# Welcome New Members !



## Noxx

Welcome to this forum ! I hope you will pass good time over here.
Please follow those rules:
-Do not use Racism/Sexism/Bad Taste/Violent language.
-Do not spam.
-Do not write like when you are on MSN/ICQ
-Try to correct spelling mistakes.
-Post in the good section
-Do not write in capital letters.
-Be sympathic.

Thanks and I hope this community will grow a lot !

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from both the website owner, Jean-Nicolas Allaire ([email protected] DOT com) and the author of material in question. For personal only use by individuals only. This material may not be linked to from any other website, computer, or server unless written permission is obtained from this website's owner and the author(s) of the material to be displayed. This copyright notice must appear on any content that is approved for external use. All content is not for resale, reproduction, or distribution by any business in whole or in part without the written permission of the author(s). Violators of this copyright will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the international copyright laws.

Individuals using this website and performing the experiments described herein accept full responsibility for all that results directly or indirectly from these activities. Jean-Nicolas Allaire, all co-authors and GoldRefiningForum.com shall be absolved of any and all responsibility for the result of activities conducted from information and instructions provided in this website.

By logging in to this website you confirm that you agree to all terms and conditions outlined above.


----------



## Harold_V

Hello--

The site promises to be of value to those that are learning the art of refining, so I applaud your effort. Perhaps I'll be able to contribute as time allows, or the opportunity presents itself. 

Harold


----------



## jmelson

Great site, thanks for setting it up.

I have been tinkering with refining for over a year, as time permits.
Harold has been a great help to me (through other means of communication).
Thanks, Harold!

I picked Technic's Techni-Strip AU for stripping gold off of PC board connectors and other concentrated gold-plated scrap, as it is supposed to remove "only" the gold, and leave the base metals behind. It works great at removing the gold, but it doesn't want to let it go. I've been experimenting with different ways to get the gold back out of the cyanide solution, with varied results.

I've tried the zinc precipitation method. I think I need to add more lye to raise the pH more, and that's why I'm having trouble with that.

I've tried something that is essentially electrowining, using stainless steel electrodes. I get a lot of mushy gold this way, and some plating of gold on the cathode. This has yielded the most gold so far, and I keep going until something else starts to plate out on the cathode. I haven't built a pulsing system for the plating supply yet, some articles indicate this makes the concentrated material a higher purity by keeping copper, etc. from also
plating out. This won't matter if there isn't much copper in there, anyway.
When I'm done with this process, the solution has turned to mud, but that stuff is NOT gold in suspension. I haven't figured out what it is, but it just burns away.

I have tried activated carbon extraction, and it seems to work very well, judging by the fact that the solution will then accept more gold. But, I must have used too much carbon, as the gold was not very dense when I burned it. I need to try again with just a tiny amount of carbon, and see what can extract.

I had one solution that I'd mucked around with too much for any of the above techniques to extract the gold from, so I let it dry out and just burned it all in a crucible. That took forever, but it is finally done. I did get a few more grams of gold out of it. It seems like I should have about twice the gold that I actually got, but I shouldn't complain. I've got something like 10 grams of gold out of total scrap so far. At today's prices, that's about $220, if it is pure. Some of it looks really great, some has base metals in in. Ahh, into the crucible again!

But, it seems like it is a LOT of work to process this stuff for just a couple bucks an hour! Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I will be starting another batch of the Techni-Strip Au maybe this weekend, and maybe it will work better.

Jon


----------



## Jo418

Glad to see that our community is growing fast!
Welcome folk!


----------



## Noxx

I'm glad you share your experience.
I don't know much about renverse electroplating...
Also, I strongly recommand not using cyanides copounds. They are very very toxics and nobody should never manipulate them.

Yes, you can precipitate gold from your solution with Zinc. I used to precipitate my gold with copper or Sodium Metabisulfide. 
But I always use the Aqua Regia refining method.

I never heard the activated carbon extraction technique... What is it ?

If you wanna know if your gold is pure, put it in Concentrated Nitric Acid. If the acid boils and takes color, your gold is not pure. If nothing happens, you have pure gold or nearly pure (+95%).

