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sail4too2003

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Messages
18
I have done all the reading I can stand! I own about 2 gal. of muck. some clean muck and some dirty. I have had very little luck with this muck. lol. This all started with pins. I used ar 32% hyd. and 70% nitric 3 to 1 about a quart. and ended up with everything disolved. I then used urea till I had no reaction. Thinking I might have 3 to 5 grams I poured in a cup with about 6 grams of sodium metabisulfite without luck so I read I should heat the smb and still no luck. I have been told to check ph and if 0 add hyd. I even boild some down to power and started over. I tried to burn out the copper and other metals in the muck with nitric. and still have muck! Tested and have lots of au. I'm trying to be patient but its wearing thin. :x :x :x
 
Yet another example of why a person should NOT process with AR.

You've created one hell of a mess. It can be salvaged, assuming you feel it's worth the effort. I can spend an hour typing, for no good reason if you don't.

If you'd like to pursue reclamation, do not discard ANYTHING at this point.

Seek advice from one person, and one person only. Do not allow more than one opinion, for often the are not compatible with one another.

Read Hoke.

Read Hoke again.

Apply her teachings to your refining. Ignore less than good information you may be finding off this forum. The world is filled with morons that will gladly lead you astray, even inadvertently.

Harold
 
If everything is still in solution, put in copper to force out the gold.
If its not, well, someone will advise.

Jim
 
Copper can force out gold but also silver and platinides. Did you have tin/lead solder on your pins?
 
ander said:
Copper can force out gold but also silver and platinides. Did you have tin/lead solder on your pins?
Click to expand...
One would not find silver in such a solution unless it was as a chloride (a solid).

Harold
 
I agree with Harold, but if solution was undecanted before adjusting pH, there could be a terrible mess. My statement was about general rule.
 
General rule?

If this guy wants to save this mess he should evaporate to dryness then incinerate. Only then does it make sense to follow accepted practice to recover values.
 
General rule of electromotive force. More noble metals are replaced by less noble metals.
 
It is tough to use cementation on something described as “muck”.
 
You have done what many have till they find this forum and someone tells them the are wrong.
Alot of the refining info sold never tells the correct steps just the procedure in general.
For instance, when I bought my info it told how to make AR and never mentioned removing base metals first, the difference between refine and recover, what happens when you throw a bunch of copper with alittle bit of gold in AR, How to use Stannous, The electromotive thing. I still can only geuss how much gold I must have thrown out

You have done what I did myself for 2 years before this forum was created.

Here is what I see,

You cannot RECOVER and REFINE in one step!!

What you have done has been gone over 100's of times on this site, you should be able to find an answer.

I would be able to say your not the first or the last who will have this problem

Harold, maybe a section on the forum AR screw=ups go here then aleast you wouldnt have to type it over and over and over,
 
"You cannot RECOVER and REFINE in one step!"

Shadybear, truer words are seldom spoken on this forum. I think every
prospective member must memorize this quote and promise to practice it's
truth before being allowed to join the forum. 8)
 
Great bunch of guys and thanks for the imput. Question 2 If I cook all my muck to dry power, (which I did once, then applyied nitric to burn off copper, still had muck). What would I do from there? Also is there a list of acronyms somewhere in this forum?
 
TO get your bearings here I have created the Guided Tour Link (see below).

Take the time to read the links therein and you will not have to ask what most of the abbreviations mean. Do not proceed until you have done this.

If you dried the entire solution out your 'muck' is a mix of various of metals. Treating the muck with 35% nitric acid will only remove some of the metals. Most of the precious metals will still be in the muck. Incinerate the residual muck (after nitric) to a dull red heat (do not melt!) and then process the muck in hot HCl. Let the solution cool and settle, then siphon off the liquid. Rinse several times with water, let settle and siphon between each wash. Test the combined liquids for gold using stannous chloride ( Guided Tour ). If it's barren put it in your waste container.

Turn you attention to the solids. Process them with AR (Guided Tour). When you get the solids dissolved stop and ask what to do next.

Steve
 
lazersteve said:
TO get your bearings here I have created the Guided Tour Link (see below).

Take the time to read the links therein and you will not have to ask what most of the abbreviations mean. Do not proceed until you have done this.

If you dried the entire solution out your 'muck' is a mix of various of metals. Treating the muck with 35% nitric acid will only remove some of the metals. Most of the precious metals will still be in the muck. Incinerate the residual muck (after nitric) to a dull red heat (do not melt!) and then process the muck in hot HCl. Let the solution cool and settle, then siphon off the liquid. Rinse several times with water, let settle and siphon between each wash. Test the combined liquids for gold using stannous chloride ( Guided Tour ). If it's barren put it in your waste container.

Turn you attention to the solids. Process them with AR (Guided Tour). When you get the solids dissolved stop and ask what to do next.

Steve
Click to expand...

Steve why don't you combine this with his first post so confusion is kept to a minimum.
 
Actually, it was already in the READ THIS post by Harold.

I edited the 'Read This' post just now so that the Guided Tour instructions are more prominent.

Steve
 
this may help,
If solder high content, after a real good roast (red hot inceneration).

I would use HCL cover powder heat stir, cool, add water to dilute well let sit longer the better at least overnight, decant test liquid for values,this may take a few rinces, after as much tin chloride as possible removed.

Add water, bring solution to boil, lower heat but keep temp up as high as possible and still no agitation or boiling, after powder settles, decant lead chloride as much as possible, it may take several treatments, when this liquid cools lead chloride crystals form, which can be indicator if you are still removing lead,.

again test all solution's for values. (I don't believe we we will seperate these metals completely but will the majority),now that we have eliminated most of the problem, tin and lead, (tin in nitric is jelly), we are not done.

I would filter and test all liquids for value. all filters go to the save pile,
the lead and tin waste may have some value, as these powders may lock up a little in there, (another good reason to keep the lead tin and base metals out).

we will need to reincenerate the powders, to eliminate the chloride, and maybe oxidize metals we missed, red hot again.

now you may start with the nitric treatment.

also Two refinings recomended,
there is not enough room on this page to explain everything in detail,
that is why a very wise man on this forum keeps telling everybody to
STUDY HOKES BOOK.
 

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