2012)

Found where Bugbee mentions gold dissolving in nitric acid.

Pg. 132 "IF the parting acid contains impurities, particularly chlorine in any form, some of the gold is sure to be dissolved. Even pure nitric acid, if concentrated and boiling, dissolves a small, but for ore analysis a negligible, amount. According to F.P. Dewey this loss does not exceed 0.005 part per 1000 parts of gold."

Now the samples I received (mentioned in my post above). I checked the solution, did not find any gold at 1 ppm detection limit. Unfortunately, it is difficult to matrix match the standards to the samples, so the samples are in 1:1 nitric acid and the standards are in 2% HCl.

Then I filtered the samples and digested the filters in aqua regia. Easy to matrix match samples and standards here. Again, did not find any gold with 1 ppm DL.

So... As far as I can tell, gold will not dissolve in nitric acid.


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## butcher (Apr 6, 2012)

Nice work Westerngs thanks for spending time on this,
There was no doubt some of the tiny gold atoms may get passed through the processes, if not dissolved then in some fine powers suspended in solution at some point.

When we make our own nitric acid the nitrate salts can very well have some chlorides as contaminates, which can dissolve a little bit of gold when we use the homemade nitric acid.

I keep a stockpot or reuse my spent nitric solutions, in hopes of capturing what may go through my processes.


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## Geo (Apr 6, 2012)

Francis, you said you have many tons of borax with gold trapped. has anyone tried to address this? borax can be dissolved with dilute sulfuric acid, im sure of that because thats what i use to clean my melting dishes. the little borax thats left after boiling in dilute sulfuric acid is very soft and can be rubbed off with your finger. is there some way to use this to dissolve the borax you have to recover the gold thats locked up in the borax glass?


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## nickvc (Apr 6, 2012)

Geo I believe this has been discussed earlier in another thread and I think 4metals gave him some advice on what mix of fluxes to try but Franciz was having problems sourcing some of the chemicals.
I know what would work but I hesitate to say as it's the one acid I really hate and would rather crawl over hot broken salted glass than use it or advise anyone else to.


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## Franciz (Apr 8, 2012)

Geo said:


> Francis, you said you have many tons of borax with gold trapped. has anyone tried to address this? borax can be dissolved with dilute sulfuric acid, im sure of that because thats what i use to clean my melting dishes. the little borax thats left after boiling in dilute sulfuric acid is very soft and can be rubbed off with your finger. is there some way to use this to dissolve the borax you have to recover the gold thats locked up in the borax glass?




Dear Geo,

I have already try to dissolved in hot dilute sulfuric acid. It did not works. :lol: 
I have also tried 4metal flux receipe it also don't work.
For the borax, I have already give up and selling to a Taiwanese :lol: 

Best Regs
Francis


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## Lino1406 (Apr 11, 2012)

I do not agree with cyanide "turns gold+1
to gold+3" If cyanide changes valence,
which it does not, is by reduction, not 
oxidation
Lino1406, author of "25 recovery procedures..."


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