Newby from Scotland

[delboy9891]

Hi Folks, Derek from Scotland here, after watching god knows how many youtube videos I have decided to have a go at Gold and Silver refining, before I even begin I want to learn as much as I can about safety equipment and safe disposal of any leftover chemicals and acids I use that is my first priority before I even think about beginning learning about the process of refining, I am lucky enough to work in a Science Park so I have managed to pick up a ductless fume hood for free and all the glassware I can use so I am off to a good start, can anybody point me in the right direction regarding my own safety and how to safely dispose of the acids and chemicals, this is very important to me, many thanks in advance for any help and advice.

 

[Martijn]

Welcome to the forum Derek.
That's the approach we love to hear. Kudos!

You have a lot of reading ahead.
Here are some must reads for you:
Welcome to all newbies:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=796

Dealing with waste:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1300
And the reactivity series:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactivity_series

Why can't i get a simple answer to my simple question?:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=21412

And when you're ready for some theory: Hoke's book. It's like our holy book. Look for frugalrefiner's profile and see at the bottom. He has corrected some (dangerous) practices with the last knowledge of this science.

You can start with gathering materials to refine and stripping and sorting them. Every sort of scrap, e-waste or jewelry needs a different approach due to the composition of the elements and compounds present.
What do you want to refine the precious metals from?

Ask here if you are about to start a process to verify your plan.

Youtube is full of dangerous video's showing stupid things.
If you look in the members list you can find some good youtube channels and websites.
Sreetips aka kadriver on this forum is a good one e.g.

Have fun!
Martijn.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Since Martijn mentioned the book in my signature line, I'll make it easy to find. :mrgreen:

I also like to recommend Tips for Navigating and Posting on the Forum. Self serving, since I wrote it, but there are some good search strategies and other tips for finding the information you're looking for here.

And, of course, everything in the Safety section.

Dave

 

[delboy9891]

Thanks guys, I will download hokes book and read it until I know it from heart, especially the safety sections, once I know I can do this safely and dispose of the waste in a safe manner, I will start very small and work my way up bit by bit, Ive a lot of reading to do as you say, I want to concentrate on 9 k gold as I believe there is no inquartation needed with that and would love to have a try at a silver cell at some point, once again thank you for the replies and advice, much appreciated

 

[nickvc]

I hate to squash your idea but if the 9k is a British alloy it will have around 12% silver so it will need inquarting , if it’s Italian or imported you may get away with it, you would be better off working with 18k as the silver content is much lower.

 

[delboy9891]

Thats ok as I plan to refine silver as well, what would the calculations for the inquartation of 9k gold be?

 

[nickvc]

You need to aim for a gold content of one quarter hence the term , so take the percentage of the carat you intend to process and multiply the total weight you have by this figure which will give you the amount of gold you have , multiply that figure by 4 and you have the total weight needed , add the silver to your carat scrap until you reach the correct figure.
As you want to refine silver this process will give you good feed material for a silver cell, another bonus is that any PGMs will follow the silver into solution.

 

[delboy9891]

Thatd great, thank you for the advice, much appreciated