BACKYARDTOYS05,
Welcome to the forum, my advice would be to forget about using the chemicals for the time being, keep up your study with Hokes book, and reading the forum, the safety section is a must, and the topic there dealing with waste. Take the guided tour of the forum, and searching...
After you get some basic understanding, and the principles involved in recovery and refining, and you understanding of the dangers and safety procedures, and understand how to properly deal with waste, then work on the experiments in Hokes book, these will be extremely helpful in understanding many of the reactions involved.
Then start with simple processes, on an easier material to deal with, study the recovery of gold from memory fingers, and then study the refining of that gold, you can use this with what your learning with Hokes book, and the getting acquainted experiments, and learning to test solutions...
This may sound like a slow way to learn, and to get that gold, but in fact the time you spend to get the education needed first, and the understanding, will put you way ahead in the long run. Starting with chemicals before you gain an education will only delay your progress, and you will most likely put yourself and others in harms way while you lose your gold in these toxic solutions, not knowing where your gold went or the dangers you have created for yourself and others.
Welcome to this wonderful forum, where education can be rewarding, and where the education of recovery and refining of precious metals has been freely shared, a gift that man throughout history have wanted, but very few were ever lucky enough to gain, throughout history this science and art was held in secrecy or made into a mystery, to hide this art and skill from others, the education is where the gold is or other valuable metals), educating yourself helps you to acquire some of that precious metal, and to recovery and purify them, basically giving some metals to show for that valuable education you will work so hard to earn.