HELP noob from atl here

[drifterguru]

hey guys quick ? i rushed in this like an idoit and now i hit a wall. but anyway i processed a bunch of old cell phone boards, took the time at least to read up on the subject and i feel im doing a good job for my first time. so my ? is i have recovered the silver from my mix and now i have this dark green liquid and i cant get the gold to drop out of it? i have some theories but i would really like to discuss this with somebody. i think i might be to safe or something. lol but its dark green so i think it might be copper in the mix but im clueless. help please! i have all the things i need SMB,AR,lab grade glassware, the only thing i think is suspect is my heat source it's a coleman propane stove. i cant get a hot plate yet. any help is greatly appreciated. i have been trying to do this for 2 years, this is the first try and i want to make gold not lose it..

 

[Meh]

I'm a noob too, so take it for what it's worth:

What did you use to dissolve your metals?

It sounds like you used AR, but you haven't said so.

Assuming you did use AR:
Is there still active nitric, or have you either boiled it off or neutralized with urea?

Did you test your solution with stannous to determine if you actually have any gold in solution?

Al

 

[drifterguru]

yes it was AR, and see heres the thing i started this extracting experment back in mid dec. i had to go up north for the christmas thing so its just been sitting since then and to tell you the truth i dont have even have the stannous yet, so i have to get that. as far as the nitric i assume i boiled it away now i put it on a coleman propane stove for like 2 or 3 hours, i dont know how long i was supposed to boil it for. any help there would be nice. whats urea? i would like to thimk there gold in there it's not on the boards anymore. i guess i have to spend more money huh?

 

[philddreamer]

You should never boil your nitric, you heat it until the solution starts to evaporate.
Drifter, it sounds like you haven't done enough reading yet to be experimenting. You must know ahead of time the steps you'll have to take so you don't run into problems; & if you do, at least have an idea of what to do to correct it.

Here's some info.:
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=11945&p=120908&hilit=evaporating+nitric#p120891

Take care & be safe!

Phil

 

[Meh]

Try cementing your gold values out with copper.

It won't be terribly pure, because of other metals that may drop.

Suggest some HCL and distilled water washes - detailed procedure is somewhere here on the forum. This should remove any tin that gets dropped

Then dissolve the gold again, perhaps using the HCL-CL process.

Shouldn't have to spend much to accomplish this.

Oh, and like Phil said, a bit more reading wouldn't hurt - I'm still reading/planning, not doing until the workshop and fume hood are built.

Al

 

[drifterguru]

thanks you guys i will read more things ask more ?'s here and get the stannous and get back to you

 

[Harold_V]

thanks you guys i will read more things ask more ?'s here and get the stannous and get back to you

Not a lot you've said makes any sense.

How did you recover silver?
How do you know it's silver?
Did you address base metals, or are you caught up in the BS that is promoted almost everywhere (except here) whereby you dissolve with AR and *poof*, like magic, you get gold?

Stop what you're doing and read Hoke's book, so you'll gain a basic understanding of the basics of refining.
Don't touch your material until you have stannous chloride. Frankly, I can't believe anyone would even think of dissolving values when they had no means to know if they had, or not. Stannous chloride is NOT a luxury, something to use if you feel like it. Like your eye sight, which you use to know where you are, it is used to make determinations of where you are in the refining process. To work without it is to give those of us that may be able to help you, to avoid even reading your posts. How can we help you with a problem when you don't know what the problem is?

Read Hoke.

Did I mention you should read Hoke?

Harold

 

[drifterguru]

well when the AR was cooling down it says to put ice in it which i did and it droped out. i filtered it and its not a lot but it looks like silver have not tested it. how could i cheaply? reading holt

 

[drifterguru]

hoke sorry alot of my other textbooks are holt lol

 

[drifterguru]

and thats one of the reasons i joined this site so i could have my ?'s answered, people to talk to about stuff having to do with lab safety,where to buy stuff online and so forth. so please dont put me down.

