AP Colour Question

[user 72646]

It is not a drop/precipitation so much as it is the effect of cementation. As the gold goes into solution the copper ( or base metal) on the boards cement it back out. This is very fine powders so fine that the gold appears brown. Due to particle size it does not reflect light so we don’t see the yellow gold but only brown dust. This repeats itself until there are no base metals to cement the gold out, or there is mainly copper in solution to keep the gold from going into solution to begin with.

Most will decant the AP from the foils and wash with water until they are working with fairly clean foils/gold, then go to AR. Some will filter the AP and then add the filter and contents to AR. Each has its uses, experience will teach when one is preferred over the other.

AP or copper (ll) chloride is the more proper name, can be a powerful solution when working with the right materials. To the beginner it is the easiest solution to learn and very useful to the advanced users as well.

When your AP goes very dark, take a spoonful and add a drop of peroxide at a time and see if it turns green. If it turns green add oxygen to the solution. If no, add HCl. For real in-depth understanding look up the information that Lazersteve has about it. It is well worth the read.

Dude, this has occurred to the letter...the brown sands are present thanks for tip.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi
it was hcl & bleach for 24 hours, then hcl & hydrogen peroxide for 5 days. both with bubbler>
first stage (first 24 hours) would dissolve some gold second stage (5 days) would dislodge foils?

This is where i am currently. My studies have revealed that hcl and hydrogen peroxide dissolves gold as does hcl and bleach?

So i see these two processes as having the capacity to dissolve gold and dislodge foils

i will reprocess electronic items with hcl & bubbler only, to detach any stubborn foils.

MM

You should stow your chemicals and study more.
Why did you start with HCl Bleach, it do not make sense.
No use for bubbler in HCl Bleach, so why did you do this?

What strength Peroxide did you use and how much?
Did you add new HCl?
To detach stubborn foils we use a squirt/spray bottle with water and put the item back into the AP.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Dude, this has occurred to the letter...the brown sands are present thanks for tip.

There is no way there is this much Gold in the the material you have described.
I suspect Iron Hydroxides and a minute amount of Gold.
Have you measured your pH?
How about pictures of your raw material?

 

[Martijn]

Dude, this has occurred to the letter...the brown sands are present thanks for tip.

Did these brown sands come from AP? or after precipitating with SMB?
I feel you are mixing up a recovery process (AP) with a refining process (HCl + H2O2), partially due to the confusing Acid Peroxide misconceptions of H2O2 use as a starter for AP or to oxidize the AP to aid faster conversion of CuCl.

 

[Shark]

As Martin and Yggdrasil has said, it is not all gold. It will be next to impossible to guess accurately how much is gold and how much is trash. This is mainly due to being in a rush before understanding how each tiny step interacts with the others. My guess is this contains some or all of the different metals you started with, not impossible to fix, but it does is a waste of time and chemicals to go this route versus following awell thought out plan getting the steps right.

Now, sit this aside as it is. Search the forum for “shiny gold”. This will lead you into getting the trash out of your mixture and leave you with some nice gold. Although it may be a lot less than you were hoping for, it should look like gold when done.

 

[user 72646]

Hi Shark,

As you stated the AP has now gone dark from a green/blue to a very dark blue almost black colour.

Again, the advice you have given is exact to the letter.

I will add some peroxide to activate for second batch of processing.

Thanks Again, great experience great communications and examples.

Peace
MM

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi Shark,

As you stated the AP has now gone dark from a green/blue to a very dark blue almost black colour.

Again, the advice you have given is exact to the letter.

I will add some peroxide to activate for second batch of processing.

Thanks Again, great experience great communications and examples.

Peace
MM

No need for Peroxide, Oxygen from the bubbler will do it.

 

[Shark]

No need for Peroxide, Oxygen from the bubbler will do it.

 

[user 72646]

Hi all

I have some filters with various levels of stray materials.

the close ups show a movement from golden to brown green in the colour of filtered sands

the sands were a result of hcl and bleach on various electronic items 1.3kg around 3lbs

this was for 24 hours on a bubbler followed by 5 days of hcl and peroxide on the bubbler.

as the filters have different levels of debris other than gold sands, would it best to process separately ?

for cleaning these sands I was considering small amount of caustic soda solution,
but was unsure about all at the same time because of varying quality the sands.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi all

I have some filters with various levels of stray materials.

the close ups show a movement from golden to brown green in the colour of filtered sands

the sands were a result of hcl and bleach on various electronic items 1.3kg around 3lbs

this was for 24 hours on a bubbler followed by 5 days of hcl and peroxide on the bubbler.

as the filters have different levels of debris other than gold sands, would it best to process separately ?

for cleaning these sands I was considering small amount of caustic soda solution,
but was unsure about all at the same time because of varying quality the sands.

Why do you spread your posts around like this, this post belongs with the other regarding the same material, so please keep it together,
I have moved it for you.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi all

I have some filters with various levels of stray materials.

the close ups show a movement from golden to brown green in the colour of filtered sands

the sands were a result of hcl and bleach on various electronic items 1.3kg around 3lbs

this was for 24 hours on a bubbler followed by 5 days of hcl and peroxide on the bubbler.

as the filters have different levels of debris other than gold sands, would it best to process separately ?

for cleaning these sands I was considering small amount of caustic soda solution,
but was unsure about all at the same time because of varying quality the sands.

You have still not explained what you put in your bath, only electronic items.
Pictures and more detail please.

Next you have not explained why you put it in HCl/Bleach and bubbler, the only reason for HCl/Bleach is to dissolve Gold.
And no, I am sure no one has recommended that in this forum.

You should not have put it in filters, just sprayed it off, let it settle and then siphoned off the liquid.

Anyway, put it in HCl again and drip Bleach in it drop by drop while stirring,
let it sit a while under a lid and then drip again until nothing more dissolves.

If there is Gold in there it will dissolve, just make sure there are plenty of HCl.
And test with Stannous often.

 

[user 72646]

No need for Peroxide, Oxygen from the bubbler will do it.

Hi
I see what you mean by siphoned versus filtered.
the filter took all the rubbish with the gold sands, whereas a siphon would have kept separate (example in images).
the materials are varied as per image. but each of the items had a gold plate of some kind, the materials was chosen for what each piece had. so 80-90% of items had a tiny element of plating 1.3kg

in terms of gold solution and how it is we arrive at solution
eg HCL Bubbler, AR or any other method, does the method of dropping gold differ?

would SMB drop suit an AR and not a HCL and bleach acquisition of gold solution?

that is, would you get different results using smb on solution made up of HCL & Bleach?

MM

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi
I see what you mean by siphoned versus filtered.
the filter took all the rubbish with the gold sands, whereas a siphon would have kept separate (example in images).
the materials are varied as per image. but each of the items had a gold plate of some kind, the materials was chosen for what each piece had. so 80-90% of items had a tiny element of plating 1.3kg

in terms of gold solution and how it is we arrive at solution
eg HCL Bubbler, AR or any other method, does the method of dropping gold differ?

would SMB drop suit an AR and not a HCL and bleach acquisition of gold solution?

that is, would you get different results using smb on solution made up of HCL & Bleach?

MM

1.3 Kg of this material will yield almost invisible amounts of Gold, I doubt there will be as much as one gram.
SMB must be used in acidic solutions preferably lower then 2-4 pH
But besides that it is usable in all solutions.
Your mud/sands look more like hydroxides than anything else and would have formed when you added too much Bleach.
Maybe try to dissolve in less fluids and do test your liquids with Stannous.