# flour in my blue bowl



## goaldspektre (Feb 24, 2010)

I have a question regarding flour gold.I have a couple of placer claims in B.C Canada and the gold I collect is 20 mesh minus.No nuggets because i'm so far down river from the source.Anyway the gold contains a high percentage of silver but i've tried aqua regia on it and I get silver chloride.My question is do I melt the gold and whatever impurities are with it along with added silver to inquart it.Or would a leach process be easier? Btw I refuse to use mercury or cyanide so something else to leach with thanks.


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## Harold_V (Feb 24, 2010)

Unless the silver is exceedingly high, you should be able to process the finely divided gold directly in AR. That would be especially true if the material is thin and flat. I wouldn't inquart unless there was no other way. I would have a totally different outlook were you talking about nuggets. 

While you do create silver chloride, if the particles are small enough, by the time the silver chloride has built a crust that is robust enough to prevent penetration by AR, it should be totally dissolved, leaving behind only insolubles, and silver chloride. I do suggest you do this work with heat, not ambient temperature. Take your solution to a very light boil, and keep it covered with a watch glass. I think you'll find it works just fine. 

If, on the outside chance you do not achieve the success you desire, post again. You should be able to use the created silver chloride along with the remaining bits to inquart. You'll need soda ash and borax, and a cone mold would be very helpful. 

Harold


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## shadybear (Feb 24, 2010)

Wouldn't it be a good idea to use a nitric acid soak 1st to remove as much silver as possible. What about a cook off with heat before nitric soak to remove organics.

At 20 mesh and below it may not have nugget value but would work better with a haroldwash
before AR


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## goaldspektre (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks guys . I used nitric first to no avail but after heating the AR dissolved everything instantly.


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## dick b (Feb 24, 2010)

What was the concentration of the nitric acid you used? Shouldn't it be 35% as per lazersteve's video?
dickb


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