how many days to refine

[golddie]

I would like to know how many days it should take to do an ordinary refining of scrap gold from jewelry
I hear people saying a few days and so on.
I know that it depends on your skills and also what your scrap is made of
But i think someone can give me a rough idea

Also if you have to refine in a few days
Can you place this powder or solution in a safe.
I know that you can neutralize the acid but still

 

[leavemealone]

Skills play a large role in recovering and refining,but plays no role whatsoever in time frames.It takes time for the acids to attack the specific metals and achieve the end results you are looking for.Different methods take different time frames and you cannot rush that.There are little tricks to make them go a little faster,but only to an extent.It also depends on the quantity of material you are trying to process.If you are trying to get rich quick,the only thing you will get quickly,is the knowledge that youre not going to get rich quick.

Can you place this powder or solution in a safe.

Yep and it will last forever with no extra care needed.
Johnny

 

[golddie]

Hi leavemealone

I also think about doing possible damage to the plumbing of a building i will rent.
I guess if i can neutralize the solution so that it can be stored in a vault than that solution will not harm any plumbing

 

[4metals]

You cannot seal up and store the acid if any indication of reaction is evident, if you do you will eventually open up your safe to a mess. The only thing I ever stored in a safe was unprocessed jewelry and dried sponge. Store your spent acids in a drum with a lid on it until you are ready to treat the wastes, if the lid covers the acid there will be no pressure build up from acid that is still active. Don't put wastes in a drum and seal the bungs either.

 

[leavemealone]

Can you place this powder or solution in a safe.

Hey guys,I am so sorry,I did not see the "solution" part of that question.No you absolutely can NOT store any solution like this in a safe.Its not even worth it if you are convinced it has been completely neutralized.And god forbid you pour any of your solution down the drain that has any base metals in it.You can be pouring out Copper Chloride,that will stop the dissolution of human waste and is a felony if convicted in the states.The ground is probably the most sensible way of disposing of neutralized,and completely vacant (of base metals)solutions.
Johnny

 

[golddie]

Many people are dumping their discarded solutions in the plumbing of their building that they rent from.
I don't want to give names but I think some of the big names are doing this.
Does this mean they are operating their business illegally

 

[leavemealone]

That would depend on what the solution is.The solution I spoke of that is a felony to "dump" down a drain is Copper Chloride.A simple muratic solution can be rendered safe to dispose of down a drain,however is economically a pain and time consuming and a mess.But those are steps that must be taken to protect our earth for us and our future.
Johnny

 

[golddie]

I am reading the Hoke book on refining
She Boils in CP nitric acid
she uses aqua regia

So the discarded solutions from these 2 processes cannot be dumped into the plumbing

Is there a link to refining with hydrochloric acid (muratic solution)
Thank

 

[leavemealone]

Refining or recovering?There are literally dozens of threads on the forum about both.I would start here http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=37 .Just take it slow and if you run into a question,just post it and we'll do our best to help you through it.
Johnny

 

[golddie]

Hi Johnny
Thanks for that link
I did a lot of reading today on that link.
I will need more than 1 day to get all that information absorbed.
But from what I learned in 1 day is that the Hoke method is faster and the others are not that fast.
Also Hoke is more effective in attacking specific metals
I could be wrong about this is just I noticed today
Also AP method is used
Is this as effective as AR
and can i throw away the discarded solution in the plumbing
Thanks

 

[qst42know]

Hokes book was written in the 1940s, everything went down the drain back then. Today that practice is unacceptable. Heavy fines and jail time when you get caught.

 

[oef62nd]

Use it this a weed killer LOL

Keith

 

[golddie]

If someone can tell give me a equal way to refine but in a way that is safer and I will be able to throw away in the plumbing

1) Nitric acid treatment
2) Aqua regia treatment
3) Removing excess nitric acid (sulphurixc acid)
4) Copperas
Thanks

 

[golddie]

1) Nitric acid treatment
2) Aqua regia treatment

For these 2 can I use the aqua peroxide

 

[qst42know]

You need to get your head out of DUMP IT DOWN THE DRAIN.

And We've heard the WEED KILLER joke too many times already. It was bad advice the first several times I heard it.

