catfish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
- Messages
- 159
Folks we spend a lot of time discussing many different types of refining techniques and ideas. I am pleased with the refining techniques that I feel comfortable using and now I have became interested in trying to obtain purer gold than I did before.
I have read many good posts by Harold on obtaining pure gold and decided to take the time and perform all the steps that he has so graciously told us about.
I refine most all my gold in “poor man’s aqua regia” and obviously as you can see from the first photo that the end results are totally unsatisfactory. I have been using Harold’s cleaning method on all my gold now and are very satisfied with the results.
Photo 1 and 2 shows two small batches that I ran through AR for a beta test for determining the amount of gold in electronic scrap.
I took both batches and boiled it in water for 5 minutes, boiled in hydrochloric acid for 5 minutes, then boiled in water for 5 minutes, boiled again in ammonium hydroxide for 5 minutes, boiled in water for 5 minutes, boiled in hydrochloric acid for 5 minutes, and then boiled in water for 5 minutes. See photos 3
After this washing process I ran the gold chloride through aqua regia again, but I precipitated it with iron sulfate this time and then ran the chloride through the same wash cycle as before. I then dried the chloride and accumulated enough of it to make a sizable nugget.
I also took Harold’s advice and only put a very small amount of anhydrous borax in a new melting dish. I melted the gold in 5five separate buttons and then I added all them to gather and made the final nugget. I have made arrangement to have it assayed. It will cost me $25.00 so I decided to just make one nugget. It should all be the same I hope. See photo 4
Note how clean the melting dish came out after all the melting’s. I think this tells a person a lot about the quality of their gold by looking at the finished dish and the dark brown or green colors sometime you get. See photo 5
Again, I want to offer my sincere thanks to Harold for sharing all the many wonderful ideas and past experiences with us folks. Three months ago, I was just happy to be able to refine gold and was not too concerned about the quality of it. But now I want to be able to do much better than I used too.
Thanks Harold.
I have read many good posts by Harold on obtaining pure gold and decided to take the time and perform all the steps that he has so graciously told us about.
I refine most all my gold in “poor man’s aqua regia” and obviously as you can see from the first photo that the end results are totally unsatisfactory. I have been using Harold’s cleaning method on all my gold now and are very satisfied with the results.
Photo 1 and 2 shows two small batches that I ran through AR for a beta test for determining the amount of gold in electronic scrap.
I took both batches and boiled it in water for 5 minutes, boiled in hydrochloric acid for 5 minutes, then boiled in water for 5 minutes, boiled again in ammonium hydroxide for 5 minutes, boiled in water for 5 minutes, boiled in hydrochloric acid for 5 minutes, and then boiled in water for 5 minutes. See photos 3
After this washing process I ran the gold chloride through aqua regia again, but I precipitated it with iron sulfate this time and then ran the chloride through the same wash cycle as before. I then dried the chloride and accumulated enough of it to make a sizable nugget.
I also took Harold’s advice and only put a very small amount of anhydrous borax in a new melting dish. I melted the gold in 5five separate buttons and then I added all them to gather and made the final nugget. I have made arrangement to have it assayed. It will cost me $25.00 so I decided to just make one nugget. It should all be the same I hope. See photo 4
Note how clean the melting dish came out after all the melting’s. I think this tells a person a lot about the quality of their gold by looking at the finished dish and the dark brown or green colors sometime you get. See photo 5
Again, I want to offer my sincere thanks to Harold for sharing all the many wonderful ideas and past experiences with us folks. Three months ago, I was just happy to be able to refine gold and was not too concerned about the quality of it. But now I want to be able to do much better than I used too.
Thanks Harold.