COTTAGE CHEESE

[bahabully]

Some time ago, after a day of sluicing in 'no gold creek' I took the heavies from the sluice and processed them directly into AR. AND... it made cottage cheese.

Kept this, didn't know what it was, but in reading more I think it is silver chloride. Will not dissolve in HCL.... Could it be anything else ? or most likely silver chloride. I heard sunlight decomposes it, so I left it outside for a week, but it is still mostly cottage cheese...

Any ideas ?

 

[Yggdrasil]

Some time ago, after a day of sluicing in 'no gold creek' I took the heavies from the sluice and processed them directly into AR. AND... it made cottage cheese.

Kept this, didn't know what it was, but in reading more I think it is silver chloride. Will not dissolve in HCL.... Could it be anything else ? or most likely silver chloride. I heard sunlight decomposes it, so I left it outside for a week, but it is still mostly cottage cheese...

Any ideas ?

Silver do not dissolve in AR, just minute amounts not to be seen.
It is something else, there are many salts not soluble in HCl all of them toxic, some extremely toxic.
YOU really need to STOP this before you hurt yourself or others.

 

[bahabully]

Silver do not dissolve in AR, just minute amounts not to be seen.
It is something else, there are many salts not soluble in HCl all of them toxic, some extremely toxic.
YOU really need to STOP this before you hurt yourself or others.

I don't know what it is, but it did not precipitate when SMB was added. It precipitated right in the AR when I diluted it with water,,, I just left it in there and collected it as a precipitate because I saw other threads where silver chloride had precip'ed in AR as well.

What other toxic and extremely toxic precipitates can form in AR that present themselves as white fluffy cottage cheese ? I ask because if there is a chance this is not silver chloride then I will dispose of it rather than try to process it for silver.

 

[olawlor]

Your "cottage cheese" looks like silica to me--silica will not dissolve in aqua regia, and neither will a variety of other common rock-forming minerals like mica or graphite.

Regarding toxic precipitates, I understand that under the right circumstances mercury chloride can precipitate like silver chloride.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I don't know what it is, but it did not precipitate when SMB was added. It precipitated right in the AR when I diluted it with water,,, I just left it in there and collected it as a precipitate because I saw other threads where silver chloride had precip'ed in AR as well.

What other toxic and extremely toxic precipitates can form in AR that present themselves as white fluffy cottage cheese ? I ask because if there is a chance this is not silver chloride then I will dispose of it rather than try to process it for silver.

I don't know what it is.
But highly unlikely that it is SIlver Chloride.
Take 1/4 of a teaspoon and add some liquid Lye to it.
Report back what happens.

 

[bahabully]

I don't know what it is.
But highly unlikely that it is SIlver Chloride.
Take 1/4 of a teaspoon and add some liquid Lye to it.
Report back what happens.

 

[bahabully]

Got Liquid Lye in mail yesterday.... What'cha think ?

HCL didn't do anything... Lye appears to have dissolved a minority of this (not all) into a white cloud.

Dispose of it ?

 

[Yggdrasil]

Got Liquid Lye in mail yesterday.... What'cha think ?

HCL didn't do anything... Lye appears to have dissolved a minority of this (not all) into a white cloud.

Dispose of it ?

Your Cottage Cheese has nothing with Silver to do. If it turned black it would be because the Chloride was converted to Oxide.
So yes, dispose in a safe matter.