# Second filter of ram foils



## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

I thought it be best to add my pictures to this thread. Being it is the "gallery". Here is the second filtering of ram foils. I used basic SMB to drop gold out of solution. To me, it looks good. Please comment. Yall be safe today.


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## Yggdrasil (Oct 10, 2022)

It does not look correct on my screen. The colors are off by the flash I guess, it looks whiteish.


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

Here is a picture just now, with flash on.


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## Yggdrasil (Oct 10, 2022)

This looks nice, good Cinnamon color


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

Thank You. I have been recovering and refining for about 2 and half years. I'm still learning. Still reading. I will post a picture of the finished result and a weight. Hopefully by this evening.


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## Alondro (Oct 10, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Thank You. I have been recovering and refining for about 2 and half years. I'm still learning. Still reading. I will post a picture of the finished result and a weight. Hopefully by this evening.


I see what look like crystals of something in there. Might have some unused SMB mixed in. Gold dropped with SMB should not be crystalline enough to create bright reflections. It looks like dull, light brown/beige mud or clay when very pure. Darker brown-black means some other metal contaminants, platinum-group or tungsten.


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

Alondro said:


> I see what look like crystals of something in there. Might have some unused SMB mixed in. Gold dropped with SMB should not be crystalline enough to create bright reflections. It looks like dull, light brown/beige mud or clay when very pure. Darker brown-black means some other metal contaminants, platinum-group or tungsten.


Thank you for replying. When using SMB, I was told to use the bare minimum. So I slowly sprinkle SMB into the solution. And I have read, that if there was "black" color present, it meant there is some type of contaminate in the precipitated gold. I just read a past thread on here in regards to removing these contaminates. Man o man. Some of yall use methods and various chemicals and other compounds that blows my mind. I read this and I'm like Holy moly, these cats are freaking chemistry gold refining genius. Anyhow. I will filter this beaker and 1 more. Wash/rinse with hot water. Filter it, and wash/rinse with hydrochloric acid. Until acid remains clear. I will post a picture of the gold and a weight. Again thanks for your comments.


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## Yggdrasil (Oct 10, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Thank you for replying. When using SMB, I was told to use the bare minimum. So I slowly sprinkle SMB into the solution. And I have read, that if there was "black" color present, it meant there is some type of contaminate in the precipitated gold. I just read a past thread on here in regards to removing these contaminates. Man o man. Some of yall use methods and various chemicals and other compounds that blows my mind. I read this and I'm like Holy moly, these cats are freaking chemistry gold refining genius. Anyhow. I will filter this beaker and 1 more. Wash/rinse with hot water. Filter it, and wash/rinse with hydrochloric acid. Until acid remains clear. I will post a picture of the gold and a weight. Again thanks for your comments.


You can safely use some extra SMB.
How did you dissolve the Gold?
Aqua Regia, HCl/bleach or HCl/Peroxide?


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

Aqua Regia HCL/BLEACH. And I kept it warm. Not boiling warm but warm. I used poor man nitric. Liquid fire and potassium nitrate. If need, i can give specifics on exactly how i removed foils from ram cards. I still have several pounds to do. Here is a picture in filter. To me it looks gold in color. And I figured that would be a desired look. But let me add, I am color blind. But here is a question. Normally I take filter and all material on the filter, and bring to a slight boil in Hydrochloric acid. Good, bad, ugly idea? Then pour off acid if any discoloration appears. Once acid is clear, filter, and rinse with hot water. I'm just happy to get it to look like this.


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## Yggdrasil (Oct 10, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Aqua Regia HCL/BLEACH. And I kept it warm. Not boiling warm but warm. I used poor man nitric. Liquid fire and potassium nitrate. If need, i can give specifics on exactly how i removed foils from ram cards. I still have several pounds to do. Here is a picture in filter. To me it looks gold in color. And I figured that would be a desired look. But let me add, I am color blind. But here is a question. Normally I take filter and all material on the filter, and bring to a slight boil in Hydrochloric acid. Good, bad, ugly idea? Then pour off acid if any discoloration appears. Once acid is clear, filter, and rinse with hot water. I'm just happy to get it to look like this.


Aqua Regia is HCl and Nitric/Nitrate in some form.
HCl/Bleach is a completely different animal.
So which is it?
Both?


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## FrugalRefiner (Oct 10, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Aqua Regia HCL/BLEACH. And I kept it warm. Not boiling warm but warm. I used poor man nitric. Liquid fire and potassium nitrate.


