Hi ever'body

[johnon]

Just found this forum on google; I'm a chemist working on (relatively) non-hazardous leaches -thiosulfates and persulfates. Be lurking awhile, got lots of reading to do :lol: . Quick question - I neutralize nitric in my AR w/ NaOH (lots quicker) get a good gold drop w/ferrous sulfate; have any of you done this? Did you encounter any probs? Seems you folks know more about than I ever will. Thanks.

 

[leavemealone]

I probably do that method more than anyone on the forum,and I run into problem occasionally,but I am used to them and know what to do to take care of the problem.To keep the problems to a minimum,make sure your AR isn't too saturated with base metals and gold at the same time(easy trick to learn)and ALWAYS make sure that all of the nitrates have been neutralized prior to precipitating.Other than that you should do fine.
If you run into any little problems you can always PM(private message)me and I'll get back to you usually really fast.
Ok so welcome to the forum.
Johnny

 

[Harold_V]

Welcome to the forum, johnon.

As far as neutralizing with NaOH, it would be my opinion (please keep in mind I am not a chemist) that it's not a great idea. As I understand the situation, as you shift pH towards basic, everything in solution has the potential to precipitate. That would result in questionable quality of gold, which, in my mind, would be counterproductive.

I refined for years, always using evaporation along with consumption (adding pure gold to consume unused acid) to control free nitric. I was perfectly content with my operation.

What I know about chemistry wouldn't cover the bottom of a small thimble, so please feel free to correct anything I've said that makes no sense.

Harold

 

[johnon]

Thanks for the info. What i do is add NaOH until everything drops then add HCl dropwise until soln clears up; nitric seems to fume off. Am concerned perhaps residual N might mess up PGM drop.

 

[Harold_V]

Thanks for the info. What i do is add NaOH until everything drops then add HCl dropwise until soln clears up; nitric seems to fume off. Am concerned perhaps residual N might mess up PGM drop.

Yep, I wouldn't use that process. If you have base metals present (most assuredly you do) you tend to recycle them along with the gold. My personal preference was always to use a selective precipitation method. That alone presents more problems than you may care to deal with. I can't imagine adding to the mess. I would also be concerned that under the wrong circumstances you'd re-dissolve some of your values.

Tell you what might be a good idea for you. Read Hoke's book. Even the best educated chemist can glean a few things of value from her works---considering her sole purpose was to teach refining processes. The mechanical aspects of the processes may not be evident to some folks, who may understand, chemically, what is transpiring in refining. I was just the opposite. I get it mechanically----I just can't explain why it works.

Harold

 

[leavemealone]

I neutralize nitric in my AR w/ NaOH (lots quicker) get a good gold drop w/ferrous sulfate

I probably do that method more than anyone on the forum

I missread the chemical symbols for your reducer.I DO NOT use NaOH to neutralize the nitrates,I use urea.I apologize for the missunderstanding,and I doubt this will work effectively AT ALL.Did you read this somewhere stating that it would work?If so can you provide the info?
Johnny

 

[johnon]

I'm in CO, and i learned it from an old fella in Canon City. As i said, it seems to work for gold, but i've also gotten metallics w/NH4CL. You drop ever'thing w/NaOH but then it all goes back w/HCl addition. Am reading Hoke (thanks muchly for download) and have read Ammen; same guy had Hoke but i could never find it. This is one heckuva forum - i've learned more in the last day than in a month of Sundays.
Another question - i'm firing some cons and getting 1.2g bead from 5g but they're magnetic, soaked in nitric, just cleans 'em off ; using borax, a little silica and NaNo3 i got as nitrate of soda at the garden shop. had to grind the stuff as it came in small beads, wonder if the binder used might interfere w/firing. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[goldsilverpro]

johnon,

If I recall correctly, the use of NaOH, for this purpose, has been discussed several times on the forum (don't ask me where, though). Some claim success. I also seem to remember that there is a patent for this. As with Harold, I prefer using the old tried and true selective precipitation method.

The success of any process is determined by whether, or not, you can precipitate nearly 100% of the gold and also by it's final purity. If it's not at least 99.95%, it's not a good process. What purity do you end up with?

 

[johnon]

Sold some to a jeweler, his tests indicated high purity so he offered me 70% of spot price. good for beer money i guess.

 

[goldsilverpro]

Sold some to a jeweler, his tests indicated high purity so he offered me 70% of spot price. good for beer money i guess.

You were robbed, as I'm sure you already know.

 

[johnon]

The guy made thirteen bucks, i got cash, and i now know that part of the process works; a wash i guess.

 

[goldsilverpro]

"Professional typing by the ten-fingered is beyond my means" - J.R.R. Tolkien

I'll drink to that. Sometimes I am amazed by how fast I can type with only one finger. I wrote that 100 page book that I sell in two weeks - illustrations, corrections, and all. I've tried to use typing tutor software but, after a half hour, or so, I'm so p***ed off that I stop and wait a couple of years before I try again.

 

[jimdoc]

I actually had to take typing in high school, and don't know how I passed.The teacher would come by and put his newspaper in front of you and then check for mistakes. I got lucky when he did that with me. I am a tried and true one finger typist now.
I bet there are more one finger typists on the forum, than ten finger typists. We have precious metals to worry about, not typing skills.
Jim

 

[Palladium]

I actually had to take typing in high school, and don't know how I passed.The teacher would come by and put his newspaper in front of you and then check for mistakes. I got lucky when he did that with me. I am a tried and true one finger typist now.
I bet there are more one finger typists on the forum, than ten finger typists. We have precious metals to worry about, not typing skills.
Jim

Me !

 

[leavemealone]

so he offered me 70% of spot price

:shock: I wanna make an offer for your next nugget. :mrgreen:
Johnny

 

[goldsilverpro]

If the jeweler charged 30% and only made $13, you're going to soon be out of beer.

 

[leavemealone]

If the jeweler charged 30% and only made $13, you're going to soon be out of beer.

Hell maybe he'll let me pay him in beer.... :mrgreen:

 

[Oz]

Yea, I start feeling like a crook if I pay less than 75% of spot for even scrap karat jewelry.

I am one of those 1 finger typists. I have tried twice to learn typing with computer programs, but I have abused my hands too much with too many years of construction work and after 5 minutes the pain becomes unbearable. If I already could type, a 5 minute window would typically suffice. Trying to learn 10 finger typing with a 5 minute window, I have found impossible.

 

[johnon]

Yeah, i didn't do so good on the first transaction got better since. Payment in beer may be acceptable but it tends to get skunky when shipped. If you've got old stale stuff i'll take it off your hands and use it in my process.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Yeah, i didn't do so good on the first transaction got better since. Payment in beer may be acceptable but it tends to get skunky when shipped. If you've got old stale stuff i'll take it off your hands and use it in my process.

His stuff is so old and stale his wife won't touch it. 8)