Read 4metals post on waste treatment.

In this thread.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1300&start=0

 

[goldsilverpro]

Legally, I read that you can't even put salt water down the drain, if it's strong enough. I know of no refining chemicals that can go down the drain unless they are treated first.

 

[qst42know]

Where I work there were two times the City fined them for being in excess of the heavy metals limitations.

The first, someone had used a block of lead to hold a lint screen in place in the slop sink. $5,000 fine.

The second, enough zinc plated hardware ended up in the trap of that sink with no screen. $5,000 fine.

In addition to the fines they got the bill for a years worth of monthly waste water tests.

Refining wastes are not something you want to be careless about.

 

[golddie]

Hi Folks and special thank to you qst42know for that link
I worked for 3 months in a place that made stained glass window pieces for doors and window
These guys were dumping lead into the garbage
It was illegal
The only reason they did this is because it was going to take time to collect all the lead so they just dumped it.
I didn't stay there for along time,I should have reported them to authority's but i didn't
I was such an active environmentalist that i did so much but this time I didn't bother
Lately I am less of an environmentalist because I see that nobody cares.

Anyway what I want to say is that I would never want to be like that company that threw away the lead in the garbage.
They had no convenience about anything ,only money.
If it means making less money every week because I have to take precautions
Then I will do that
I am sure there are many jewelers and refiners like those people that made doors and windows
Also we are loosing nature that is something that is really sad but we cant worry about what we cant change
We can be good examples of being respectful to each other.
Thanks again guys

 

[goldsilverpro]

Two wrongs don't make a right. Just because the jewelers and other people are dumping toxic waste (and, a lot of them are) doesn't mean you should jeopardize your integrity and do the same. I was the opposite. I am much more of an environmentalist now than I was years ago. Forty years ago, with no guilt, I dumped toxic waste down the drain just like everybody else. Twenty five or thirty years ago, I didn't do it unless I knew I could get away with it, because I didn't want to get caught. Today, I don't do it because I know it is immoral.

 

[leavemealone]

Hokes book was written in the 1940s, everything went down the drain back then. Today that practice is unacceptable. Heavy fines and jail time when you get caught.

Actually Hokes book was written about 100 years ago,she was a pioneer in her day and accredited for almost all of the procedures and methods that we use today.Almost every method you will get from,lou,harold,steve,me,noxx are all derived in some way from her book.No offense qst you know you are a friend,but I made the mistake of making a judgement call about her book without reading it all the way through.I am sorry I did that.

I would never want to be like that company that threw away the lead in the garbage

Lead is very rarely used in a disposable method except for cupelation,which not too many people in recovering from E-scrap practice.Most people that utilize cupelation use it for assaying ore.Other than that the main use for any of us is as an anode in an electrolytic cell,and hardly ever needs to be "disposed" of.

If someone can tell give me a equal way to refine but in a way that is safer and I will be able to throw away in the plumbing

1) Nitric acid treatment
2) Aqua regia treatment
3) Removing excess nitric acid (sulphurixc acid)
4) Copperas
Thanks

This is difficult at best golddie.What you are looking to do takes at the very least a month or 2 to get your solutions right.I've been processing for years and I still write steve,when Im about ready to pull my hair out because something went wrong.
The items you have listed above do very different things.
1 Nitric: Eliminates base metals(not stainless steel),is extremely efficient,also costs alot more than muratic,emits nitric vapors that can be fatal DAYS after inhalation and you wouldn't know it.
2 Aqua Regia:a mixture of muratic and nitric acids,dissolves all metals including gold,less expensive than nitric alone,sometimes difficult and time consuming to retrieve digested gold from.
3 Removing excess nitric:That is NOT sulphuric acid! that would be Urea,however a lot of people will agree that boiling out the excess nitric is more effective,and a lot less expensive,some will disagree.
4 Copperas:can be used to preciptate gold out of a solution,is not specific to gold like SMB so it will also precipitate most other digested metals out of a solution as well,however very inexpensive and works if you run out of SMB and need something in a bind.
Johnny

Today, I don't do it because I know it is immoral.

Awesome statement