# question with ar process



## addicted (Feb 4, 2015)

I was doing some more reading and found this tutorial on retreiving gold from pins. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if i could just use a nitrate salt inplace of the conc nitric listed here http://www.goldnscrap.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:high-karat-gold-21k-23k-refining-and-melting&catid=25:gold&Itemid=20 . This i think would be my prefered method for processing IDE pins and pins from telephone connections. Nitric is kind of dificult and expensive to obtain where im at So if i can use a nitrate salt here that would be great.


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## Geo (Feb 4, 2015)

The most commonly used substitute for nitric acid in aqua regia is sodium nitrate although any solid nitrate can be substituted.


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## Lou (Feb 4, 2015)

Geo said:


> The most commonly used substitute for nitric acid in aqua regia is sodium nitrate although any solid nitrate can be substituted.




I'd avoid using lead or silver nitrate ;-)


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## Pantherlikher (Feb 4, 2015)

Hi addicted...

Do a searh here on the forum on pins, gold pins...and read and learn how and why it's done 1 way instead of just ding what you've seen on "youtubewillhurtyou"

Stop doing anything please and read the forum.
No other advice should be given except how to store the solution and solids you have.

B.S.


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## addicted (Feb 4, 2015)

Thank you all for your responses. I will continue with " poor mans ar. Im using potassium nitrite i have purified from stump remover as my nitrate. I will continue to read up and get firmiliar with the process before i proceed with the actual extraction process. I of course take you tube videos with a grain of salt and refer to hokes now


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## g_axelsson (Feb 4, 2015)

Nitrite is not the same thing as nitrate!

Göran


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## Geo (Feb 4, 2015)

Thank you Lou for the correction. Calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate should all work okay. Also, I would refrain from using ammonium nitrate as well.


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## addicted (Feb 4, 2015)

Sorry spelling error i ment nitrate


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## MarcoP (Feb 5, 2015)

Geo said:


> Also, I would refrain from using ammonium nitrate as well.


Unless you want to drop PD , still reading about it but its a great way to create pure nitric while precipitating palladium but I still need to learn what to do with the ammonium nitrate (danger) re-created as byproduct. Letting it dry back to salt could explode I think.


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## addicted (Feb 5, 2015)

So ive got 2 experiments going for plated pins right now....one is the process in the link posted above and im also trying the AP process with 1TOZ pins 1 oz distilled water 1 oz 32%HCL and 1 oz H2O2.....thoughts? The ap i know will be slower but if its just as effective then ide rather go this route...used ALOT of my potassium nitrate in the AR process 200g of pins to 1000 ml of hcl with additions of KNO3 till about 90% of pins were dissolved into solution. Ive added some ice to drop the lead and AGCL and im waiting the aloted 12 hours before continuing.....can someone tell me if im on the right track?


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## patnor1011 (Feb 7, 2015)

AR or poormans AR is poor choice of process for plated pins.


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## jeneje (Feb 7, 2015)

It sounds like he is determined to proceed with this, although he has been advised to read the threads here on the forum about processing pins. So, if it were me, i would research "Gold cell" "AP" "HCl/Cl" there are a lot of information on these processes.

Good luck and be safe,
Ken


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## JDT (Jan 24, 2016)

I have never run pins in straight AR, I always leach them and the follow that with the AP method. After I recover my gold foils from the AP, I then use poormans AR with sodium nitrate. I've been recovering about 2grams per pound of pins on average. I'm desperately seeking a less time consuming method. A cell may be in the near future for all my pins, but I need to read up more before I decide to do this. I have been tempted to process them in Aqua Regia with no leach, but I know I'd regret it... So my advice is do it the right way and avoid the temptations that will cause problems down the road. 

"A smart man learns from his mistakes. A smarter man learns from the mistakes others have made".


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## nickvc (Jan 25, 2016)

The OP has not been back on the forum since a day after his last post! 
Reading that last post I guess he gave up as he only dissolved 90% of the material the gold will not have been in solution but cemented back onto the remaining base metals.

For those who wish to learn the secrets of recovery and refining please take the time to read the advised, tried and trusted methods posted here on the forum if you wish to be successful!


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