gold recovery from gold filed

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wood4lif

Active member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
43
ive been processsing gold from gold filled items on a regular basis for a while now. the last several times ive tried to shorten the time it takes to recover the gold and then refining it by just seeking a karat value with out the extra work of refining.its easy to seperate the foils out of the filter, but it seems that most of the values are mixed in with the fine sediment with silver and lead.my question is,what would be the best approach to seperate the silver and lead from the gold with out having to run it through AR ?
i need to mention my process of recovery is done with a 50/50 nitric solution. thanks
 
wood4lif said:
ive been processsing gold from gold filled items on a regular basis for a while now. the last several times ive tried to shorten the time it takes to recover the gold and then refining it by just seeking a karat value with out the extra work of refining.its easy to seperate the foils out of the filter, but it seems that most of the values are mixed in with the fine sediment with silver and lead.my question is,what would be the best approach to seperate the silver and lead from the gold with out having to run it through AR ?
i need to mention my process of recovery is done with a 50/50 nitric solution. thanks
Click to expand...
I know of no process that will accomplish your task. If you have no concern for the quality, melt with adequate flux and settle for what you get. There are no magic bullets. You either refine, or you don't.

Do be advised, if your recovered gold contains lead, it will be, for all practical purposes, useless. Lead destroys gold's properties, and it takes very little to do so. It is for that reason that you are well off to refine, unless your sole objective is to concentrate the values for resale to a refiner. Nothing wrong with that idea if that's your goal.

Harold
 
there never seems to be a magic bullet. yes as you know lead is and has been a problem with gold filled stock, for me anyway. ive learned much since ive started this, but still not enough to avoid foolish questions.
heres one more,in what sequence should the lead, silver and gold be dropped from solution?
 
wood4lif said:
in what sequence should the lead, silver and gold be dropped from solution?
Click to expand...
Assuming you started your processing with nitric acid, the lead and silver should already be separated from the gold, although you can expect trace amounts to remain. The lead content is likely to be low, but if you're concerned, precipitate the silver as silver chloride, using a little HCl or rock salt. Keep the solution hot, so any lead that is present will remain in solution. When the silver chloride settles, you can siphon off the solution, leaving behind the silver chloride.

As far as residual lead and silver (as silver nitrate) that remains with the gold, dissolve the gold (after rinsing well with hot water). The action of dissolving the gold will precipitate the vast majority of silver as silver chloride. Any lead that remains can be precipitated as lead sulfate by the addition of a few drops of sulfuric acid to the solution, after all of the gold has been dissolved. Lead sulfate is not soluble, so it will be removed from the solution upon filtration, as will the traces of silver chloride.

Harold
 
ok thanks harold,thats is how ive been seperating the lead.i il use your advise with the silver. thanks again
 

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