Good Luck !


----------



## jmelson

Noxx said:


> Also, I strongly recommand not using cyanides copounds. They are very very toxics and nobody should never manipulate them.


Well, obviously not for the careless, some steps can't be done without proper ventilation, can't be done in large scale without special permits, etc. etc.

But, I'm still quite alive, and I have done 3 quarts of the stuff so far, still working out the tricks. Technic wants to buy the solution back from you, but I am not licensed to ship hazmat, so I really CAN'T do that! It never ocurred to me they would sell me this stuff and then not tell me how to do the extraction myself! According to their directions, you should be able to dissolve one Troy ounce of gold per gallon of solution mixed to their recipe.
That is roughly 0.1 % cyanide by weight, but with a lot of other secret stuff added to keep the cyanide from attacking base metals. This really works, too. I did the first batches in an open tray with manual agitation, and it would remove the plating on circuit board fingers in about 10 minutes. The last batch I tried was in a jar on a motorized roller, with some plastic rods on the inside of the jar to tumble the contents like the drum in a clothes dryer. But, the closed jar may have prevented the process from getting the oxygen it needs to "rust" the gold.

Anyway, with 3 quarts I should have gotten 3/4 of a Troy Oz. or about 23 grams of gold. It looks like I've gotten closer to 10 g than 20. So, I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. Anyway, I still have several pounds of the Techni-Strip Au left, and will continue working with it. I think I need to raise the pH more before doing the precipitation with the Zinc flour,
and then be patient and let the precipitation finish before filtering.

The process as I have worked it out is as follows :

Once the cyanide has as much gold as it will hold, you add a little more cyanide so some is available. Then, you raise the pH to 12, I use lye. Then, you sprinkle in the zinc flour as one ounce zinc for one ounce of gold.
The precipitation is supposed to happen very quickly, but maybe my problem was the pH was not high enough. Then, you filter the stuff, and you are supposed to get a thick brown mud. If you mash the mud with the side of a knife blade, it will compact into metallic gold. You then slowly burn these filters to an ash in a partially closed container. Harold recommends an old stainless electric skillet, but I don't have one, and use a stainless measuring cup and a propane torch, and it probably heats it way too fast and drives off some of the gold as smoke. When the filter is completely ashed, burn it with nitric acid until it stops fizzing. That is the excess zinc being converted to a metallic salt. This is soluble and can be washed away with water. The remains go in a high temperature crucible and are fired. I use an Oxy-Propylene torch (An Oxy-Acetylene torch with Propylene as the fuel gas, generic brand equivalent to MAPP.) As a flux, I mix a pinch of "anti-Borax" brazing flux, which is basically pure borax, with a couple pinches of sodium carbonate, known as washing soda. it takes a couple of minutes to cook the stuff down and get the flux running, and if everything goes well you end up with one big bead of metal at the bottom. I usually get it pretty hot to drive off any remaining base metals. Sometimes the flux and metal don't "gel" and I end up with a lot of tiny gold beads in the flux and have to fool around picking them out with tweezers.



> Yes, you can precipitate gold from your solution with Zinc. I used to precipitate my gold with copper or Sodium Metabisulfide.
> But I always use the Aqua Regia refining method.


The problem with Aqua Regia is it dissolves ANY metal, and the scrap has much more base metal than gold. Then, you have to separate all that base metal. The genius of this techni-Strip Au is that it preferentially attacks the
gold. If you monitor the process and pull the boards as soon as the gold is gone, it really works well and pulls very little base metal off.


> I never heard the activated carbon extraction technique... What is it ?
> {/quote]
> I found this in some gold mining articles. When using the cyanide heap process, weak cyanide is poured over a heap of gold-bearing ore. You end up with a lake of weak cyanide solution with a small trace of gold in it. They then run the cyanide solution over activated carbon, and the carbon sucks up the gold. Then, they use a more concentrated cyanide, like 1.0 % to pull the gold back out of the carbon. This can concentrate the gold 1000 times or something. I figured I could just burn the carbon in a crucible, but the results were less than spectacular.
> 
> 
> 
> If you wanna know if your gold is pure, put it in Concentrated Nitric Acid. If the acid boils and takes color, your gold is not pure. If nothing happens, you have pure gold or nearly pure (+95%).
> 
> 
> 
> I don't have any nitric acid, but muriatic and sulfuric-based drain opener is easily available. The sulfuric is nasty-smelling stuff, and foams like crazy when added to almost anything. When my gold buttons come out dirty-looking, I throw them in a vial of about 50% of that sulfuric drain cleaner and they are bright and look like 24-karat the next morning.
> Good Luck !
Click to expand...


