Ubongrex said:
Is it possible to recover upto 4kg of gold using the processes outlined in this forum? I have a colleague who is into gold and silver recovery business but would not show anybody how to go about it. He recovers upto 4kg of gold. Recently he posted a picture of such recoveries and claims it's about 4kg, take a look at the pictures.
My question therefore goes this way, if this is true, then the idea that gold recovery' doesn't yield much, is actually not realistic .TV Or is there a process this guy is using that is different? Truly I really want to know how to refine gold to yield much quantity using the best and cost effective process. Thanks a
Ubongrex, I'm going to circle back to your original post and question. When our veteran members say that gold recovery "doesn't yield much", they're usually trying to caution new members who say they've collected some old electronic scrap and they want to recover all the gold they believe is there. In that case, they are usually correct. A few computers aren't going to yield much gold. But, as several members have described, if you have enough of the right type of scrap, you can certainly recover many kilograms of gold from them using the processes described in Hoke's book and here on the forum.
I think that was what several members assumed, even though you never said this was from electronic scrap. I see in your profile that you are in Nigeria, and that these bars originate in Nigeria. It is possible there bars are primarily gold. It is also possible they are primarily base metals.
Several members have mentioned testing the specific gravity of the bars. If you can actually get your hands on one, the test can be done easily, at least for a rough result. You'll need an accurately graduated container, some water and a scale. First, weigh the bar in grams. Next, fill the graduated container with enough water to cover the bar when you put it in. Bring the water up to one of the graduated marks. Then add the bar and check how much higher the level of the water is. That will tell you the volume of the bar. Finally, just divide the weight in grams by volume of the bar in milliliters. That will give you a rough idea of the specific gravity.
So, let's say you fill a graduated cylinder to the 50 ml. mark, and when you add the bar, it raises the water level to the 60 ml. mark. The volume of the bar is about 10 ml. Let's also say the bar weighs 190 grams. If we divide the weight (190) by the volume (10), the specific gravity would be 19, which is about the specific gravity of gold. If the weight was only about 70 or 80 grams, the specific gravity would only be about 7 or 8, indicating it was mainly base metals.
If you can do this simple, quick, non-destructive test and tell us the results, we may be able to provide a little more help.
Dave
