AuMINIMayhem
Well-known member
I hate even opening up this line of dialogue, but I HAVE to ask..
Has anyone ever considered using HF, yes Hydrofluoric Acid, for refining gold bits leftover from cutting up circuit cards, etc.? HF is reallllll good at eating glass and destroys quite a bit of the crap that might be in the gold.. also, I'm not quite sure, but I believe it makes a damn fine "leaching agent" (correct me if I'm wrong).. a lot of companies use HF in their baths, from what I'm finding.. Anyways, just curious.. I don't have any access to HF and I sure as hell wouldn't even go near the stuff, personally... I've had my run-ins with it at work which wound up ending in ER visits over a very dilute solution (Alodine 1201 which has cyanide and HF {0.1%}).. not my idea of fun, but it does have potential, I think, to be extremely effective in Au recovery.
Thoughts? (I would have put up the skull and bones if I knew the HTML tag for it)
Let me note.. if you do not know about HF, don't even think of messing with it! That stuff is extremely hardcore! Even very dilute solutions can be potentially fatal. Just don't do it without the proper equipment, training and first-aid treatment on hand. I'm only bringing this up to start a new discussion and to satisfy curiosity, that's it.
I highly recommend reading these links if you're even remotely interested in working with HF..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid
and the MSDS for HF
http://www.bu.edu/es/labsafety/ESMSDSs/MSHydFluoricAcid.html
quote: (from the MSDS)
"HF differs from other strong
acids in that it not only causes surface burns but rapidly penetrates the skin, even in dilute solution,
and causes destruction of underlying tissue and even bone by the extraction of Calcium. For this
reason, washing the burn with water is not sufficient. A neutralizing agent which will also
penetrate the skin is required. The effect of HF, i.e. onset of pain, particularly in dilute solutions,
may not be felt for up to 24 hours."
"I'm a little verklempt! Talk amongst yourselves..I'll give you a topic: Hydrofluoric Acid.. good for refining or good for nuthin'?.. Discuss!"
Has anyone ever considered using HF, yes Hydrofluoric Acid, for refining gold bits leftover from cutting up circuit cards, etc.? HF is reallllll good at eating glass and destroys quite a bit of the crap that might be in the gold.. also, I'm not quite sure, but I believe it makes a damn fine "leaching agent" (correct me if I'm wrong).. a lot of companies use HF in their baths, from what I'm finding.. Anyways, just curious.. I don't have any access to HF and I sure as hell wouldn't even go near the stuff, personally... I've had my run-ins with it at work which wound up ending in ER visits over a very dilute solution (Alodine 1201 which has cyanide and HF {0.1%}).. not my idea of fun, but it does have potential, I think, to be extremely effective in Au recovery.
Thoughts? (I would have put up the skull and bones if I knew the HTML tag for it)
Let me note.. if you do not know about HF, don't even think of messing with it! That stuff is extremely hardcore! Even very dilute solutions can be potentially fatal. Just don't do it without the proper equipment, training and first-aid treatment on hand. I'm only bringing this up to start a new discussion and to satisfy curiosity, that's it.
I highly recommend reading these links if you're even remotely interested in working with HF..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid
and the MSDS for HF
http://www.bu.edu/es/labsafety/ESMSDSs/MSHydFluoricAcid.html
quote: (from the MSDS)
"HF differs from other strong
acids in that it not only causes surface burns but rapidly penetrates the skin, even in dilute solution,
and causes destruction of underlying tissue and even bone by the extraction of Calcium. For this
reason, washing the burn with water is not sufficient. A neutralizing agent which will also
penetrate the skin is required. The effect of HF, i.e. onset of pain, particularly in dilute solutions,
may not be felt for up to 24 hours."
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"I'm a little verklempt! Talk amongst yourselves..I'll give you a topic: Hydrofluoric Acid.. good for refining or good for nuthin'?.. Discuss!"