----------



## Noxx

> Well, obviously not for the careless, some steps can't be done without proper ventilation, can't be done in large scale without special permits, etc. etc.



When processing gold batch, everything should be done outside or with very adequade ventilation exept for washing the gold powder if you only use water.



> That is roughly 0.1 % cyanide by weight, but with a lot of other secret stuff added to keep the cyanide from attacking base metals. This really works, too. I did the first batches in an open tray with manual agitation, and it would remove the plating on circuit board fingers in about 10 minutes.



Interesting results with this technique. A lot faster than the Aqua Regia.




> I think I need to raise the pH more before doing the precipitation with the Zinc flour,
> and then be patient and let the precipitation finish before filtering.



Do use a gold solution indicator ? You could easily know if there is any gold left in solution.



> Once the cyanide has as much gold as it will hold, you add a little more cyanide so some is available. Then, you raise the pH to 12, I use lye. Then, you sprinkle in the zinc flour as one ounce zinc for one ounce of gold.
> The precipitation is supposed to happen very quickly, but maybe my problem was the pH was not high enough.



I'm not sure about your technique but in Aqua Regia, you must NOT higher the ph before precipitation. You must neutralise the acid with urea or, when you precipitate, the gold redisolves in the solution ! :shock: 
Lol maybe it's what is happening.
It would be interesting if you could put some pictures of your system and results in the appropriate forum section.



> The problem with Aqua Regia is it dissolves ANY metal, and the scrap has much more base metal than gold.



It's not a problem when you dissolve those metals before with Nitric Acid. The Aqua Regia method is claimed to give nearly pure gold if everything is done well.



> Harold recommends an old stainless electric skillet, but I don't have one, and use a stainless measuring cup and a propane torch, and it probably heats it way too fast and drives off some of the gold as smoke.



Never melt gold in or on any metal surface because it absorbs too much energy (heat) from your torch. Also, you will probably plate the metal you were working on with gold... Not exactly what you want eh ?

Also, heat can NOT «burn» the gold and make it goes in smoke unless your are reaching +2500°C.

Good luck !


----------



## jmelson

Noxx said:


> Harold recommends an old stainless electric skillet, but I don't have one, and use a stainless measuring cup and a propane torch, and it probably heats it way too fast and drives off some of the gold as smoke.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Never melt gold in or on any metal surface because it absorbs too much energy (heat) from your torch. Also, you will probably plate the metal you were working on with gold... Not exactly what you want eh ?
> 
> Also, heat can NOT «burn» the gold and make it goes in smoke unless your are reaching +2500°C.
Click to expand...

Not burn the gold, but if there are a lot of chemicals, or even water, mixed with the gold, when they vaporize, they can carry the colloidal-size gold off with the steam/smoke. You don't melt the gold in the skillet, it couldn't anyway. What it does is dry out the filtered out gold and drive off water and remaining chemicals. Also, it burns the paper filter away, leaving little but the gold as dust. then you transfer to a clay (I think) crucible and fire with Oxy-Acetylene torch. (I use Oxy-Propylene because it is safer and easier to store as a liquid than acetylene. It is essentially the same as MAPP.)

Jon


----------



## Harold_V

> Harold recommends an old stainless electric skillet, but I don't have one, and use a stainless measuring cup and a propane torch, and it probably heats it way too fast and drives off some of the gold as smoke.



I worked in a filtered fume hood, so any losses were eventually recovered. 

