please help!!!

[cuzzinpaulie]

hi and thx for help in advance. i have been trying to drop the gold in my ar for 2 days. i just noticed that im using sodium bisulfate instead of sodium bisulfite. what should i do ? btw i have lost of "salts?" in the bottom that settle. i hope i didnt screw this up to bad had over a 1oz of karat gold.

 

[chemist]

I don't believe that you have messed up too badly.
If you use sodium bisulfite (SMB) you should still be able to drop the gold.
You should make sure to wash the precipitated gold thoroughly with water in order to remove the sulfate.

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

thx, i hope your right lol. i would like to use bonide stump out, is this ok ? and do you know if using the soduim bisulphate increases ph? and if so should i boil down?

 

[lazersteve]

thx, i hope your right lol. i would like to use bonide stump out, is this ok ? and do you know if using the soduim bisulphate increases ph? and if so should i boil down?

Bisulphate will increase the pH. Boiling will not help since it's sulfuric acid.

To fix it just add the SMB as per usual and then wash the precipitated gold with hot water until all of the white salts are removed from the gold powder. After that process the gold powder in a HCl wash as per usual. Be sure you are outdoors or have a good fume hood when you do this.

Steve

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

well i have added the snb to the mix"cough gag". what is the best solution for filtering? the problem i think is i have a ton of salt in the mix, so when try to filter its going to be a mess. plus i dont what to use water in case i have not gotten all the gold to drop. am i making sense

 

[chemist]

As Steve said, you must use good ventilation when you precipitate with SMB. The SO2 fumes can be deadly.
You should use stannous chloride solution to test the AR and make sure that all of the gold has been dropped. Once you test with SnCl2, then you will know whether or not the precipitation has been completed.
The gold will fall to the bottom of the container and you must now wash it.
By the way, did you filter the AR before you performed the precipitation?

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

well it looks like i got a layer of salt, mud, then liquid. i took a test of the liquid and it looks brown. yes i did filter before the drop. looking for some info on the color of the test. i seen a pic on the forum but know cant seem to find it. i know black/purple is gold but what is brown?

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

btw im really thankful for everyone's help

 

[Barren Realms 007]

well it looks like i got a layer of salt, mud, then liquid. i took a test of the liquid and it looks brown. yes i did filter before the drop. looking for some info on the color of the test. i seen a pic on the forum but know cant seem to find it. i know black/purple is gold but what is brown?

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=562

 

[lazersteve]

.. i took a test of the liquid and it looks brown. yes i did filter before the drop. looking for some info on the color of the test. i seen a pic on the forum but know cant seem to find it. i know black/purple is gold but what is brown?

There are false positives with stannous after SMB has been added. Brown, gray , or black may be an indication of a false positive.

Double check the solution with DMG to eliminate the possibility of Pd.

Gold will precipitate with ferrous sulfate as a secondary test for gold.

Steve

 

[Harold_V]

well i have added the snb to the mix"cough gag". what is the best solution for filtering? the problem i think is i have a ton of salt in the mix, so when try to filter its going to be a mess. plus i dont what to use water in case i have not gotten all the gold to drop. am i making sense

Yes, you're making sense, but you have heard of stannous chloride, right?

If you haven't, in your best interest, the thing you should do immediately is stop screwing around with this stuff and start reading Hoke's book, so you'll understand what you're doing, and why. Most importantly, you'll learn how to test your solution to insure you aren't leaving anything behind.

Luck!

Harold

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

i have filtered my solution and i have what i hope is a real fine powder of gold. my coffee filter is air drying right now. what is the process for getting it out of the filter?

 

[Harold_V]

i have filtered my solution and i have what i hope is a real fine powder of gold. my coffee filter is air drying right now. what is the process for getting it out of the filter?

The best process is never putting it in the filter. You have, in a sense, added unnecessary work to the project.

Once precipitated gold has settled, it should be washed with HCl. What better place to do that than in the beaker in which it was precipitated?

It can be washed, rinsed, dried, then removed without ever using a filter, so you don't tie up values in a filter that wasn't really needed in the first place.

Harold

 

[nickvc]

i have filtered my solution and i have what i hope is a real fine powder of gold. my coffee filter is air drying right now. what is the process for getting it out of the filter?

The best process is never putting it in the filter. You have, in a sense, added unnecessary work to the project.

Once precipitated gold has settled, it should be washed with HCl. What better place to do that than in the beaker in which it was precipitated?

It can be washed, rinsed, dried, then removed without ever using a filter, so you don't tie up values in a filter that wasn't really needed in the first place.

Harold

Excellent advice as usual Harold but if I may quote your good self......Incinerate then follow the rinse technique as again per your advice.

 

[Harold_V]

i have filtered my solution and i have what i hope is a real fine powder of gold. my coffee filter is air drying right now. what is the process for getting it out of the filter?

The best process is never putting it in the filter. You have, in a sense, added unnecessary work to the project.

Once precipitated gold has settled, it should be washed with HCl. What better place to do that than in the beaker in which it was precipitated?

It can be washed, rinsed, dried, then removed without ever using a filter, so you don't tie up values in a filter that wasn't really needed in the first place.

Harold

Excellent advice as usual Harold but if I may quote your good self......Incinerate then follow the rinse technique as again per your advice.

In this instance, where one is dealing with what should be fine gold, there would be no incineration required. However, if one chose to do the washing with nitric instead of HCl, I certainly would suggest incineration, albeit at a lower temperature, and, perhaps, in a fused quartz dish or one made of Vicor.

My suggestion to incinerate generally is applied to waste materials in the preliminary stages of recovery----rarely, if ever, once gold has been precipitated.

I, personally, avoided the use of nitric when washing gold. The risk of dissolution is too great to be used, at least in my opinion. The quality of gold I achieved by my self contrived method of washing seemed to serve the purpose quite well, which is why I have promoted the procedure here on this forum. The results tend to speak for themselves.

Thanks for your ever positive comments, Nick. You are a valuable asset to this forum.

Harold

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

am i able to melt my gold powder in a stainless steel bowl? i think stainless melts around 2700f and gold around 2000f. i know its not what should be used. i dont plan on ever refining again and i dont want to purchase a crucible just for one melt . if not is there any other household item or something cheap i can pick up at home depot or lowes. thx

 

[Barren Realms 007]

am i able to melt my gold powder in a stainless steel bowl? i think stainless melts around 2700f and gold around 2000f. i know its not what should be used. i dont plan on ever refining again and i dont want to purchase a crucible just for one melt . if not is there any other household item or something cheap i can pick up at home depot or lowes. thx

If you just have a littl amount take a charcoal briquette and hollow the center out and melt it in there.

 

[lazersteve]

am i able to melt my gold powder in a stainless steel bowl? i think stainless melts around 2700f and gold around 2000f. i know its not what should be used. i dont plan on ever refining again and i dont want to purchase a crucible just for one melt . if not is there any other household item or something cheap i can pick up at home depot or lowes. thx

No. Gold will alloy with steel at temperatures below either of the two metals melting points.

Steve

 

[cuzzinpaulie]

i got about 15 grams of powder.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

i got about 15 grams of powder.

An unglazed ceramic pot will work if the charcoal is not big enough. You will still have to use borax and flux it.