I'll be the one to be nit-picky on terminology here.

You said "Aqua Regia"
But, then you said "HCL/BLEACH.
And, finally, "Liquid fire and potassium nitrate".

Correct terminology is important here, as many members don't speak English well and have to use translators. Your post could be confusing.

I see Yggdrasil has already pointed out that aqua regia specifically means HCl and nitric acid (HNO3).
HCl and bleach is another way to dissolve gold, but it's not aqua regia.

Using Liquid fire (sulfuric acid) and a nitrate will create "poor man's" nitric. Nitric is often expensive and difficult to obtain, so using less expensive, more readily available ingredients is a cost-effective approach. The downside is that the poor man's nitric is less pure than commercial acid, so good technique in preparing the acid is important.

I hope you prepared the nitric acid separately, then used the clean result to add to the HCl, and you didn't just put them all together.

I know that all seems pedantic, but even the slightest misunderstanding in what we do can hurt or kill someone. I'm not picking on you, as you may already know all this. When I make posts like this, it is for the benefit of everyone who may read this thread in the future.

Dave


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

FrugalRefiner said:


> I'll be the one to be nit-picky on terminology here.
> 
> You said "Aqua Regia"
> But, then you said "HCL/BLEACH.
> ...


Ok. Well I started with Hydrochloric acid and bleach. While keeping it warm after 20 minutes some of the gold dissolve. I added a half teaspoon more Hydrochloric acid and a teaspoon bleach. Stirred. Came back in approximately 10 min still very little gold dissolve. So I add approximately half teaspoon of the potassium nitrate. I hopes it would create a stronger solution to dissolve gold. Well, came back again in approximately 10 minutes. Alot of the single foils were dissolve It still had 2 larger clumps of undissolved gold remaining. Added a teaspoon of Hydrochloric and teaspoon bleach. Stirred solution. Came back nearly all of the gold was dissolve. Also the remaining carbonized/burnt black filter was dissolved. Not all of the black carbonized filter was broken down to a fine residue...for a lack of better words. Which leads me to a question. But we will get to that later. So...I actually used a combination of items to dissolve this gold. And this is how I have done this process in the past, with what I'd say fair results. Again, I'm still learning and always open for advice/ constructive criticism, if you will. I just began to melt the material after washing it in very warm HCL acid. But ran out of O2. So have ride to the Amish out on mtn tomorrow and exchange my bottle or go use a torch. Which I probably will do. Here is a picture of the melt. And Dave, I take no offense to your post. I understand I need to be more exact, my apologies for the misleading information. So I began with HCL and bleach while keeping solution warm. After several minutes little gold dissolved. So I added half teaspoon potassium nitrate. Then came back and added in teaspoon increments HCL/bleach. All of this process is done outside, with a fan blowing from behind me, while wearing PPE. Yes I truly understand the danger in the refining process due to the chemicals used, and gasses released. I hope this has clarified my process. 
Frugalrefiner. In regards to poor man's nitric acid. I use a 4 liter glass beaker. Added my material. 540 gram I think of ram card trimmings. Filled beaker up to 2800 ml with distilled water. Added 250 ml of liquid fire. Than 150 ml of potassium nitrate. Begin heating. Now...during this process if reaction slows, I will mix up some poor man's nitric acid and add it to the 4 liter beaker. I use to just slowly pour in the sulphuric acid until my dummy self realized what I was doing. It took about two times. Again feel free to respond. The more responses the better.


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 10, 2022)

I may of have just posted the same response twice. My apologies. Here are results. I'm adding a picture of two gold buttons being held in a hand. The button closest to the palm is the gold I just melted. Other is from various trial runs/experiments that I did. To make an omelet you gotta break a few eggs...lol. I thank each of you for the feedback, be safe and have a great evening.


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## BlackLabel (Oct 10, 2022)

Please, don't call it "liquid fire".
That's not scientific.
It's "sulphuric acid" or H2SO4.


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## BlackLabel (Oct 10, 2022)

The surface of the dull button is looking very interesting.