Yes, you can drive off gold under the wrong circumstances, but the amount tends to be rather small. I processed thousands of troy ounces per year and recovered about 8 troy ounces on a two year basis when cleaning out the fume hood. That doesn't take into account that I also changed filters frequently, and recycled them through my furnace, along with other waste materials. The percentage of loss is small, but there is a loss. It's for that reason that almost nothing is discarded in the refinery. It is recycled time and again, so values are not tossed out with the bath water, so to speak. 

The skillet I propose is not electric. It is nothing more than a common stainless frying pan. It's heated with a gas fired hot plate and then additionally with a torch until the waste material is free of carbonacious materials. Do understand that my operation was geared to the recovery of values from jeweler's benches, so the processes I used may not make a lot of sense for other operations, although they would work. 


Harold


----------



## Noxx

BUMP ! I added a copyright agreement to protect us.


----------



## istari9

I am new to the forum but wise enough to wait to learn how to clean the pure metal from the junk... I am a 58 year old male from Missouri, who as it happens owned a computer repair business for the last 10 years. I have managed to save some 2 or 3 tons of boards and like materials. I have been engaged in the process of separating the goods from the bad. Selling the steel copper and alum. While saving anything that may contain gold silver and the like. I started using pudding containers, now I fill 5lb coffee containers. I do enjoy the work so... I also having realized the value of the scrap business, and have been getting used waste computers from several large concerns.. I always treated my employees well and this has paid off. So the pile never ends so far... I destroy any and all parts including the not so heavy laden motherboards. I am using my spare time reading your (our) forum gleaning all the treasured bits of information I can. I even print the pages if need be and put them in plastic sleeves for reference material. I hope to some time show off my first bit of pure gold. I have also spent the last several years collecting used and broken jewelry for my women co-workers. Like today buying 25grams for $150.00 and the diamonds are free.. What a deal. She wanted the items her X bought her gone at any price. Her loss my gain.


----------



## aflacglobal

Welcome to the forum.


----------



## Noxx

Yes, welcome ! 8)


----------



## viacin

heh, this must have been the first post ever. it was fun reading the first posts of "the elite". Maybe I'll be there one day too


----------



## Noxx

Ya, perseverance is the key.


----------



## Rag and Bone

-Try to correct spelling mistakes.


----------



## Anonymous

great don'ts and do's. how do i ask a question? and retrieve answers?


----------



## lazersteve

Find the section that best suits your question and click new post. 

Before asking try using the search function to see if your question has already been answered before. If you can't find the answer post your question and we'll all pitch in to get you one.

Welcome!

Steve


----------



## sysopap

how many gold is on 1 lb goldfingers from old computer .


----------



## goldsilverpro

> how many gold is on 1 lb goldfingers from old computer


.

Too vague a question. Too many variables. Read up on how to do it and then experiment by recovering the gold from one pound of old computer fingers. Then, you'll surely know, at least from the particular pound of fingers you happened to select.


----------



## broke100

hello all im new to refining and im trying to get new ways of recycling gold out of memmory and cpu's. Thus I have a 2 bedroom apptmnt and well acids are not an option for me. any ideas and safe ones at that please respond. thanks and its great to be here


----------



## jimdoc

broke100 said:


> hello all im new to refining and im trying to get new ways of recycling gold out of memmory and cpu's. Thus I have a 2 bedroom apptmnt and well acids are not an option for me. any ideas and safe ones at that please respond. thanks and its great to be here




You can read the forum to see your options. Sometimes it is a smart idea to just accumulate the gold fingers and pins to save for when you can set up to process safely somewhere. Or of course just sell the stuff on Ebay, most times you get a better price than using your time and chemicals.

Jim


----------



## jrmycooke

Good day Members,

I have been sitting back and quietly reading and following several post that have my interest. I thought this would be the best time to introduce myself. My name is Jeremy, and I would like to thank the members and moderators for putting this forum together for the general public. Most people that have achieved a higher level of learning, especially those with a cost attatched to it are not willing to share, so thank you. My current employment is with one the largest precious metal refiners in the world. For the sake of conflict ( and possibly my employment), I think it would be in my best interest not to disclose the name or any of the proccesses, feed stock, waste streams etc, etc..... so without sounding arrogant, I would kindly appreciate no inquiries about such. 