 

[nickvc]

All of the problems your encountering have been covered many times here on the forum and usually due to the same reasons your presenting now. You really need to fully understand the whole process and in this case you don't so expect a rebuke and accept it, it's for your own good.
The forum exists to promote safe and tried and tested methods to recover and refine most precious metals and it's all here for free, you just have to do your part and do some studying, in fact a lot of studying, but the purpose in that is that you will then understand what you did wrong in your first experiment and to be able to avoid the same mistakes a second time.
Many of the members on the forum came to the forum in the same position and got the same sort of reply and are now skilled and accomplished recoverers and refiners of precious metals and now proudly show pictures of their buttons for us all to admire,it can be done but we won't hold your hand and walk you through the processes from start to finish.
Put your chemicals away and do your studies, use the search function to look for answers to questions you have, read the safety section, visit lasersteves site and download the forum handbooks and read them too. If you really can't find an answer or just don't understand a point, then post a question, it will be answered.

 

[butcher]

drifterguru,
We all welcome you to the forum, nobody has put you down, they are trying to steer you in the right direction, you were going the wrong way on a one way street, by listening to what they told you, you will get back on the right road to getting your gold.

See the general chat section read the welcome for new members, make note of the general reaction list.

In the book section you will find a download for Hoke's book.

Find a post by Laser Steve; follow his link to his Website.

Samuel-a also has a Website with video and tutorials.

The forum has thousands of posts and information it is just a goldmine full of gems of just about everything related to precious metals recovery and refining.

Many members have provided information for you.

You just got too excited and thought it was just too easy, and you skipped the most important part, which is learning how to fly, before taking that airplane up into the sky.

It is not easy in the beginning there is so much to learn, and you may get confused at first, but if you keep studying and before you know it things will begin to get more clear, take your time, do not just run out and buy every thing you think you need, wait until you know what supplies you need, learn as best you can what the scrap you purchase is worth, try to get any electronic scrap as close to free as you can, if you buy higher value scrap like karat gold lean how to test the value and calculate the gold content and value.

Understand a process before you begin, study all you can about that process, study the safety of the acids, fumes and other dangers involved, understand how you will deal with wastes safely (under safety section study dealing with wastes), you have much work to do to get a small bit of gold.

If you think your going to get rich from it, and that it will pay for all of your time and trouble, (look for a job at McDonald’s hamburger shop they pay better wages by the hour, than you will get from electronic scrap, after you learn you can make some money but it will not amount to that much, I am not trying to discourage you gold is just not always the easy road to Rich’s most think it is, it takes a lot of work to make money from it.

Good luck, and have fun studying, there is just so many gems (of information) to find.

 

[Harold_V]

and thats one of the reasons i joined this site so i could have my ?'s answered, people to talk to about stuff having to do with lab safety,where to buy stuff online and so forth. so please dont put me down.

Do not misunderstand. You are nowhere near being ready to do any refining. What you have been instructed to do is intended to steer you the right direction.

Understand that we can not, and do not, hold anyone's hand here. It is up to them to do their part---to learn the basics of refining. That's why you have been admonished to read Hoke's book. It is written so the novice, one that has no clue, can understand the processes involved, and to learn some of the terminology that is related to refining. Without those things, you waste not only your time, but ours.

Do keep in mind---two things don't fly here, and will get you banned if you persist. One of them is an entitlement attitude. None of us owe anyone anything, nor is this a place where you can collect anything. Knowledge is the sole exception, and we hand it out freely. It is up to you to absorb, however. We can't make you do that. The other thing that will put you at odds with not only readers, but moderators, is to ask simple questions, questions that make it pefectly clear that you are doing nothing to learn---that you hope to be spoon fed. If you create that illusion, your time here will not be pleasant.

I asked you about silver. While what you described may have been silver, it may well not have been, too. Lead, for example, will precipitate from a nitrate solution simply by cooling.
Silver and gold will typically not be in an acid solution together, with the sole exception of minute traces of silver. The phenomenon is well known, and, as you suggested, precipitates upon cooling, or even upon dilution. Trouble is, you can't be assured it's silver because other elements, too, behave in a similar fashion. If there was no silver in the source material, you obviously don't have any.

Start reading Hoke, and put your experiments on hold. As you gain knowledge, most of these things will start to make sense. Don't cop an attitude--all you'll do is alienate yourself from the readers. Most of these guys have dedicated a great deal of their time acquiring the knowledge they possess----they deserve the respect they've earned in the process. To assume you can walk in and find yourself in the same position without expending any effort isn't fair to them, nor you.

Harold

Edit:
Damned good job of advising, butcher.