Aqua Regia method with 12-13% Ag _inquart_

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The impurities are copper and silver as expected. I see the gold is stuck together and holds together nicely. The gold at this point should crumble with little effort. If you were to break up the pieces to smaller chunks, you may get even better penetration with the second parting acid as the acid can penetrate easier. A solid glass rod will effectively break up smaller lots.

If you want the best purity for your efforts refine once in aqua regia and do not melt it before you digest it in AR. It should digest very quickly.
I am currently having problem with fume. Althought I believe most of the fume are treated. Some still leak somewhere. I can smell it, not too much to bear but (the smell indicates it) there is still acid fume floating around.
The next day I see my PH papers on my desk turn light pink, there is still acid fume floating around.
 
I am currently having problem with fume. Althought I believe most of the fume are treated. Some still leak somewhere. I can smell it, not too much to bear but (the smell indicates it) there is still acid fume floating around.
The next day I see my PH papers on my desk turn light pink, there is still acid fume floating around.
How good is your suction?
Where is your exhausts?
Are you sure they are clean and not sucked back inside?
Add a moist litmus paper on each joint.
 
I am currently having problem with fume. Althought I believe most of the fume are treated. Some still leak somewhere. I can smell it, not too much to bear but (the smell indicates it) there is still acid fume floating around.
The next day I see my PH papers on my desk turn light pink, there is still acid fume floating around.
It is nice to see your journey to success. :)
 
I want to know about sodium hydroxide may used as sodium oxide in eco goldex e series.Please tell me,Sir.
Welcome to us.
You are adding a completely unrelated post to an existing thread.
Additionally it is a post regarding a Cyanide leach in a thread regarding AR.
Combine these two and you will most likely die.

I will delete this post in a few minutes and send you a PM in the mean time.
 
I am currently having problem with fume.
I looked at your video of the scrubber you built closely and realized that while your scrubber does provide visible fume extraction, it does not provide adequate exhaust for operating a refining operation.

On closer look what I do not see is the hood exhaust. When a refining hood is set up the preferred method is to have 2 actual forms of exhaust. The first is considered fugitive emissions by the EPA. What that means is any fumes that escape your scrubber. That can be the fumes when you filter a solution or when you open and pour your acids or any other refining task. These fumes are minimal and with an acceptable flow rate passing through your hood they never cause an issue. But without that constant exhaust of air, those fumes will build up as you noticed.
Some still leak somewhere. I can smell it, not too much to bear but (the smell indicates it) there is still acid fume floating around.
The next day I see my PH papers on my desk turn light pink, there is still acid fume floating around.
If left to linger in your workspace it will start to do things like peel paint off the wall, rust any steel, and many other slow to develop issues. The pH papers on your desk are an early indicator. When you are refining or treating waste or just have open containers of refining liquors in the hood it should be running.

The second form of exhaust is scrubbed emissions. That is air which passes through the fume scrubber after it is treated. You seem to have that issue taken care of for your small scale testing.

So I believe your issue is you only have 1 of the 2 necessary exhausts for your particular situation.

There are many threads on the forum about building exhaust hoods and you should find a method that works for your setup. But do not ignore this because it is a slow type of corrosion you are seeing. If you noticed it when processing small samples, it will be come very obvious (and dangerous) when you process large lots. Your health and the health of your workers should be a #1 priority.
 
I am processing a bigger lot today than the previous day. Around 1 oz of pure gold
I notice there a some "metallic" looking of piece that make it really hard for nitric to eat into
For example this piece
20240217_154749.jpg
While every other pieces are settled and I see no reaction. This particular piece still reacts but wirh a much slower pace. I tried to split it by a glass rod but it appeared very hard.
 
I am processing a bigger lot today than the previous day. Around 1 oz of pure gold
I notice there a some "metallic" looking of piece that make it really hard for nitric to eat into
For example this piece
View attachment 61655
While every other pieces are settled and I see no reaction. This particular piece still reacts but wirh a much slower pace. I tried to split it by a glass rod but it appeared very hard.
You probably didn't manage to get the melt homogeneous enough.
So this part has too high Gold content for the Nitric to reach the Silver.
Take it out and put it into the next batch, or hammer it really flat and cut it to fine strips.
Then put it back after twisting them.
 
You probably didn't manage to get the melt homogeneous enough.
So this part has too high Gold content for the Nitric to reach the Silver.
Take it out and put it into the next batch, or hammer it really flat and cut it to fine strips.
Then put it back after twisting them.
I used an induction furnance
Melted the gold with copper, to the point they became a button in the bottom of the crucible
Then pour it out to water
 
Melted the gold with copper, to the point they became a button in the bottom of the crucible
I can honestly say I have never inquarted gold with copper. I usually use either fine silver, cement silver, or sterling silver. Never straight copper.

Form your results I guess you can see that it kinda works with copper but it really works with Silver.

Probably as Ygg suggested, the copper didn't mix thoroughly because you poured it too soon? Or because you didn't shot it small enough.

Your silver reserves will build up soon enough so you can always use silver and get the results you experienced the first time.
 
I can honestly say I have never inquarted gold with copper. I usually use either fine silver, cement silver, or sterling silver. Never straight copper.

Form your results I guess you can see that it kinda works with copper but it really works with Silver.

Probably as Ygg suggested, the copper didn't mix thoroughly because you poured it too soon? Or because you didn't shot it small enough.

Your silver reserves will build up soon enough so you can always use silver and get the results you experienced the first time.
I recall that I poured the shot too soon. Most of the inquarted gold became a big mass that I had to cut it into 3 smaller pieces. I noticed the big pieces are very hard to dissolve. And they have metallic suface that I believe is gold.
 
Xrf result
View attachment 61659
One hopeful result is there is almost no gold lost after xrf
Today I proceed this piece using AR method.
There is not many problem since I began with a very low %Ag content.IMG_1708252318475_1708252458227.jpg
As expected the liquid is light greenish yellow
IMG_1708252344022_1708252460849.jpg
I used sulfamic acid to denox and SMB to drop gold
IMG_1708252344105_1708252462613.jpg
I didn't know how much SMB to add so I added it till the liquid became clear
IMG_1708252351126_1708252466159.jpg
This is the result
IMG_UPLOAD_20240218_165339.jpg
Xrf read 99.99, machine is Vanta Gx SDD, brand is Olympus
IMG_1708252767640_1708252770253.jpg
 
Today I proceed this piece using AR method.
There is not many problem since I began with a very low %Ag content.View attachment 61671
As expected the liquid is light greenish yellow
View attachment 61672
I used sulfamic acid to denox and SMB to drop gold
View attachment 61673
I didn't know how much SMB to add so I added it till the liquid became clear
View attachment 61674
This is the result
View attachment 61675
Xrf read 99.99, machine is Vanta Gx SDD, brand is Olympus
View attachment 61676
Super.
This thread is going good.
And the button looks really nice :)
 
I didn't know how much SMB to add so I added it till the liquid became clear

Once you get enough experience with the process you can see a color shift in the green acid when all of the gold is dropped. The green goes from a bright green to a dull green. It’s subtle and in no way eliminates a need for stannous, but it is noticeable.
 

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