# Snow Globe in my Silver Beaker!



## publius (Jun 11, 2012)

I have been working on refining sterling silver (OK, technically, it is recovery...). I have dissolved it in 35% nitric (50/50) and find now that there are a bunch of silver colored bits and crystals that are floating in the blue-green fluid. There is also a brown(ish) mud at the bottom of the beaker.

The feed stock was a mixture of silver chains, broaches (with the stones removed) and spoons.

I am curious as to what the flecks and crystals are. They seem to be less dense that silver and I find that they are tossed up and stick to the watch glass that covers the beaker.

Also, I would like speculation on what the brown(ish) mud could be. I have not tested anything yet because the nitric is still reacting with the feed stock.

Robert Jeffery, CWI


----------



## lazersteve (Jun 11, 2012)

Most likely the silvery foils or balls are Rhodium plating. It's very common to see sterling silver coated with a very thin layer of Rhodium for brightness. It keeps the silver nice and 'white' and prevents the silver from reacting with the compounds in the air and tarnishing.

The brown mud could be an iron compound (most likely) or possibly gold. If the mud appears more orange than dark brown and is very light in the liquid, it's probably iron. If it is heavy and stays on the bottom it may be gold. Another sign of iron in sterling silver when digesting in 35% nitric is a brown 'foam' floating on the surface of the blue green liquid.

Steve


----------



## publius (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks Steve.

No brown foam, but some epoxy (I think) is floating. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll have a grain or two of gold but not holding out much hope.

As for the Rh... Does it act oddly when it is put on a electrolytic refining cell? The reason I went the nitric acid route to recover the silver is because there was an odd crystal growth on the outside of my anode bag that eventually shorted out my cell and killed an amp meter. The silver grew hard and lumpy, "silvery" crystals on your graphite cathode but the anode developed almost white, fine needles.

Robert Jeffery, CWI


----------



## lazersteve (Jun 23, 2012)

Your description of the silver cell running sounds very strange. Do you have any photos of the cell during operation?

What was the composition of your electrolyte?

Steve


----------



## samuel-a (Jun 23, 2012)

publius said:


> As for the Rh... Does it act oddly when it is put on a electrolytic refining cell? The reason I went the nitric acid route to recover the silver is because there was an odd crystal growth on the outside of my anode bag that eventually shorted out my cell and killed an amp meter. The silver grew hard and lumpy, "silvery" crystals on your graphite cathode but the anode developed almost white, fine needles.



When you made your anode, did it developed a thick black oxide layer? Did your anode came into contact with any source of clorides?

The phenomenon which you speak of might be associated with some sort of passivation of the anode.


----------

