Just found the site and registered. It seemed polite to follow the instructions to say hello. I am a chemist nearing retirement and found a gold refining video on YouTube about three years ago. I am wondering if it might be a worthwhile interest or hobby. Something to do which would give satisfaction and possibly pay for itself. One google search later and I am here as a result of pricing aqua regia. It's fascinating how google works. Sentience seems to be around the corner for the worlds most popular search engine
Anyway, hello one and all. I am looking forward to reading past posts and picking your collective brains. Thank you for allowing me to join you. I appreciate it.
Hi
also as chemist, I must say that there is something strangely fascinating about chemistry of precious metals. In some ways I would say addictive - mainly for passionate chemists who like experimenting a lot.
As somebody with chemistry skills - you would find that basic gold and silver refining is relatively easy and straightforward. Not saying that it always work as planned, but things that can go wrong (and they many times will) are easily fixed by someone with basic chemistry knowledge.
Being familiar with operations like filtrations, precipitations, boiling/refluxing etc. is another great advantage. And many times, chemists by profession can acquire some starter glassware kit much easier than somebody resorted to buying it all of it (not cheap) from abroad, and getting 1/4 of the packages shattered to pieces
As last advice -
do not stick to the textbook examples and reactions too much. Surely, most of them is based on the truth and experiements, but they can lack very major explanations and do/don´ts. With precious metals, you want to go to completion and recover >99% of the material, as it is very expensive. Here on the forum,
there is great list of threads discussing particular chemical extractions of precious metals which are proven and working, with known risks and safety precautions. Many manuals are written how to perform certain extractions and raffinations, even with photos and videos. Feel free to ask, and we encourage new members to propose their refining plot and share with experienced refiners here, which can point some pitfalls and culprits, resolve them and suggest the best procedure according to their experience. This I find one of the best things - you can ask actual professionals here, and many are more than keen to help you for free