Forum members,
First and foremost, I would like to thank all of you for the outstanding resources available on these boards. I've learned a great deal.
I don’t want to waste anyone’s time, but this requires a tad of background:
I am reticent to ask questions, as I know the vast majority of the answers have already been rendered in one thread or another. However, I find myself in a predicament. I have been accepted to an amazing college, and will be attending this fall. Though they have offered me a very generous aid package, there is still a shortfall that I need to make up and I plan to do so by recovering the gold from a stockpile of electroplated mil spec aircraft terminals - I have a LOT of these things. I’ve spent as much time as is possible doing my research here but now due to an overload of schoolwork, I am in a time crunch. Because of this, I would appreciate it if you would be willing to critique the process that I have come up with and let me know if I have overlooked anything.
Here are the terminals.
I plan on reverse plating the electrical ends using the sulfuric acid cell pictured below (This will actually be a lot bigger, I have a much bigger pyrex dish coming in the mail).
I am using liquid fire drain cleaner. I will keep the amps around 6/gallon acid so that the bath stays < 110 degrees F (I will monitor with a glass thermometer). After the particulate has settled I will siphon off the sulfuric, dilute (slowly) and filter.
Next I will follow Harold’s advice. I have access to a large ceramic kiln capable of achieving temps up to around 3000 degrees F pictured below.
I will use the kiln to incinerate the slimes (I figured I would take the kiln to about 100 degrees below the melting point of Au, so 1800 F). Next I plan to subject the slimes to dilute nitric acid (here is a question mark: not sure how dilute the nitric should be? Might I just use sulphuric instead as per Hoke?). I will then rinse, and dissolve in AR or poor man’s AR and drop with SMB.
Lastly, casting. What are your thoughts/experiences using a kiln for this last step?
Thank you for your time, and I apologize for the long post. I will, of course, post updates and pictures as this process moves forward.
First and foremost, I would like to thank all of you for the outstanding resources available on these boards. I've learned a great deal.
I don’t want to waste anyone’s time, but this requires a tad of background:
I am reticent to ask questions, as I know the vast majority of the answers have already been rendered in one thread or another. However, I find myself in a predicament. I have been accepted to an amazing college, and will be attending this fall. Though they have offered me a very generous aid package, there is still a shortfall that I need to make up and I plan to do so by recovering the gold from a stockpile of electroplated mil spec aircraft terminals - I have a LOT of these things. I’ve spent as much time as is possible doing my research here but now due to an overload of schoolwork, I am in a time crunch. Because of this, I would appreciate it if you would be willing to critique the process that I have come up with and let me know if I have overlooked anything.
Here are the terminals.
I plan on reverse plating the electrical ends using the sulfuric acid cell pictured below (This will actually be a lot bigger, I have a much bigger pyrex dish coming in the mail).
I am using liquid fire drain cleaner. I will keep the amps around 6/gallon acid so that the bath stays < 110 degrees F (I will monitor with a glass thermometer). After the particulate has settled I will siphon off the sulfuric, dilute (slowly) and filter.
Next I will follow Harold’s advice. I have access to a large ceramic kiln capable of achieving temps up to around 3000 degrees F pictured below.
I will use the kiln to incinerate the slimes (I figured I would take the kiln to about 100 degrees below the melting point of Au, so 1800 F). Next I plan to subject the slimes to dilute nitric acid (here is a question mark: not sure how dilute the nitric should be? Might I just use sulphuric instead as per Hoke?). I will then rinse, and dissolve in AR or poor man’s AR and drop with SMB.
Lastly, casting. What are your thoughts/experiences using a kiln for this last step?
Thank you for your time, and I apologize for the long post. I will, of course, post updates and pictures as this process moves forward.
