help on mash
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Never_Evil
Well-known member
If you took that route, you would have several impurities such as solder mask. It would negate all the work you just put in to get substandard gold out.
Do the HCL-Chlorox method, then drop the gold with SMB and have yourself some pure gold.
Do the HCL-Chlorox method, then drop the gold with SMB and have yourself some pure gold.
Tintin,
Just as Never Evil has stated their are no shortcuts to high purity gold. The HCl-Cl and SMB step can be completed in less than an hour and is well worth the effort.
Steve
Just as Never Evil has stated their are no shortcuts to high purity gold. The HCl-Cl and SMB step can be completed in less than an hour and is well worth the effort.
Steve
Tintin,
That's hard to say, too many factors could be affecting the current weight. Some are as follows:
The only way to know how much gold you really have is to dissolve the foil mash then drop the gold with SMB from the auric chloride solution. Let the gold powder settle until the solution is clear and test for gold in the solution with stannous chloride. Siphon off the barren liquid.
After a few hot water washes and hot HCl acid washes followed by water rinsing again.
If you suspect silver in the gold you can add a sequence of hot ammonium hydroxide washes followed by water washes. Keep these washes in a separate container from the first washes as they may contain silver. Acidify the liquid after you use it to wash the gold and drop the silver chloride from the ammonium soluiton.
Your gold powder will then need to be gently heated to dryness in the same beaker which you do the washes. Swirl the beaker of washed gold to keep the gold from sticking to the beaker while gently heating until the gold powder is dry.
This washing process takes about thirty minutes and will result in very pure gold that melts like butter on a warm day under the torch.
Steve
That's hard to say, too many factors could be affecting the current weight. Some are as follows:
- Is the mash dry? Water weighs 1 gram per mL.
- Did you thoroughly rinse the foils with HCl? The HCl rinse removes copper chloride that is a white powder mixed into the foils. It will color the rinse acid black to blue green depending on how much is there.
- How much garbage went into the mix? GIGO. If you put a lot of junk in with your source material (pc card splinters, SMD parts, wires, plastic, pins, heat sink compounds, etc.) you may have a very large portion of the foil weight in substances that won't dissolve.
- Is the mash full of small base metal items (pins, steel parts, nuts, bolts, etc)?
The only way to know how much gold you really have is to dissolve the foil mash then drop the gold with SMB from the auric chloride solution. Let the gold powder settle until the solution is clear and test for gold in the solution with stannous chloride. Siphon off the barren liquid.
After a few hot water washes and hot HCl acid washes followed by water rinsing again.
If you suspect silver in the gold you can add a sequence of hot ammonium hydroxide washes followed by water washes. Keep these washes in a separate container from the first washes as they may contain silver. Acidify the liquid after you use it to wash the gold and drop the silver chloride from the ammonium soluiton.
Your gold powder will then need to be gently heated to dryness in the same beaker which you do the washes. Swirl the beaker of washed gold to keep the gold from sticking to the beaker while gently heating until the gold powder is dry.
This washing process takes about thirty minutes and will result in very pure gold that melts like butter on a warm day under the torch.
Steve
Fragum
Member
Once you siphon off the "barren solution", what is this solution (chemical makeup)?
How do you dispose of this solution once you are done with it?
How do you dispose of this solution once you are done with it?
Fragum,
When properly performed the left over solution from the above reaction description will contain very little in the way of base metals.
The bulk of the liquid will chlorinated be salt water. Some residual SO2 will also be in the solution. The solution will be acidic from the HCl. Any excess SMB will eventually become NaHSO4.
If you are hasty and do not properly wash your foils before dissolving, you may end up with a green colored solution containing copper chloride, nickel chloride, and other base metal compounds.
After testing my spent HCl-Cl solutions I add them to my pregnant AP solutions if they are barren. :wink:
There is a remote chance that you may have PGMs in the leftover solution as well, depending on the source material and reaction conditions.
Steve
When properly performed the left over solution from the above reaction description will contain very little in the way of base metals.
The bulk of the liquid will chlorinated be salt water. Some residual SO2 will also be in the solution. The solution will be acidic from the HCl. Any excess SMB will eventually become NaHSO4.
If you are hasty and do not properly wash your foils before dissolving, you may end up with a green colored solution containing copper chloride, nickel chloride, and other base metal compounds.
After testing my spent HCl-Cl solutions I add them to my pregnant AP solutions if they are barren. :wink:
There is a remote chance that you may have PGMs in the leftover solution as well, depending on the source material and reaction conditions.
Steve
