A tricky gift of gold in a solution...

[raven7]

I was giving a bucket that I was told a solution of hydrochloric and 3% hydrogen peroxide. The bucket contains everything from small wire pin connectors to larger pin connectors crushed CPUs and laser diodes. I'll feel sure that there is a small percentage of gallium arsenide in solution. My limited chemistry brings light of iron oxides and activated charcoal will help to control and capture this element. My plan at this point is to decant the solution before moving forward. This is a different hurdle as it's outside my normal reclamation efforts. I have read the aforementioned materials prior to entry of this site. And from 20 years ago one can never be too safe in any refining operation. Most of my reclaiming efforts are what most here would consider fairly clean and straightforward. Any help in regards of how to handle the situation safely will be much appreciated.

 

[raven7]

I think once the solution is decanted then the waste byproducts can be dealt with in a safe manner to make them innocuous for the most part. Any other solutions are welcomed!

 

[4metals]

Are there obvious foils of gold that the acid peroxide removed by dissolving the base metals away? If not, have you tested for Gold in solution using stannous chloride? Before you chase after this "mystery gold" you should assure yourself it is actually there.

 

[raven7]

The stainless test reveals no gold in solution at this point... Plus it's a fresh batch I just made it the other day. There are foils and things running around in their loose..... I'm just concerned about the gallium arsonide that I know that's in the solution there's a lot C Mount and round can type diodes in there....

 

[raven7]

Sorry for the above error in the post I cannot find an edit button here... I tend to favor voice to text so my phone is like McDonald's it gives you what it wants you to have.

 

[4metals]

The stainless test reveals no gold in solution at this point..

My first thought was after all of these years another test for gold I never heard about ....... then I realized it was your spell checker! If you do not use stannous often or store it in sunlight or with too much air in the bottle, it can go bad and not give you a good result. If this is the case you should check it against a standard solution you know has gold just to be sure.

AP can dissolve Gold if there was too much oxidizer added. Your best scenario is to decant the solution and if there is no gold in there treat the waste and move on to recover the foils.

The foils are usually collected because they float free or can be otherwise collected. If the material placed in the bucket may be a hodgepodge of tangled scrap that was once plated gold. Some mixes of the insolubles are so difficult to separate the foils it becomes difficult.

In any event the foils are the values whomever gave you this pail full of mystery mix were after and will represent the lions share of it's value.

 

[raven7]

Sincerely hope that I can become the lions share owner of the assorted precious metals there hopefully still reclaimable....

Edit by Moderator.
Removed quite box from text.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Sincerely hope that I can become the lions share owner of the assorted precious metals there hopefully still reclaimable....

Edit by Moderator.
Removed quite box from text.

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