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## Yggdrasil (Oct 11, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Ok. Well I started with Hydrochloric acid and bleach. While keeping it warm after 20 minutes some of the gold dissolve. I added a half teaspoon more Hydrochloric acid and a teaspoon bleach. Stirred. Came back in approximately 10 min still very little gold dissolve. So I add approximately half teaspoon of the potassium nitrate. I hopes it would create a stronger solution to dissolve gold. Well, came back again in approximately 10 minutes. Alot of the single foils were dissolve It still had 2 larger clumps of undissolved gold remaining. Added a teaspoon of Hydrochloric and teaspoon bleach. Stirred solution. Came back nearly all of the gold was dissolve. Also the remaining carbonized/burnt black filter was dissolved. Not all of the black carbonized filter was broken down to a fine residue...for a lack of better words. Which leads me to a question. But we will get to that later. So...I actually used a combination of items to dissolve this gold. And this is how I have done this process in the past, with what I'd say fair results. Again, I'm still learning and always open for advice/ constructive criticism, if you will. I just began to melt the material after washing it in very warm HCL acid. But ran out of O2. So have ride to the Amish out on mtn tomorrow and exchange my bottle or go use a torch. Which I probably will do. Here is a picture of the melt. And Dave, I take no offense to your post. I understand I need to be more exact, my apologies for the misleading information. So I began with HCL and bleach while keeping solution warm. After several minutes little gold dissolved. So I added half teaspoon potassium nitrate. Then came back and added in teaspoon increments HCL/bleach. All of this process is done outside, with a fan blowing from behind me, while wearing PPE. Yes I truly understand the danger in the refining process due to the chemicals used, and gasses released. I hope this has clarified my process.
> Frugalrefiner. In regards to poor man's nitric acid. I use a 4 liter glass beaker. Added my material. 540 gram I think of ram card trimmings. Filled beaker up to 2800 ml with distilled water. Added 250 ml of liquid fire. Than 150 ml of potassium nitrate. Begin heating. Now...during this process if reaction slows, I will mix up some poor man's nitric acid and add it to the 4 liter beaker. I use to just slowly pour in the sulphuric acid until my dummy self realized what I was doing. It took about two times. Again feel free to respond. The more responses the better.


Could you please use line breakers?
This is for all purposes a chore to read.

Her is a version with line breaks and comments:


> *Edited quote of post*
> 
> Ok.
> Well I started with Hydrochloric acid and bleach.
> ...


All comments in red bold text.


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## jphayesjr (Oct 11, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Thank You. I have been recovering and refining for about 2 and half years. I'm still learning. Still reading. I will post a picture of the finished result and a weight. Hopefully by this evening.


Don't know your plan for gold you refine, but if you accumulate and sell, a quick read of Good Delivery Rules will help you get the top prices possible. Good Delivery - Wikipedia


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 20, 2022)

jphayesjr said:


> Don't know your plan for gold you refine, but if you accumulate and sell, a quick read of Good Delivery Rules will help you get the top prices possible. Good Delivery - Wikipedia


I just been refining, to best of my knowledge and abilities. And just putting each ounce in gun safe. But I will read and take your advice. Thank You


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 20, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> Could you please use line breakers?
> This is for all purposes a chore to read.
> 
> Her is a version with line breaks and comments:
> ...





Yggdrasil said:


> Could you please use line breakers?
> This is for all purposes a chore to read.
> 
> Her is a version with line breaks and comments:
> ...


Yes. I can post replies in such a style/ format.


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 20, 2022)

BlackLabel said:


> The surface of the dull button is looking very interesting.


Could you elaborate on this reply. What is interesting about its dull surface?


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 20, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> Could you please use line breakers?
> This is for all purposes a chore to read.
> 
> Her is a version with line breaks and comments:
> ...





Yggdrasil said:


> Could you please use line breakers?
> This is for all purposes a chore to read.
> 
> Her is a version with line breaks and comments:
> ...


Yggdrasil,
You have answered a question that I had, in regards to "carbon" material in gold solution. 
Thank You.


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 20, 2022)

jphayesjr said:


> Don't know your plan for gold you refine, but if you accumulate and sell, a quick read of Good Delivery Rules will help you get the top prices possible. Good Delivery - Wikipedia


Ok jphayesjr. I read the "Good Delivery Rules". Very interesting. The closest place I know of, where I can sell refined gold is in Alabama.


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## BlackLabel (Oct 20, 2022)

ssmontecarlo said:


> Could you elaborate on this reply. What is interesting about its dull surface?


Just as I wrote.
From aesthetic view. I like the patterns on your dull button more than the bright shine of the other button.


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## ssmontecarlo (Oct 20, 2022)

BlackLabel said:


> Just as I wrote.
> From aesthetic view. I like the patterns on your dull button more than the bright shine of the other button.


Ten four. Since then I have processed another pound of material, and melted it all together. I'm up to a little over 5 grams of gold. Thank You for the reply, be safe.


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