# Fingers with HCl-Cl: Prelude to a New Finger Method



## lazersteve (Jun 18, 2007)

Last night I did some experimenting with HCl-Cl and some finger boards. I tested four identical finger boards using the various techniques discussed on the forum as well as some that are not. I found out something very interesting:

HCl-Cl strips fingers AND dissolves the gold in just a few hours all in one easy step! I need to precipitate my product to complete the process, but everything looks good at this point!

Armed with this new knowledge I'll be creating a new method for fingers using these chemicals. I plan on making a video tutorial of the process for everyone to see. 

Stay tuned sports fans....


Steve


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## Noxx (Jun 18, 2007)

Seems interesting... You mean your solution only dissolve gold and leave the base metals ?


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## lazersteve (Jun 18, 2007)

Noxx,

The test I ran dissolved about 45% of the gold from the fingers in less than 5 minutes. I poured off this first golden yellow wash and added another, let it sit for a few hours and the remaining gold and copper where gone! The solution is a clear yellow-green color. 

I need to develop this method a little more before it is 'fit for public consumption'. I'm concerned about the chlorine gas it produces. Diluting helps keep the off gases down, but slows the process. I'm leaning towards a tumbler drum that etches the finger/pins/cpus in a few hours or less. Fume control will be the big hurdle with this one.

au revoir,

Steve


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## Noxx (Jun 18, 2007)

That's nice ! 
I don't remember what you were using to for the CL in the HCL-CL solution. Was it bleach ?

Do Cl gases are soluble ? If it's the case, the gases could be run into a water container where they could dissolve. 

I will gladly help you in your project if you want to.


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## Harold_V (Jun 18, 2007)

The ultimate goal of refining is to achieve a yield of 9995 (or better). Considering you are dissolving all the metals, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pursue that method to its fullest-----in spite of the fact that it will yield somewhat lower quality gold than if the base metals were extracted first. Big deal! You simply refine the gold a second time, in volume, and raise the quality to a higher level. That was, more or less, how I operated, anyway-----and it's just not that much more work. 

Very nice, Steve. Your hard work and experimenting is really paying dividends. 

Harold


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## lazersteve (Jun 18, 2007)

Noxx, 

The chlorine comes from the reaction of the HCl and the bleach.

Here's the Cl solubility graph for 100 mL H2O

[img::]http://www.goldrecovery.us/images/clsol.jpg[/img]


As compared to salts, chlorine isn't really that soluble especially in hot water.


Harold,

Thank you for the words of encouragement. As you well know I value your experienced opinion greatly. 


Thank you,

Steve


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## Noxx (Jun 19, 2007)

Hey Steve !
Here is what I came up with:

Solution #1:
Make react your Cl2 with Hydrogen. It will produce HCl.
The thing is, it will explode if exposed to sunlight 
Not recommended !!

Solution #2:
Dissolve it in water.
Chlorine is soluble in water (which solution is called Chlorine Water) and this loses its yellow colour on standing in sunlight, due to the formation of a mixture of Hypochlorous Acid and Hydrochloric Acid.

Cl2 + H2O ==> HOCl + HCl 

May work ok but wastes are toxic.

Solution #3:
Make table salt !
Chlorine reacts with a cold solution of Sodium Hydroxide to give a mixture of Sodium Chloride, NaCl, and Sodium Hypochlorite, NaOCl.

Cl2 + 2 NaOH ==> NaCl + NaClO + H2O

Chlorine reacts with a hot solution of Sodium Hydroxide to give a mixture of Sodium Chloride and Sodium Chlorate.

3 Cl2 + 6 NaOH ==> 5 NaCl + NaClO3 + 3 H2O 

I think the last method is the best. And I'm pretty sure this could be easily done. If you use a cold solution of Sodium Hydroxide, you will produce table salt + sodium hypochlorite which you could use again.

I hope it helps.


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## lazersteve (Jun 19, 2007)

Noxx, 

Thanks for the reply. I have previously tested all of the suggestions you have made and several others you haven't. The HCl-Clorox is by far the best route to HCl saturated with chlorine for purposes of dissolving gold. The real issue is one of solubility. I think GSP had made a suggestion a while back about cooling the reaction. This is what I'm leaning towards at this stage of the game. I'll share my ideas when I put together a test apparatus in the very near future. I think everyone will enjoy seeing this one, I know I can't wait to build it myself. :wink: 

As a side note: I mentioned that I had run several separate tests over the weekend with gold fingers hoping to find a faster, safer, route to removing the the gold foils. The HCl-Cl won in the speed category hands down, but not by too much. Two other competitors came in a VERY close second and third in the race to strip a finger board. 

A concentrated solution of homemade ferric chloride in HCl came in second.

Copper Chloride *crystals* dissolved in water with a slight bit of 3% H2O2 to jump start the reaction came in third. 

The second and third place etchants actually performed at nearly the same speed. The big difference was that the CuCl2 crystals didn't require and HCl to get the job done. This eliminated the minor fumes which are a by product of the current AP method.

I'm going to pursue the copper chloride crystals and H2O2 in the near future as a replacement for AP.

That's enough for now I think. :wink: 

Steve


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