cloomis
Well-known member
i have a nutrilized ar mix of 2.34g of gold and 3,2g of zink .How should i procedd to recover the gold/the mix is purple?I tested the mix and its positive for gold and the zink didnt percipate any thing yet
gold bearing zink
- Thread starter cloomis
- Start date
Help Support Gold Refining Forum:
cloomis
Well-known member
i ran a batch of gold leaf in ar and then nutrilized it,
Then i took 4 2007 pennys held with plyers and hit them with a torch wich melted and the zink seperated from the copper in the pennys ,then i added the zink to the ar mix and it fizzed and got hot .
The gold bearing solution was tested and showed positive for gold as it should.
Now the mix turned a grayish purple and no percipatate
MMM hope this helps
Then i took 4 2007 pennys held with plyers and hit them with a torch wich melted and the zink seperated from the copper in the pennys ,then i added the zink to the ar mix and it fizzed and got hot .
The gold bearing solution was tested and showed positive for gold as it should.
Now the mix turned a grayish purple and no percipatate
MMM hope this helps
By neutralizing it, do you mean with urea or with an alkali (NaOH, Na2CO3, etc.)? It sounds like you still have a lot of free acid left. The zinc won't drop the gold as long as there is free aqua regia.
What was the source of the gold leaf? If it came from EBay, the odds are about 99 to 1 that the "gold leaf" contains no gold.
What was the source of the gold leaf? If it came from EBay, the odds are about 99 to 1 that the "gold leaf" contains no gold.
cloomis
Well-known member
i added urea just like any other time i process ar,the gold leaf is leafing from a local jewler i deal with .it is gold and tests possitive .
the mix was the pretty yellow before i added zink to it
ps this is not gold leaf like on ebay
the mix was the pretty yellow before i added zink to it
ps this is not gold leaf like on ebay
How many sheets of gold leaf did you dissolve? What was the karat of the gold leaf. How much aqua regia did you use. The purple sounds like colloidal gold. One 3-3/8" X 3-3/8" sheet of 23K gold leaf contains only about .012 grams of gold. If you used more than a few drops of aqua regia, per sheet of gold leaf, it would be easy for that small amount of gold to get lost in the shuffle. Theoretically, it would take about 2 drops to dissolve a sheet. Since you dissolved about 10 grams of zinc, you had a hell of a lot more AR than that. Gold leaf is tricky and it's not the best thing to learn on.
cloomis
Well-known member
2.3 grams of leaf in 60ml ar i dissolved the 6 leafes 1 at a time because of mass it looked like alot ya know .
the leaf was claimed to be 22k.
I used 3.2grams of zink ,i dry weigh everytimng
the leaf was claimed to be 22k.
I used 3.2grams of zink ,i dry weigh everytimng
Something is wrong, somewhere. The total weight of six sheets of real 22K leaf will not be more than 0.1 grams - never! This would only take about 0.4 ml of aqua regia to dissolve it. Was the leaf stuck to paper (patent leaf) or, were the sheets separate? Was paper included in the weight? If the sheets were bigger than 3-3/8" square, you had imitation gold leaf containing zero gold. Can you provide the brand of the leaf?
I'm not convinced you had real gold. The color sounds right and you said it tested positive, but the leaf weight is way off, unless paper was part of the weight.
You definitely used way too much acid and that could cause very tiny amounts of gold to drop through the cracks. I can also see the paper and the zinc contributing to this.
I'm not convinced you had real gold. The color sounds right and you said it tested positive, but the leaf weight is way off, unless paper was part of the weight.
You definitely used way too much acid and that could cause very tiny amounts of gold to drop through the cracks. I can also see the paper and the zinc contributing to this.
cloomis
Well-known member
yes this included the set paper,so until the paper dryes fully i wont know the weight of the waxy paper that is alot thicker than the gold leaf.i dont know the brand .
the sheets are 4 1/4 by 4 1/4, i did not incenerate first .so in they went and out came paper i did rince the paper .
the sheets are 4 1/4 by 4 1/4, i did not incenerate first .so in they went and out came paper i did rince the paper .
cloomis
Well-known member
i went online and now because of the comment of size you made i think this could be immatation leafing ,but could there be traces of real gold in theses explaining the positive test?and no percipatated gold! I also found 23k ediable gold sheets taht were larger but that would not make any sence either
I looked up edible gold leaf and could find nothing larger than 3-3/8" square. Some said 3-1/8" square. Japan makes some odd size leaf, but I think it's smaller. Can you give me a link for the larger stuff you found? When you say 4-1/4" square, do you mean the paper or the leaf? I just looked at some of the patent gold leaf I have - the paper is 3-5/8" and the leaf is 3-3/8". The reason I'm locked into the size is that gold leaf around the world is very consistent, in size, weight, and thickness, with very few exceptions.
Assuming the gold is real, I think you can understand the problems you might have, in getting the gold, when working with such minute amounts in a large excess of acid. You've complicated the recovery by using urea, having paper containing rouge in the mix, dissolving lots of zinc, and using way too much acid. Oftentimes, when dropping gold with SMB, 100% of the gold didn't drop out. I would still see very small traces of gold powder precipitating after several days. I would consider that the amount of gold you're after is a trace.
BTW, be very careful when melting zinc with a hot torch. The zinc fumes and "zinc cobwebs" can be very damaging to your lungs.
Assuming the gold is real, I think you can understand the problems you might have, in getting the gold, when working with such minute amounts in a large excess of acid. You've complicated the recovery by using urea, having paper containing rouge in the mix, dissolving lots of zinc, and using way too much acid. Oftentimes, when dropping gold with SMB, 100% of the gold didn't drop out. I would still see very small traces of gold powder precipitating after several days. I would consider that the amount of gold you're after is a trace.
BTW, be very careful when melting zinc with a hot torch. The zinc fumes and "zinc cobwebs" can be very damaging to your lungs.
cloomis
Well-known member
Thanks about fumes ,I found the dealer , its in los angelas and the product is immatation gold leaf listed as 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 and is used for guilding so this gets more interesting why would a jewler be using immatation leaf and i wont be wasting my money there anymore,im going there today to have a talk about my $35.00 he got me for mountian vally independant jewlers n conway nh the company say 88percent copper 12per zink well got my answer
