# What color should the gold mud be?



## Anonymous (Jan 23, 2008)

I started with 100 mixed CPUs. Divided them into 3 groups and hit them with a hammer to get the plate off & to open the CPUs. Soaked them in nitric acid using distilled water for about one day. Next, I heated the acid in a slow cooker with the CPUs for about a day. All the pins fell off and all appearance of gold was gone. Next, I filtered the CPUs and put the loose pins and the mud on the bottom in a mix of AR. Again, soaked for about a day and then heated the AR in the same slow cooker for about a day. Put in the urea till the fizzing stopped. Added the smb mixed with distilled water into the solution witch turned brown. But my problem is I don't see the mud dropping. One bucket appears to have very little mud. What did I do wrong or miss? Can anyone help please? Thank you! 

( Before I Found This Sight )

I was told to dilute the AR with water so the gold can precipitate & was told that the AR was putting the gold back into the solution. Also, to add more urea and SMB. I did both and I do have mud on the bottom. My question is this. I have a very, very light brown color mud, is this the proper color for the gold? I read that the mud should have a chocolate color. Thank you! Would like to thank "aflac" for posting this site info on another forum! The best there is!!!


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## Noxx (Jan 23, 2008)

The lighter your mud is, the purer your gold is.


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## Anonymous (Jan 23, 2008)

Thank you so much Noxx for putting this forum together!! Although I just joined, this is the most informative forum I have been on. Thanks again for your input!

Jerry


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## Noxx (Jan 23, 2008)

Your welcome. 8)


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## aflacglobal (Jan 23, 2008)

Yeah i just read your post off the yahoo groups. Yes, the light brown mud is your gold. It needs to be washed to remove any trace metals that may be in it. 

Welcome to the forum.


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## aflacglobal (Jan 23, 2008)

It has everything to do with how you’re refining.
There are NO shortcuts. If you want pure gold, you MUST follow accepted practice.
Remember, those that went before us have gone through this time and again----and have
perfected a process that will yield good quality------so if you’re interested in achieving that
level, follow instructions that are at your disposal. Don’t experiment-----leave that for others
with time on their hands that are content to re-invent the wheel. This is particularly important
for you, considering you’re trying to establish a refining service.
Depending on what you’re starting with, you may have a hard time achieving a good level of
purity the first time through. That’s to be expected. Part of the problem is mechanical dragdown,
where you’re working with very heavily contaminated solutions, part of which follow the
gold. They’re not always easy to wash out, even when boiling with HCL.

My advice to you is this:
Process your gold the first time, using conventional means. Allow as little in the way of
contaminations (metals) as is humanely possible, to be included with the gold. Use only clean
vessels. Wash them well between operations-----and use BonAmi cleanser if necessary to
remove stubborn stains. Do not use other cleansers, for they scratch the glass. Filter before
precipitating, and insure that the filter does not allow particulate matter to pass. If it does, refilter,
or go to a better filter grade. A Whatman #2 does an outstanding job for first refined
metals, although they are not cheap. I used them exclusively for filtering first run gold
chloride. I felt they were worth the extra money. At all times, keep your beaker covered with a
watch glass of appropriate size, to prevent contamination from other sources.
Precipitate your gold using conventional methods, collect it and wash it well. It’s best to use a
precipitant that does not add contamination. I preferred SO2, but there are others that work
equally as well, I’m sure.
First wash should be in boiling HCL and tap water. Boil for a prolonged period of time. Take up
the solution with tap water, decant after the gold has settled, then rinse with tap water, which
should again be brought to a boil. After it has boiled for a period of time, add more tap water
to cool the lot, then decant as before. Rinse again, and do it until the wash water comes off
clear. Next, wash the gold with ammonium hydroxide and tap water. Heat it until it boils.
You’ll notice that the solution gets discolored. How much is determined by how dirty your gold
was when you started. The ammonia evaporates fairly quickly, so you can’t boil very long. Add
tap water to cool, decant, and follow up with a tap water rinse, again, boiling the water. Add
tap water to cool, then decant. You now repeat the HCL and tap water wash. You’ll be amazed
that suddenly more contaminants will come off. Boil well, add water to cool, decant, repeat
the water rinse, decant, then, and this is important-------start the refining process all over
again by dissolving the well washed gold powder in aqua regia. I’ll talk about that in a minute,
but these are indicators you should have observed along the way, aside from the fact that you
could see contaminants being washed from your gold powder.
The gold powder, which started out quite dark, is now much lighter in color.
It may have been rather loose and flocculent, but now is eager to agglomerate, so it forms
lumps and settles quickly.
While these instructions sound like a lot of wasted time, when you process what you think is
pure gold, you’ll see evidence in the remaining solutions that it was not. The evidence of which
I speak will be in your solution when you’ve extracted the gold for a second time. It’s a lot of
work which is why I re-refined my gold in large lots, often as much as 200 ounces at each
refining, so the time spent yielded a large return.
When you precipitate for a second time, one of the things that you can do to help eliminate
unwanted elements is to use a different precipitant than the first time. I never bothered with
that, but it’s good advice if you’re fighting with a given contaminant and can’t get rid of it by
other means. That was never a problem for me.
Wash the gold powder the second refining by the same methods and sequences as the first
refining. Make sure all your equipment is scrupulously clean. Force dry the gold when it’s
washed by heating the beaker at a very low heat for a long period of time. Avoid allowing the
beaker to achieve boiling temperature---you get minor steam explosions that blow gold out of
the container. As the gold dries, it’s a good idea to swish it around the beaker occasionally,
which prevents the gold from bonding to the beaker. The residual matter in water tends to
form around the gold and bond it to the beaker. While it’s a contaminant of sorts, it does NOT
alloy with your gold, so it is not a source of lowering the fineness unless you have strange
elements in your water. For me, it was not a problem. 

Once dry, you can then melt your gold. A clean, never used for anything but pure gold,
dish can be used. It should be covered with a coating of borax, but nothing else. DO NOT USE
ANY SODA ASH. If there are any oxides present, they’ll be reduced and absorbed by the
molten gold instead of locked in the flux.
Your torch should be cleaned of loose crud before melting your gold. Run fine abrasive cloth
over it until it’s very clean, then wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove any traces of dust.
Think clean every inch of the operation-----otherwise you undo all the hard work you’ve done
getting your gold pure.
Your other option is to operate a small gold cell, but you must have several ounces of pure
gold for the electrolyte.. That is likely not a viable choice for you at this point in time.

Harold


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## aflacglobal (Jan 23, 2008)

:arrow: http://tinyurl.com/2ws975


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## Anonymous (Jan 23, 2008)

Thank you aflacglobal for your advice. I will be sure to follow your methods. Thanks again for posting on the other forum! Great site!!

Jerry


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## aflacglobal (Jan 24, 2008)

rome said:


> Thank you aflacglobal for your advice. I will be sure to follow your methods. Jerry



Not my methods>>>> Harolds.

I'm just a follower. 8)


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