Put gold amalgam in HCL acid . HCL turned yellow.

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carcrossguy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
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I put an oz of gold amalgam in some 30% hydrochloric acid to clean some dark stain on it but the hydrochloric acid turned yellow immediately. Is it possible that the gold amalgam had been cleaned with nitric acid and the nitric acid was still residing on the amalgam. Confused.(gold amalgam has been sitting in safety deposit box for 40 yrs)
 
The first thing you need to consider is the mercury in the amalgam. Read up on a retort to safely remove your mercury.
 
They say dilute hydrochloric acid does not react with mercury. The "amalgam" I have may have already been cleaned up. Should have heated the piece up to make sure. Anyway, I have 2.5 grams of 95% tin solder dissolviing in 30 ml of hydrochloric acid in smal plastic aspirin bottle so the truth will be revealed.
 
Cotton swab didnt change colour when I tested the yellow hcl acid. After I removed the amalgam yestereday I placed it on piece of plastic. Some of the yellow hcl dried up on the plastic. I tested that dried up yellow hcl and it turned the swab grey. Might have been dirt that was coming off the amalgam.
 
Have you determined a Specific Gravity for your ? amalgam? If it is a mercury amalgam with gold then caution is recommended. There is a procedure for using nitric to dissolve the mercury away from the gold but I haven't used it. Heard about it from a BLM geologist with a fume hood.
 
Sorry if I'm seeming to jump on you but have you had an assay or test done on your material to find out exactly what your messing with and whether it's worth the effort..
It's not just mercury that can cause you problems there can be many toxic substances in ores and even concentrates which you really don't want to be messing with unwittingly.
It might well be worth your time talking to Rick the Rockman who is our resident ore and rock expert, he can also provide you with an assay, might cost you some money but better than your life.
Please use caution, no amount of gold is worth your life or I'll health and if you have to pass your material onto a professional refiner so be it, better that than dead and still no saleable gold.
This material is over my head but I really do sense danger here for you if you don't take proper advice and follow to the letter what your told.
I wish you luck and hope you can find a way to reach your goal safely.
 
carcrossguy said:
I put an oz of gold amalgam in some 30% hydrochloric acid to clean some dark stain on it but the hydrochloric acid turned yellow immediately. Is it possible that the gold amalgam had been cleaned with nitric acid and the nitric acid was still residing on the amalgam. Confused.(gold amalgam has been sitting in safety deposit box for 40 yrs)
Click to expand...

Are you sure that it actually is gold amalgam?
You would be amazed to see what other people lock in their safety deposit boxes.
 
I got the piece red hot with mapp gas plumber torch. No fumes. There were silver blotches on the surface when it was red hot. Now the blotches seem red in colour after it cooled.
 

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carcrossguy said:
I got the piece red hot with mapp gas plumber torch. No fumes. There were silver blotches on the surface when it was red hot. Now the blotches seem red in colour after it cooled.
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You would not see the fumes from mercury being driven off by heat. Why put yourself in danger you have been cautioned about mercury.

I see that you live in Langley B.C. which is a twenty minute drive to either of the private labs I gave you the address's too. I suggest that you go and visit one of these labs and get some professional advice face to face.
 
thanks rusty. i think the guy in aldergrove passed away. didnt realize the cloverdale link was for separate assayer.
 
carcrossguy said:
thanks rusty. i think the guy in aldergrove passed away. didnt realize the cloverdale link was for separate assayer.
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Did you check at the outbuilding at the Aldergrove site, John owned the property but his wife was very involved in these projects along with the fellows working in the lab.

John and his partners have several mining claims, they did their own lab work along with work they did for others. Sorry to hear that John passed away he was a brilliant man, a former spook.
 
I put a .23 gram flake of the stuff in hcl/cl leaching solution. It appears to be 65% silver because the flake is now completely silver and only 35% lighter in weight. I heated up the silver flake and it did not change weight so it is not mercury. It became white in colour upon heating. The gold in the area is at least 91% gold so I'm wondering why my father mixed silver into this. Not sure if it is silver. Could be lead or something.(stannous chloride test turned purple for the solution). I think this was originally very fine gold in black sand.
 
carcrossguy said:
I put a .23 gram flake of the stuff in hcl/cl leaching solution. It appears to be 65% silver because the flake is now completely silver and only 35% lighter in weight. I heated up the silver flake and it did not change weight so it is not mercury. It became white in colour upon heating. The gold in the area is at least 91% gold so I'm wondering why my father mixed silver into this. Not sure if it is silver. Could be lead or something.(stannous chloride test turned purple for the solution). I think this was originally very fine gold in black sand.
Click to expand...

I'll take a stab at this. I don't think you are dealing with silver. Silver would have been digested and precipitated back as silver chloride covering the flake. I would believe that the base material would be one the platinum sisters. Try digesting it in hot AR, and test with stannous chloride.

Richard
 
rbramsey said:
carcrossguy said:
I put a .23 gram flake of the stuff in hcl/cl leaching solution. It appears to be 65% silver because the flake is now completely silver and only 35% lighter in weight. I heated up the silver flake and it did not change weight so it is not mercury. It became white in colour upon heating. The gold in the area is at least 91% gold so I'm wondering why my father mixed silver into this. Not sure if it is silver. Could be lead or something.(stannous chloride test turned purple for the solution). I think this was originally very fine gold in black sand.
Click to expand...

I'll take a stab at this. I don't think you are dealing with silver. Silver would have been digested and precipitated back as silver chloride covering the flake. I would believe that the base material would be one the platinum sisters. Try digesting it in hot AR, and test with stannous chloride.

Richard
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The density of all approx 11 oz of this stuff is around 7.6 grams/ml. (336 grams of this stuff displaced approx 44 mls of water). Aluminum is the only metal I can think of off hand that is that light. a mix of 70 percent aluminum and 30 percent gold give approx 7.68 density.

. there was a ton of silver precipitate around the .23 gram flake when it was first in the leaching solution. the silver precipitate disappeared after I dumped a bunch more clorox in. could be a mix of aluminum and silver with a tiny bit of gold.

gold density is 19.3
silver 10.5
aluminum 2.7
 
There are quite a few metals with a specific gravity in the 7 range.

http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra.html
 
jimdoc said:
There are quite a few metals with a specific gravity in the 7 range.

http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra.html
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The average specific gravity is 7.6 but this might be irrelevant since the material may be a cement with air in it? There was an insane amount of silver precipitate when I first did this and it gathered around the .23 gram piece I had in the hcl/cl. It disappeared when I poured a bunch more clorox in. I guess I will take a bit of battery acid and put on it and see or mustard.

I have to research if the gold that you get out of black sand has a different composition from normal placer gold.
 
Put it back in a fresh solution of hcl/cl and more silver choloride was being produced. Looks like it is almost all silver. The piece now seems to be almost all a green/yellow. Smooth. Most of the silver is gone. Was hoping to find some platinum.
 

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