My interest have brought me to recovering precious metals from base metals just to be able to say that I have achieved this knowledge. The chemistry side has my brain in overtime. Rest assured, I will NOT be asking " how much can I get from this". Knowledge should not be given unless an effort is made to acquire it. I may ask what something is, or do you think this would work, and thats probably about it. 

I am currently in the phase of stripping my feed ( I have my equiptment already, safety protocoll in place) and will seperate shortly. I have been recording all of my data with the hopes of keeping an accurate log of materials, chemicals, measurements, reactions and such. I would like to submit pictures of my efforts so that I could get feedback if anyone notices a red flag or a more stream lined way. I am 36, married with two young children and do not want to injure them, myself, or someone else. With that in mind, I wish everybody the best in their endevours and remind everyone to practice safety first and thank you for accepting me into this forum


----------



## samuel-a

Welcome to the forum jrmycooke and good luck.

Seems like another contributing member has joind us...
Best advice: read more and more and more until your eyes bleed... 8)


----------



## jrmycooke

Good day members, and also Sam.

As I had mentioned in my introduction, I have been sorting all of my materials,and having a bit of a background in the industry, hell,let me just get straight to the point.
Are there any pro's or cons to storing noble metals in an powdered state or a physical solid state ( remove copper,nickel, etc from flash or plate on fingers, pins and pouring whatever it happens to be karated bar) and putting it aside, or would it make sense to completly dissolve what you have and drop it later.
Being new to the forumand and after reading, I hope I havent embarassed myself after asking this.


----------



## Geo

theres no such thing as a stupid question.in my opinion you should sort and store material as is (less likely to have a spill).remember, accidents happen when you least expect it. i cant remember the thread(can someone link it if you remember it) but a fellow member had some AuCl stored in a glass container inside a plastic tub with some expensive equipment and the glass broke ruining the equipment and losing alot of his gold.


----------



## eeTHr

Jeremy---

Welcome to the forum.

If you melt the unrefined gold, and pour bars, you will need to remelt and shot it later, prior to refining.

I would say to just recover the plated gold as foils and powder, do the recommended washes, and store that dry until you're ready to dissolve and refine it.


----------



## jrmycooke

My theroy was to break down fingers and pins,anything plated, and pour a karated bar and put it asidefor further processing.


----------



## jrmycooke

........


----------



## Palladium

You want to start with your materials always in the finest state you can get them. It makes your chemical reactions so much easier. If you pour it into a big bulky bar of who knows what then you have already created more work for yourself. I would just store them segregated in a raw state until you can run them.


----------



## jrmycooke

last reply. thank you. 
lap top is on its last leg , thank you for your advice, solids seemded better in the begining but your right, if youve already made a fine,,,,,,,its a fine,,,,,,,, thank you all


----------



## jrmycooke

Good day members. When someone talks about " trace amounts " being present, are theses being described as Ppm, or 1g per ounce?


----------



## philddreamer

A "trace amount" means a VERY small amount.
In analytical terms, a trace amount is, an amount that is detectable, but, not able to be quantified.

To me, 1 gram is much more than a trace amount since you can recover it.

Phil


----------



## jrmycooke

Good day everyone, well...... I did it! I followed everyone's instructions and have successfully separated gold from base metals and am now left with solids having an A/R party. If I can offer one piece of advice for anyone new to this forum it would be to DO NOT RUSH THINGS!!!

Every step is necessary and adds its own function, bypassing steps will not allow you to reach the next step and get desired results. The advice and instructions here on this forum are given because they WORK and have tried and true results. While I have only had correspondence with a few of you, I would like to extend a personal handshake to all who have contributed to this forum, thank-you.

Now for the part that we all know is coming.........
I to have the shor kit...... sitting on a shelf...... unopened. Just so that there is not any confusion with novice refiners ( myself included) and this is just my opinion, if you follow the instructions with the kit to process E Scrap IT WILL NOT WORK WITH THE DESIRED RESULTS YOU HAVE IN MIND. 
The instructions tell you to place your computer boards in the solution and bla bla bla.WITHOUT stripping base metals first. At not point in the instructions does it tell you how to deal with solder, lead, tin, silver, copper, etc. It probably would work with Foils or shot possibly. That's all i have to say about that. I was amused how after all of the questions asked about it here that people still went and bought it. Wish I saw this forum first. 

