# My aqua regia looks like coffee with yellow foam



## Rreyes097 (Aug 18, 2021)

So I used nitric and distilled water to dissolve random pins fingers and whatnot and then I let dissolve with heat. Then filtered got all of the foils and pieces put into a beaker ran hydrochloric acid and roughly 5 ml of nitric. Maybe a little bit more since it wasn't working the gold is still not dissolving and now I have yellow foam on black liquid please see picture. What am I wrong?


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## nickvc (Aug 19, 2021)

Check you actually did use hydrochloric is my advice.


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## kurtak (Aug 19, 2021)

Rreyes097 said:


> So I used nitric and distilled water to dissolve random pins fingers and whatnot and then I let dissolve with heat. Then filtered got all of the foils and pieces put into a beaker ran hydrochloric acid and roughly 5 ml of nitric. Maybe a little bit more since it wasn't working the gold is still not dissolving and now I have yellow foam on black liquid please see picture. What am I wrong?



Per the underlined - Did you use the so called "eco friendly" HCl which some stores are now selling ?

If so - that is likely the problem - they have put "inhibitors" in (& I believe surfactants/soap) in the eco friendly HCl

Example of eco friendly HCl

:arrow: https://www.menards.com/main/paint/concrete-blacktop-sealers/concrete-cleaners/green-envy-reg-muriatic-acid-replacement/610g1/p-1444444213107.htm

Green Envy Muriatic Acid is an inhibited, non-fuming hydrogen-chloride solution that safely etches concrete and cleans brick and masonry. It produces 90% less fumes and is safer to use than Muriatic Acid. 

Kurt


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## acpeacemaker (Aug 19, 2021)

Hey

Other than whats already been said...Hard to make out the pic but what did you stir it with? Is it glass or metal?


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 19, 2021)

I stirred it with a glass stirring stick. And I guess I'll have to go look at the bottle again. And if it is that eco friendly stuff then what do I do?


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## acpeacemaker (Aug 19, 2021)

I have a hunch its not the hcl but i could be wrong. I think whatever was in your stuff of pins and what you called "whatnot" had aluminum in it. It would stay in the foils and rest of the junk through nitric. Then you filtered out and tried to dissolve in with hcl added. Aluminum will do that with foam and the black percipitant. And that color would be accurate under those conditions.


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 19, 2021)

I looked at that link and no my HCl doesn't look like that. The stuff I bought looks justs like the stuff I've always bought. From home Depot. I used muriatic acid. Isn't that what is used? I think it says something about 90% less fumes. Is this the right stuff? And where do I get the right stuff? This is the pic of the same stuff I used. Is it wrong?


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 19, 2021)

So how do I force out the aluminum if indeed that's it?


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## nickvc (Aug 20, 2021)

If indeed it is aluminum that’s causing the problem by consuming the acid and you are sure the HCl is good, add some more HCl as if you still have free nitric this should dissolve your gold.


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## kurtak (Aug 20, 2021)

Rreyes097 said:


> I looked at that link and no my HCl doesn't look like that. The stuff I bought looks justs like the stuff I've always bought. From home Depot. I used muriatic acid. Isn't that what is used? I think it says something about 90% less fumes. Is this the right stuff? And where do I get the right stuff? This is the pic of the same stuff I used. Is it wrong?



per the underlined & based on the pic you provided --- that is the so called "eco friendly" HCl

Three things tell you it is the "eco friendly" HCl

1) it says Klean Strip GREEN - Klean Strip is the brand - GREEN indicates it is eco friendly (like green energy or the green new deal)

2) the words "muriatic acid" are in green

3) 90% less fumes - that tells you they have added the "inhibitors" to it

are you sure that is the same HCl you have used before ?

or did you use this HCl before

:arrow: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Klean-Strip-Klean-Strip-Muriatic-Acid-1-Gl/1002858920?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-bing-_-pla-_-133-_-1002858920-_-0&kpid&placeholder=null&gclid=e5da3d573d781235678e5c4853301755&gclsrc=3p.ds&ds_rl=1286981&msclkid=e5da3d573d781235678e5c4853301755

Same brand but two different labels/products

The "red label" stuff is "normal" HCl (& the stuff you should use)

The GREEN label is the "eco friendly" stuff (& should NOT be what you use)

Stores will have both kinds on the same shelf - so if you are not careful you can end up grabbing the wrong stuff

I have "never" used the "eco friendly" stuff so I don't know if &/or how it works compared to normal/regular HCl 

So I also do not know if &/or what kind of problems it "may" cause &/or how to fix any problems it "may" cause

Kurt


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 20, 2021)

Thank you for the picture. Although I can't find it at home Depot. All they have is that original bottle that I had and I swear that looks exactly like the bottles I've always got but I understand and I see the differences. Where else can I get it if I look on Amazon they're trying to sell stuff that's way expensive. And I don't have a Lowe's in my town. I do not know what to do!


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2021)

Do you have a pool supply place?


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 20, 2021)

Yes, I seen pool stuff at home Depot but didn't know which one to get.


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2021)

I meant a business in your area that just deals with pool supplies.


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 20, 2021)

Yes we do have that as well. What are you suggesting? Do they have the stuff I need? If so what's it called? I'll go get it now.


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2021)

You want full regular muriatic acid,not the stuff with buffers. You should also slow down and study the forum.
You are probably spending more on chemicals than the results of what your processing. And safety.


