A million questions Help me

[brjook]

Processed three pounds of pins in two batches with AP and got what i though was a decent amount of gold flakes.I washed with HCL two times .I dissolved them in two batches with HCL\CLand got a golden liquor.Both times i doubled my volume with water and let sit over night to remove excess chlorine.When i added SMB the water cleared but didn't turn muddy.I boiled them and got my muddy water.
Upon letting it sit over night i didn't get as much precip as as i though i would so checked solution with Stannous and was still gold in it .I added more SMB waited again over night and no precip.I added aluminum to the solution and it became very dark.I filtered out the precipt and bioled it in HCL and got a black precip .Was this gold ? Repeated with second batch and dried all the precip i had gathered and melted it and only got a BB the size of #9 bird shot.Where did the gold go or is that what to expect from 3 pounds of pins ?And how do you clean the used or excess Borax from the crucible when your finished melting.I really enjoy doing this but the outcome was pretty small.I hope it gets better as i do more and learn more .Help me Old Wise Ones.PS i have been reading hoke and reading the forum till my eyes hurt.

 

[Anonymous]

When i added SMB the water cleared but didn't turn muddy.I boiled them and got my muddy water.

You still had excess chlorine in your solution,and the added heat dissipated the remainder of it.

checked solution with Stannous and was still gold in it .I added more SMB waited again over night and no precip.

You did not specify if you rechecked the solution the next morning.
Stannous Chloride can detect just a few parts per million of Au,which if precipitated out you almost would not have seen it.If you had E-Crap and not E-Scrap that would explain the low yield.There are a handful of sellers on ebay that are selling material that they have had manufactured using flash plating.Legally it is still gold plated,however the yield is rediculously low.And of course most people that do not know what they are looking at,simply see "PINS!" and get all excited.Im not saying that was the case with you.BTW where did these pins come from.....ebay? I'll wait for you to reply before I go any further.

 

[brjook]

The pins came from ebay but they were old computer board connectors and old plug in modules.The board connectors where cut from the board with a band saw or something to that effect.Most where plated on both sides .I removed alot of them from the plastic houseing ,that was time consumeing.I got another batch of AuCl airing out right now .It came from 40 memory boards i found at the flea market today and i boiled the gold three times in HCL hopeing that might make a difference in my drop tommorow.Maybe the connectors was low yeild but they where not recently made .But as i said it looked like a fair amout of gold i dissolved,I mean a 1/2 to 3/4 gram total.I should have gotten more than a large grain from melting the percip .Just something i done wrong and i will figure it out but would love the advice of some seasons pros that are here in the forum.Ya'll guys don't get this smart but just reading it has a lot to do with hands on and personal experence and any and all advice is taken very seriously.Thank all of you for your replys and help

 

[butcher]

Gold has a way of looking like alot more of it than is actually there. especially to us with gold fever, sometimes it even looks like it is there when its not. :lol:

 

[texan]

If you still have your AP solution that you dissolved the pins in it's possible you stll have quite a bit of gold in that solution either as dissolved gold or as a fine powder in suspensiion. How did you separate your gold from the pin residue? If you filtered it thru coffee filters it's possible that much of your gold went thru the filter and is still in the AP as a fine powder. Let it settle for several days...a week at least. Also it is possible that you have gold dissolved in your AP solution itself and will need to be forced out of solution by copper saturation. I have let my AP solutions settle, poured off the liquid very carefully and then collected the powder that had settled to the bottom. You will notice that a black powder will be mixed with a white copper cloride II powder that will need to be dissolved with clean HCL. The thinner the gold on pins and other plated object the more it will come of as a powder and not as a gold foil. It also my initially come off as a foil but will break down into a powder the longer the process goes on.

I have now cleaned the copper cloride II out of the black powder and will dissolve it with HCL/bleach and drop with SMB. Do not be in a rush to drop with the SMB after you have got your AuCl...I let mine sit for 24 hours after adding some heat (do not let it boil) to drive off any free Cl in the mixutre.

Each type of material to be rendered needs its own variation of the AP process to maximize your return. When I grow up (I am 61 at present) and get a better fume hood I will try some nitric processes...but until then the AP process is working just fine.

I just got back from a 600 mile drive today to attend a relative of my wife's funeral and I am a little bushed.

Texan

 

[brjook]

Thanks for the info Tex .I didn't realize AP could dissovle a considerable amount of gold.I wil try to drop it when i am finished with the last few pounds of connectors and thanks for replying after such a long drive .I travel alot for work and i hate drivein glong distances.I
I got a small beajer with AuCl waiting to get dropped and hope it is better than the others .Till Then

 

[texan]

The chemists on the forum can describe this better than I but yes HCl can put a certain amount of gold into solution durring the AP process.

Texan

 

[brjook]

If my gold has gone into solution and i drop it with SMB wil that not also drop other base metals along with it?

 

[nickvc]

If my gold has gone into solution and i drop it with SMB wil that not also drop other base metals along with it?

If you keep using your AP solution and dissolve more base metals with it any gold held in the solution will precipitate out as a black powder as it becomes saturated with copper which you can harvest later.

 

[lazersteve]

From your posts it sounds like the pins you processed were a mixed bag of low grade types with plastic and other trash in the mix for the total weight of three pounds.

Your yields are most likely pretty close to the net sum of the gold that was present if this is the case.

Your AP may have a little gold left in it, unless it is very dark 'chocolate' brown in which case it is saturated and has no dissolved gold in the solution. There may also be some very fine particles of black gold powder in the AP solution. If the AP is greenish yellow or light green it may have some dissolved gold in it.

Steve

 

[brjook]

The Ap has turned a dark brown color and i set some aside to see if i get and precip and also added more Peroxide which made it a green color again.When i check to see if i have any precip i let ya'll know and ass you said might just be low yield pins .But again thanks for all of ya'll reply and never learn as much as i have with out them so keep em comeing'Till Then
Billy Ray

 

[texan]

The Ap has turned a dark brown color and i set some aside to see if i get and precip and also added more Peroxide which made it a green color again.When i check to see if i have any precip i let ya'll know and ass you said might just be low yield pins .But again thanks for all of ya'll reply and never learn as much as i have with out them so keep em comeing'Till Then
Billy Ray

By adding the peroxide you probably put the gold back into solution. You should have let the powder settle, poured off the liquid and cleaned the powder that had settled to the bottom. The liquid that you poured off should be tested for gold with stannous cloride solution (how to make/use it is here on the forum) and resused by following the procedures also found here on the forum.

Texan

 

[brjook]

I am currently out of town but as i said put about half my brown AP aside to see if it settles.But only added peroxide to the rest still in th ebucket and added more connectors also.Does the brown color indicate gold or just a excess of copper.I do have AP and tested the solution and got a very slight indication of gold so hope to hve a gold laden precip when i get home this weekend.Also again thanks for everyone reply and i read the forum and hoke constantly.