I have a few questions of my own. I started out by only recovering Foils that had copper as a base with ferric chloride and refining with real A/R. We know the cost involved with those chemicals so I have been searching HCL/peroxide and HCL/chlorine. Perhaps I have mis interpreted what I have read but Im confused with what I came back with. HCL/ peroxide or a/p is used to dissolved base metals but I see post about values being dissolved into solution. A/p is poormans a/r correct? I would like to pursue these avenues instead of the traditional a/r method. Hope someone took the time to read this one.


----------



## jimdoc

Did you see if you can return your unopened Shor equipment? Or is it yours for good once they get your money?

Jim


----------



## jrmycooke

I'm attaching a 55$ learning fee to this one. Basically I just over paid for Stannous by not making it myself.


----------



## jrmycooke

Nice to know there's someone close by if I ever find myself in predicament.. I'm about twenty min over the Walt Whitman.


----------



## philddreamer

Hi Jeremy!
If you're refering to the Walt Whitman House 3315 Hoyt Ave, Everett, WA 98201, that must be me. I'm in Lynnwood. I'd be glad to help.

AP is HCL/peroxide, & its used to dissolve base metals. If you add too much peroxide you'll dissolve some gold, but as the solution saturates with copper the gold will precipitate. 
AR is HCl/nitric; Poorman's AR is HCl/sodium nitrate or Potassium nitrate instead of nitric, since nitric is more expensive.

Ap is the process most recommended for learning, & running your fingers & pins. If you added too much peroxide & some gold dissolved, it "dropped" (as mentioned above) & could be some of the sediment @ the bottom of your vessel. You let the solution settle for a couple of days; decant & process the sediment with HCl/Cl. 

Take care & be safe!

Phil


----------



## jimdoc

Phil,
He was referring to the Walt Whitman bridge as he is in NJ and I was in Philadelphia before I moved a bit north.
You can explain everything better than I can, as you are refining more regularly than me.
And I am sure all the others on the forum will chip in and help when he needs it also, we are a big family. With this great forum he can get help here from all over the planet.

Jim


----------



## philddreamer

Okay; we have a Whitman House out here too!  

But for sure, we're all here to help!

Thanks Jim!

Phil


----------



## jrmycooke

Thanks all. Pictures to come soon.


----------



## butcher

Harold said it so well.
so I have copied it here to quote him.
Welcome to the forum

One of the ongoing problems we experience on this forum is new reader assuming they understand what to do, and how to do it, so they forge ahead without paying attention to admonitions to study. After all, they already know everything we're trying to tell them, so what's the need? 

Problem is, the majority of these folks have seen a "Reader's Digest" version of processing, where fine details have been conveniently omitted, in some cases on purpose, so they really haven't learned anything, and will struggle endlessly pursing what amounts to misinformation. 

A couple things should be kept in mind when posting on the board, seeking input. 

We are men of science---we are not alchemists. What we do is known and proven to work---and often requires sequential operations, each carried out to completion before attempting the following operation. If the reader doesn't understand the reasons these things work as they do, they won't have the capability to address issues when an operation goes afoul, and they often do. 

We do NOT cater to those with an entitlement attitude. We ARE NOT HERE to act as servants. We owe readers nothing. Nada. We are under NO obligation to answer questions---or to hand carry individuals through the learning process. Those of us who have experience in refining have paid dues in learning the things we know, and we share them with those who are grateful for the guidance, and willing to do their part in learning the basics. Those who are unwilling to study might just as well leave the board immediately, as they will quickly be banned when their attitude rears its head. 

If readers hope to get off on the right foot on this board, they can begin by reading Hoke's book. Doesn't matter what their objective is, and that includes processing escrap, which is NOT addressed by Hoke. However, she teaches the fundamentals of refining, regardless of the source of feedstock. If you understand the basics, it's dead easy to apply that knowledge to anything you encounter. 

