solar_plasma
Well-known member
I dont know, where to post this topic, but since it means safety-concerns to me, I post it here.
I processed maybe 500g gold-plated stuff like old transistors, pins and one broken button by a sulfuric cell. Worked fine. Yielded 1,2g Au (not refined). The button (german marine, before 1945) was fire-gilded and its gold-plating was obviously much thicker than everything else I tried. I have more of those, but since I ve found different informations in the net, some say, there is no Hg left in hard-gilding, others say, there is left amalgam between the Au-surface and the Cu-ground, - am I not so sure anymore if I want to process the other buttons.
I didnt find anything about it in this forum, so now I ask you. Hg or not Hg in fire-gilded? Will it preticipate as anode-mud, maybe as newly formed goldamalgam or will it build Hg-ions in the solution?
Short about myself: german, teacher (chemistry, physics / highschool), hazmat squad leader in the volunteer fire-brigade, my few experiences with precious metals recycling: reverse electroplating of Au and Ag, AR-method with CPUs and Ram-fingers, HNO3 on Ag-plated - 2,3g Au and 30g Ag
I processed maybe 500g gold-plated stuff like old transistors, pins and one broken button by a sulfuric cell. Worked fine. Yielded 1,2g Au (not refined). The button (german marine, before 1945) was fire-gilded and its gold-plating was obviously much thicker than everything else I tried. I have more of those, but since I ve found different informations in the net, some say, there is no Hg left in hard-gilding, others say, there is left amalgam between the Au-surface and the Cu-ground, - am I not so sure anymore if I want to process the other buttons.
I didnt find anything about it in this forum, so now I ask you. Hg or not Hg in fire-gilded? Will it preticipate as anode-mud, maybe as newly formed goldamalgam or will it build Hg-ions in the solution?
Short about myself: german, teacher (chemistry, physics / highschool), hazmat squad leader in the volunteer fire-brigade, my few experiences with precious metals recycling: reverse electroplating of Au and Ag, AR-method with CPUs and Ram-fingers, HNO3 on Ag-plated - 2,3g Au and 30g Ag