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 20, 2021)

I've been doing this for awhile but haven't done it in awhile. I assure you that I'm being safe and constantly reading the forum on many various topics. I have Good understanding of the processes I'm using. But thanks for the advice. And why do you think I'm spending more on chemicals then I'm producing? What did I say that would give you that idea? I'm not a professional by any means. But when I first started doing this I just practiced the various techniques, and didn't concern myself with profit. But now I'm more conscientious about how much I spend on getting the gold. This run was a trail run to re familiarize myself with all this before I start the big batches. I'm also about to do a sulphuric cell.


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## jimdoc (Aug 20, 2021)

Rreyes097 said:


> What did I say that would give you that idea?



"So I used nitric and distilled water to dissolve random pins fingers and whatnot"


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 20, 2021)

Well it might not have been the best use of chemicals but doesn't mean I'm not being safe. And I was just doing a small batch to get them out of the way VIA nitric I was going for time and not money on that. I just put a bunch of odds and ends in there.


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## g_axelsson (Aug 21, 2021)

Have you tested with stannous to see if you have dissolved any gold? If you had other metals like aluminium present the gold might have cemented out again and the liquid is barren.

I've always used clean hydrochloric acid so I can't tell you what to do. One way that often works to save a mess is cement on copper, separate solids from the barren liquid, incinerate the solids and then restart with fresh chemicals..

If you have the setup for it, you could probably use distillation to get clean hydrochloric acid from the green stuff.

Göran


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## acpeacemaker (Aug 21, 2021)

From: Rreyes097
Recipient: acpeacemaker 

I don't think I had heat sinks in there but I did have green chips in there CPU chips. The pinless kind. I also had small pins from various things that were so small that it was too hard to take out of the plastic so I threw the whole thing in there phone boards a couple phone boards in there coaxial cable connections are RC cable connectors that were gold-plated yeah a lot of random junk so there could be aluminum if aluminum is found on any of those coaxial cable connectors RC jacks and whatnot so what do I do if there is aluminum in it cuz if there is then what is a procedure to get that out so I can dissolve my gold? Because right now it's black with yellow foam does not dissolve gold and my stannis chloride test does not show gold in the solution.


He told me it was fine to post this yesterday if I had time to respond via post so no one reading was confused on my reply. Sorry...my 17 yr old has caused me a lot of fun so ive been late at replies...(sarcasm)




I'm still inclined to believe it's not the hcl as I've used that kind before. It still has a strength of 31.45% While it might have a fume control buffer, it shouldn't cause that much of an issue.

There is another econo kind that will say "muratic alternative" and another "safer muratic" on the bottle. It is 15.725% and loaded with a surfactant.

But through info via pm. The solution is overloaded with basemetals and trash. And could still be part aluminum. The foam could be several things. Whether a surfactant, aluminum, or "whatnots". Just an example: I don't remember off the top of my head but on really old cell phones i used to sometimes find something that looked like and mlcc or chip resistor that would explode and expand and turn into a yellow mess. 

But you threw a bunch of stuff in the pot expecting it to turn out good. There's the old saying put trash in...that's what's going to come out...


I mean this in the nicest way possible. I think you should slow down as well. Safety is a big thing true and it's good you are trying to be. But sometimes safety can be just that. Stopping to learn more of the process to be more efficient instead of making another mess and create more waste.


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 21, 2021)

So my HCl should be good. Thanks for the help y'all.


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 22, 2021)

So the gold actually ended up dissolving. So that's good


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 23, 2021)

But nothing is showing on stannous chloride test. I know the gold disolved. I filtered the solids for the most part then heated in AR and now no gold in solution. I'm really rusty at this. Or don't know as much as I thought I did. But researching in this forum is difficult. I basically get scenarios of other people but nothing quite matches my situation. So I'm lost on what to do. So if anyone can help me with the next step that would be great.


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## nickvc (Aug 23, 2021)

Step one test your solutions with stannous.


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## acpeacemaker (Aug 23, 2021)

Although I've never had issues in age. How old is your stannous? Are you sure you made it correctly? How are you using it to test?

If you still have a lot of trash and things like the RC jacks or coax connectors or cell boards etc. Your gold (if any) could have precipitated out prior. 

Or the first solution that was overloaded with the black sediment. That could have had the gold with it.


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## Rreyes097 (Aug 23, 2021)

I just bought the stannous online pre made. So I don't know if that's good or not. I dip a strip of filter paper in the solution and then drop one drop off stannous into the paper. And I haven't let any of the gold go , but all the junk is gone. I picked out all of the sports pieces and rinsed each one of being careful not to lose anything. The gold wasn't dissolved yet. I then took it all and added fresh HCl and nitric after cooking it in the HCl. And both times I could see the glitter of gold. I then put the solution away in frustration. Next day the gold disolved. I tried urea to denox (I have no sulfamic acid). No reaction when urea hit it so I tried to drop gold with smb. And nothing.


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## nickvc (Aug 23, 2021)

Try adding a little more HCl and see what happens .


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## acpeacemaker (Aug 23, 2021)

You have about 4 options here.

1. What you thought was gold wasn't really gold.
2. What was gold that dissolved, precipitated back out before testing. (Did you test with stannous at this step before using urea and smb?)
3. Your stannous isn't good if gold is in solution. Or you still have unconsumed nitric.
4. Put everything away in a container with some copper. To try and drop the pms if any are there and study more.


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