Read Hoke. 

Read Hoke again.
Read Hoke until you UNDERSTAND what she teaches. Only then will you be comfortable in refining. 

Also----show due respect to those who willingly share their knowledge. The "secrets" of refining have been virtually impossible to uncover. Few, here, understand what a gift they have been provided in the forum.

Harold

Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.


----------



## goldmike

Hello I'm mike an I see a lot of good info here . I have searched high an low an then found this place an it looks as if it's all in one spot . I will contribute what knowledge I have an thank all of you for this nice forum full of info .. Mike


----------



## bogg

Howdy Folks new member here, what an awesome forum My head is spinning from all the reading about things I know nothing about even after reading the Hoke’s book. I’m an old school leathers men doing all my leather work from scratch and patients is something I have plenty of. I recently lost my uncle Joe and in cleaning out his storage shed I came across some interesting items…..I now have one 55 gallon drum filled to the very top with….NOS U.S Military Gold Plated Communication pins (1977) and another one half full all clean stripped pins. There are 3 -55 gallon drums with the hole connector hub still with 8 pin in each of them. I spent weeks reading about refining and set up a nice very safe place to work out in the back side of one of our barn with a big high volume fan. Anyhoot I did a ton of reading got all the chemicals , glassware and got started……wellllll I got brownish black goooo…. I weight out 5 oz at a time to get started to try to learn first but……..I think I’ll just keep on ready up on it for a bit and see what I can learn any advice will be appreciated :shock:


----------



## peterklepec

Hello .


I have a request for moderator or administrator and I didnt know where to ask so I did in this thread.

Im a newbie here and I wanna send PM to lazersteve, but the message its going into outbox, so its not sended, could you please help me to solve this issue ?

Also I cant found out what it means PM scrap ? Whats that PM mean ?

Thanks a lot.


----------



## jimdoc

peterklepec said:


> Hello .
> 
> 
> I have a request for moderator or administrator and I didnt know where to ask so I did in this thread.
> 
> Im a newbie here and I wanna send PM to lazersteve, but the message its going into outbox, so its not sended, could you please help me to solve this issue ?
> 
> Also I cant found out what it means PM scrap ? Whats that PM mean ?
> 
> Thanks a lot.



A PM (Private message) will not show in the "sent messages" until the recipient reads it.
If it is in your "out box", it has been sent.

"PM scrap" would be precious metal scrap.

Jim


----------



## peterklepec

jimdoc said:


> A PM (Private message) will not show in the "sent messages" until the recipient reads it.
> If it is in your "out box", it has been sent.
> 
> "PM scrap" would be precious metal scrap.
> 
> Jim



Thanks for help !

peterklepec


----------



## lazersteve

Peter,

I'm easier to get a hold of using my email address: [email protected]

My PM box is very full and it requires me to clean it everyday before I can read any new messages.

Steve


----------



## covoner

GREAT FORUM. Thanks for it !!!


----------



## RustyTang

Hello All,
I would like to thank all the contributors for this fine repository of knowledge. Not only is there a wealth of wisdom and experience available here, to those willing to put forth effort, but there are also a great many patient and devoted individuals constantly willing and eager to assist those less so.

Anything worth while in life takes effort, if you take the advice of those who went before you and spent the time to read all the main portions of this site.I guarantee you can gain the basic knowledge to keep yourself safe, while not losing any of your valuables from a uninformed mistake.

I went from one who learned just enough to be dangerous and in haste, put ceramic CPU's with magnetic lids, Au plated pins with kovar, copper and brass base metal all in one beaker. Then "processing" it all directly with Aqua Regia, expecting some sort of easy return(  wrong). To someone who now laughs at my previous lack of knowledge :wink: . Thank you again Nox, Harold V, GSP, Lou, 4metals, FrugalRefiner, g_axelsson, Jo418, Oz, Laser Steve, Catfish, etack, glorycloud, kurtack and so many others for your patience and time  . 
Sean G


----------



## Oxo beppo

Well ima New member and ,heh heh,kinda a techno idiot with a foul mouth,i'll try and be careful, and my computer is my stupid smart phone ,i have a question relating to extracting gold from borax ,how or where in here can I post this question ,thanks very much as i have a real issue here ,, ok


----------



## nickvc

Welcome to the forum.
Please try very hard to avoid bad language, write as if your young daughter, mother or grandmother were going to read it. It also helps to spell correctly as we have many members whose first language is not English.
We try to help everyone from wherever they come from and whatever language they speak.


