# Will water Neutralize HCL/CL for SMB



## unitedgl (May 24, 2012)

Iam new and I have not seen this question asked before so hopefully you guys can help. Iam dealing with dirty finger foils i got from AP.


Also any suggestions on how to get the gold that was dissolved in the AP solution. Should i neutralize the solution with water and precipitate with SMB?

Thanks


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## maynman1751 (May 24, 2012)

What makes you think that there's any gold dissolved in your AP? If indeed there is it will be recovered when you use the AP again. As soon as you add your next batch of foils the gold will cement out on the base metal. It will report as sediment. No need to precipitate. . As far as you dirty foils, simply boil them in HCl. That should remove any remaining contaminants (base metals).


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## martyn111 (May 24, 2012)

The dirty 'finger foils' can be cleaned up using hot Hydrochloric acid washes and rinse with hot water until the rinse waters have no colour in them. Dissolve and refine your gold either with HCl / bleach or AR.
The dissolved gold in your AP (if there is any, have you tested for it ?) will self precipitate with further use, adding more fingers will introduce more copper into the solution, pushing any remaining gold out of solution, you will find it as a black powder in the bottom of your AP vessel. 
I hope this has been useful for you

Edit
maynman1751, you answered while I was typing my answer to this question, obviously you don't one finger type like me.


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## maynman1751 (May 24, 2012)

martyn111 said:


> The dirty 'finger foils' can be cleaned up using hot Hydrochloric acid washes and rinse with hot water until the rinse waters have no colour in them. Dissolve and refine your gold either with HCl / bleach or AR.
> The dissolved gold in your AP (if there is any, have you tested for it ?) will self precipitate with further use, adding more fingers will introduce more copper into the solution, pushing any remaining gold out of solution, you will find it as a black powder in the bottom of your AP vessel.
> I hope this has been useful for you
> 
> ...


That's OK! At least our answers agree! :mrgreen:
And yes, I do one finger type. I've just gotten pretty good at it! :lol:


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## unitedgl (May 24, 2012)

Thanks so much guys re: What to do with any gold left in the AP, and the dirty foils.

I plan to refine with HCL/CL, just wondering if I add SMB to the straight HCL/CL solution or do I need to first neutralize the solution, and if so can I neutralize it with water?

Thanks


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## martyn111 (May 24, 2012)

Removal of chlorine rather than neutralization is the key to precipitating from HCl / Cl.
You can allow the chlorine to dissipate over a period of time, overnight will be long enough as long as you haven't used a massively excess amount of bleach, or, if you have used a large excess or you are limited on time you can drive the excess chlorine out of solution by heating, the hotter the solution the less chlorine it will hold on to, but do not allow it to boil, you will loose values with splashes of liquid as the bubbles burst in a boiling solution.
Once the excess chlorine is removed you can precipitate your gold.


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## acpeacemaker (May 24, 2012)

Just on a side note, water does not neutralize acid...but it does dilute it. You need an alkaline material to increase the ph of the acid.


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## unitedgl (May 25, 2012)

Thanks maynman1751, this forum is the best.


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## maynman1751 (May 25, 2012)

unitedgl said:


> Thanks maynman1751, this forum is the best.



Don't forget the other guys! They helped just as much. We are all here to help each other. That's what makes this forum *THE PLACE to BE *on the internet! 8)


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## cerise (May 25, 2012)

a little urea never hurt


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## patnor1011 (May 25, 2012)

cerise said:


> a little urea never hurt



Why do you think so?

A little heat and some time will be much better than introducing another chemical to dissolved gold. We talk about chlorine, not about nitric.


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## unitedgl (May 25, 2012)

maynman1751 you are correct my thanks is to all that help on this site.


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## CASACEO (May 26, 2012)

unitedgl said:


> Thanks so much guys re: What to do with any gold left in the AP, and the dirty foils.
> 
> I plan to refine with HCL/CL, just wondering if I add SMB to the straight HCL/CL solution or do I need to first neutralize the solution, and if so can I neutralize it with water?
> 
> Thanks



I'm not suppose to be giving members my inexperienced advice, however...
You should read through the Reaction list on steve's guided tour... http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=6873#6873

It will answer your questions about HCL/CL and It will also tell you what to do with your AP so you don't waste chemicals.


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## Geo (May 26, 2012)

CASACEO, please dont take it personally. i and most anyone else that is eager to help makes mistakes. i still get called out for giving misinformation, its just part of learning. honestly, who would come here to learn if they already knew all there was to know about it.no one enjoys being scolded (lord knows ive been spanked on the forum a lot). one of the things to remember about giving advise here, what works for you may not work for everyone so if its your opinion something works or not then simply state that its your opinion. if its a quote, give the source, you can be sure that if its sound advise, yours will be the last word on the subject but if not, try not to be offended if your corrected, its just an opportunity to check yourself and see if you were right or if you were just taught something new.


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