gold refining plated scrap possible 14kt

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ssharktu17

Well-known member
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Dec 10, 2021
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136
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Hello guys, I have a couple ounces of scrap plated looking stuff with possibly some 14kt mixed in. So I am getting ready refine it. I have a mixture of sulfuric and nitric that is 30/30 will that work or will I end up with some additional precipitates? Its something used in cleaning stainless pipes from calcium deposits..
 
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You should melt it all together and the gold filled or plated goods will dilute any 14K and essentially inquart it. Then a nitric sulfuric brite dip solution will eat up the base metals and put any Silver into solution as well, leaving the Gold as an insoluble to rinse and refine with aqua regia.
 
4metals said:
You should melt it all together and the gold filled or plated goods will dilute any 14K and essentially inquart it. Then a nitric sulfuric brite dip solution will eat up the base metals and put any Silver into solution as well, leaving the Gold as an insoluble to rinse and refine with aqua regia.
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Ok great just wanted to make sure the sulfuric wouldnt interfere I know thats not standard. I dont have a torch or crucible right now so Im thinking I will just toss it all in the nitric and see what I come out with. if something doesnt dissolve guess I can inquart at a future date. Im not really going for high purity just want to confirm if I have any 14kt in here and possible recover some of this plating. The acid is basically free I have a 55g drum of it.
 
Yggdrasil said:
He did, this is what is left after parting.
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Later on he said if something didn’t work out he’d just run it through AR and then inquart if necessary. I was pointing out/reminding that inquartation comes before parting. Not after.
 
This is like another thread with 14K , but then ony grams, this is ounces, i think were mixing them up.
The other thread had a blob leftover after inquarting that would not dissolve.

in this case, there is no torch or crucible available for inquarting, so he'll try nitric on all loose parts and see what's left after that.
 
Yes I see now that I mixed up the threads.
But he was planning to dissolve in Sulfuric/Nitric mix.
And then inquart at a later time.
I recommend he follows 4metals advice.
 
ssharktu17 said:
I don’t have a torch or crucible so I can’t do that. I am just trying to separate the junk from the 14kt.
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My advice would be to wait until you have a torch and melt dish. Inquarting is the first step in removing any non gold metals from your karat gold. And after you finish parting, it won’t be 14kt any more. It will be very close to 999 fine 24 kt. Not quite, but very close.
 
cejohnsonsr1 said:
My advice would be to wait until you have a torch and melt dish. Inquarting is the first step in removing any non gold metals from your karat gold. And after you finish parting, it won’t be 14kt any more. It will be very close to 999 fine 24 kt. Not quite, but very close.
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Yes I get that Ideally. but I am really just trying to do a quick filter of some scrap jewelry i found. so I went ahead and did a little nitric bath and right away the copper plated stuff went up in smoke so tossed that out. still have a few grams of stuff left that is questionable guess I will save that for inquarting at a later date.

Not really worth bothering with right now. seems like some of this is aluminum or staineless steel plated with gold which im not sure how would result with inquarting since it doesnt seem to dissolve in nitric acid.
 
You should really study up on testing. While tossing it all in nitric acid works (sort of), it's a waste of an expensive reagent. Filing a notch into an item and looking at it with a loupe would, in most cases, tell you if it's plated.

I'm not trying to scold you. Learning how to test items can save you a lot of money when you're buying, and a lot of aggravation when you're refining. The Pawnbrokers Guide to Testing Metals is a good resource. Testing Precious Metals C. M. Hoke is another. There are many other useful threads here on the forum.

Dave
 
FrugalRefiner said:
You should really study up on testing. While tossing it all in nitric acid works (sort of), it's a waste of an expensive reagent. Filing a notch into an item and looking at it with a loupe would, in most cases, tell you if it's plated.

I'm not trying to scold you. Learning how to test items can save you a lot of money when you're buying, and a lot of aggravation when you're refining. The Pawnbrokers Guide to Testing Metals is a good resource. Testing Precious Metals C. M. Hoke is another. There are many other useful threads here on the forum.

Dave
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Time is important too when I have a lot of little pieces. I have several 55g drums of this acid and I used maybe 1/8 cup so we are talking like less than 25 cents worth.
 
Ok. Wait a minute. I thought you said 14kt. Now you’re saying you don’t know for sure that it’s not plated? That makes a lot of difference. And you said you have SEVERAL BARRELS of Nitric acid? Are you absolutely certain it’s not several barrels of someone else’s waste solution?
 
cejohnsonsr1 said:
Ok. Wait a minute. I thought you said 14kt. Now you’re saying you don’t know for sure that it’s not plated? That makes a lot of difference. And you said you have SEVERAL BARRELS of Nitric acid? Are you absolutely certain it’s not several barrels of someone else’s waste solution?
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plated stuff with 14kt mixed in like pieces of earrings stems, some earrings some small chains fragments etc. yes a lot of barrels of it. It worked to dissolve sterling easily and cemented out with copper.
 

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