# What have I done?



## scavenger (Jul 5, 2007)

This is 5.5 grams of HCL/CL refined gold refined again in AR just to make sure. This happened after 1 hour. I haven't added urea or SMB. Its a pretty color but is it good or bad?


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## lazersteve (Jul 5, 2007)

Scavenger,

I have a few background questions:


 Did you use HCl + HNO3 for your AR or the 'poor man's recipie' ?

 Did you clean the gold powder with acid wash and water before going to the AR ?

 Did you melt the powder into a button before going to the AR ?

 Did the salt form as soon as the gold was added ?

 The salt appears yellow or white, which is correct ?

 Have you tried diluting the solution with water to see if the salt dissolves ?

 What was the original source material for the gold ?

Steve


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## scavenger (Jul 5, 2007)

Hi Steve, I used 70% nitric/38% HCL 1/3 mix. The gold had been melted into a button and then rolled into a 12inch strip and then folded to fit in the tube. It was definately very pure. The mix started slow as it was cold outside. I moved it to my fume hood indoors and warmed it with my wifes hairdryer. I checked after about 40 mins and this is the result. It still looks the same 12 hours later. The salt is yellow. The source was puter scrap. I'll try diluting it and go from there. Cheers


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## Harold_V (Jul 5, 2007)

Try heating the solution to see if the precipitate dissolves. It may be lead nitrate. If it's silver chloride, you should see some discoloration when it sits in sunlight. Doesn't take long, and turns a purple color, then darkening towards black the longer it's exposed. The yellow coloration is likely a result of the gold chloride and would probably rinse out. If it's silver chloride, it will dissolve in ammonium hydroxide. That might help you determine what it is. It stands to reason that you don't want to put any ammonium hydroxide in your solution----pull a small sample of the white precipitate a test tube to perform the test. 

Lead nitrate will self precipitate from cold solutions. Considering your source was electronic scrap, could be that's what it is. You can add a drop or more of sulfuric acid to precipitate lead in an insoluble form. 

When you rolled the gold, did it have any tendency to crack? I'm having a bit of a struggle understanding how lead might be involved and not rear it's ugly head in the way of lack of ductility. Gold and lead are not good partners. 

The gold chloride is pretty! No signs of base metals in solution. 

Harold


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## scavenger (Jul 5, 2007)

Thanks Harold, A jeweler friend rolled it for me. He was surprised at how thin he got it without cracking as he is used to working with 18 carat. I have since added water and the color has changed to golden brown but the precipitate is still there. I found something similar on this site.http://alchemyisreal.com/Miscellaneous.aspx


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## scavenger (Jul 5, 2007)

I'm sure its silver. There may have been a stray BB in my crucible when I melted this lot. I precipitated the solution and am happy with the results. Thanks for the help.


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## Harold_V (Jul 6, 2007)

I've commented on this before, but a reminder does no harm. 

Make it a policy to melt your fine gold in a dish that is used for no other purpose. When you use one in that capacity, it lasts a long time, and can be demoted to general use when it's well contaminated. It's a shame to go to the trouble to re-refine your work, only to contaminate it with a dirty dish. It's plain damned amazing how the smallest amount of crud can end up in your gold, undoing all your hard work. 

Harold


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