----------



## Pinkeyepete

I just want to say thank you for allowing me to join the forum. I've been a mad scientist for years being fascinated with leaching gold. There's always more to learn, and now my adult children have an interest in leaching gold ore with chlorine. So I better read a lot of posts to master the process from both the acid side, and the base side. I have a great deal of book knowledge, but not much practical knowledge dealing with all the different types of earth materials containing gold.


----------



## FrugalRefiner

Welcome to the forum. Leaching ores with chlorine is a tough way to go. I think you'll find some very interesting reading here. Pay particular attention to posts by a member named Deano. He has been dealing with ores on a large scale for decades, and has shared a lot of knowledge here.

I always like to suggest the Tips for Navigating and Posting on the Forum thread to new members to help them get off to a good start.

Dave


----------



## Probefan

Hi everyone got a quick question anyone from Reno Nevada area love to see an actual refining would be fun to see so I can assiciate what I’ve read and what I see together I guess I like hands on per say with reading but with this easier to understand when I see it in action.


----------



## nickvc

We have members from all over the world so chances are there will be someone not too far away.
In answer to just watching it will not help as you need to understand what’s happening and why and be able to make decisions on what’s occurring or even not occurring so I’m afraid it’s read and learn first, boring at first but well worth the effort in the long term, it might also help to tell us what exactly you want to refine.


----------



## 4metals

Probefan,

While this forum is a wonderful asset to provide you with information, the thing you do not realize is that refiners (other than small scale hobby refiners who have come to know you from your presence here on the forum), but any real refinery has security concerns and the likelihood of anyone opening their doors and giving you the "tour" is pretty rare. 

If you get involved with the forum, answer posts and contribute, you may earn the friendship of some hobbyist or small scale backyard refiners and get a tour. But your request on your first post really doesn't hold a lot of promise. 

Sorry to be the one to break this news to you but in today's world, security is a big concern. Nothing personal, just a reality check.


----------



## Palladium

4metals said:


> the thing you do not realize is that refiners (other than small scale hobby refiners who have come to know you from your presence here on the forum), but any real refinery has security concerns and the likelihood of anyone opening their doors and giving you the "tour" is pretty rare.



You would not believe how many people i have offended with just what you said!

I had one client awhile back who wanted to take a tour before he quote " Trusted me with $5,000 worth of product!" :lol: :lol: :lol: 

I explained the finer points of how it jeopardizes security and explained to him, how would you feel sending me your product and knowing that people other than employees of the refinery have access to your materials or know the location of where they are at any given time? You're worried about the security of you're materials, but yet here you are asking me to jeopardize security protocol. :idea: 

He turned out to be a good client! :mrgreen:


----------



## prophetoftears

Just wanted to say hello, as I just joined. 
I have a little bit of a black smithing background and had thought about getting into silver and gold. Then never got around to it. 
I'm making a major move and found a lot of old PC parts in storage that I haven't touched in years. (RAM, Couple super old GPUs, PCI boards, etc...) I had seen some Youtube videos showing that some cool stuff can be recovered from the boards and was thinking of making a small set up when I get settled in.
I've trimming all the connectors off the boards and Ram.
I'll be doing a lot of research before starting on the chemicals of course, but anything else I should be looking for in the components? I've got enough stuff to build at least a few archaic systems if I wanted to.


----------



## francisco rodriguez

Buenas noches: Desde Sevilla (España), solo desearos a todos una Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año nuevo.
Sigo aprendiendo.


----------



## butcher

Welcome francisco rodriguez,

I translated your post, I am still learning also Merry Christmas.

Good evening: From Seville (Spain), just wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I'm still learning.


----------

