Second filter of ram foils

[ssmontecarlo]

I thought it be best to add my pictures to this thread. Being it is the "gallery". Here is the second filtering of ram foils. I used basic SMB to drop gold out of solution. To me, it looks good. Please comment. Yall be safe today.

 

[Yggdrasil]

It does not look correct on my screen. The colors are off by the flash I guess, it looks whiteish.

 

[ssmontecarlo]

Here is a picture just now, with flash on.

 

[Yggdrasil]

This looks nice, good Cinnamon color

 

[ssmontecarlo]

Thank You. I have been recovering and refining for about 2 and half years. I'm still learning. Still reading. I will post a picture of the finished result and a weight. Hopefully by this evening.

 

[Alondro]

Thank You. I have been recovering and refining for about 2 and half years. I'm still learning. Still reading. I will post a picture of the finished result and a weight. Hopefully by this evening.

I see what look like crystals of something in there. Might have some unused SMB mixed in. Gold dropped with SMB should not be crystalline enough to create bright reflections. It looks like dull, light brown/beige mud or clay when very pure. Darker brown-black means some other metal contaminants, platinum-group or tungsten.

 

[ssmontecarlo]

I see what look like crystals of something in there. Might have some unused SMB mixed in. Gold dropped with SMB should not be crystalline enough to create bright reflections. It looks like dull, light brown/beige mud or clay when very pure. Darker brown-black means some other metal contaminants, platinum-group or tungsten.

Thank you for replying. When using SMB, I was told to use the bare minimum. So I slowly sprinkle SMB into the solution. And I have read, that if there was "black" color present, it meant there is some type of contaminate in the precipitated gold. I just read a past thread on here in regards to removing these contaminates. Man o man. Some of yall use methods and various chemicals and other compounds that blows my mind. I read this and I'm like Holy moly, these cats are freaking chemistry gold refining genius. Anyhow. I will filter this beaker and 1 more. Wash/rinse with hot water. Filter it, and wash/rinse with hydrochloric acid. Until acid remains clear. I will post a picture of the gold and a weight. Again thanks for your comments.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Thank you for replying. When using SMB, I was told to use the bare minimum. So I slowly sprinkle SMB into the solution. And I have read, that if there was "black" color present, it meant there is some type of contaminate in the precipitated gold. I just read a past thread on here in regards to removing these contaminates. Man o man. Some of yall use methods and various chemicals and other compounds that blows my mind. I read this and I'm like Holy moly, these cats are freaking chemistry gold refining genius. Anyhow. I will filter this beaker and 1 more. Wash/rinse with hot water. Filter it, and wash/rinse with hydrochloric acid. Until acid remains clear. I will post a picture of the gold and a weight. Again thanks for your comments.

You can safely use some extra SMB.
How did you dissolve the Gold?
Aqua Regia, HCl/bleach or HCl/Peroxide?

 

[ssmontecarlo]

Aqua Regia HCL/BLEACH. And I kept it warm. Not boiling warm but warm. I used poor man nitric. Liquid fire and potassium nitrate. If need, i can give specifics on exactly how i removed foils from ram cards. I still have several pounds to do. Here is a picture in filter. To me it looks gold in color. And I figured that would be a desired look. But let me add, I am color blind. But here is a question. Normally I take filter and all material on the filter, and bring to a slight boil in Hydrochloric acid. Good, bad, ugly idea? Then pour off acid if any discoloration appears. Once acid is clear, filter, and rinse with hot water. I'm just happy to get it to look like this.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Aqua Regia HCL/BLEACH. And I kept it warm. Not boiling warm but warm. I used poor man nitric. Liquid fire and potassium nitrate. If need, i can give specifics on exactly how i removed foils from ram cards. I still have several pounds to do. Here is a picture in filter. To me it looks gold in color. And I figured that would be a desired look. But let me add, I am color blind. But here is a question. Normally I take filter and all material on the filter, and bring to a slight boil in Hydrochloric acid. Good, bad, ugly idea? Then pour off acid if any discoloration appears. Once acid is clear, filter, and rinse with hot water. I'm just happy to get it to look like this.

Aqua Regia is HCl and Nitric/Nitrate in some form.
HCl/Bleach is a completely different animal.
So which is it?
Both?

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Aqua Regia HCL/BLEACH. And I kept it warm. Not boiling warm but warm. I used poor man nitric. Liquid fire and potassium nitrate.

I'll be the one to be nit-picky on terminology here.

• You said "Aqua Regia"
• But, then you said "HCL/BLEACH.
• And, finally, "Liquid fire and potassium nitrate".

Correct terminology is important here, as many members don't speak English well and have to use translators. Your post could be confusing.

I see Yggdrasil has already pointed out that aqua regia specifically means HCl and nitric acid (HNO₃).
HCl and bleach is another way to dissolve gold, but it's not aqua regia.

Using Liquid fire (sulfuric acid) and a nitrate will create "poor man's" nitric. Nitric is often expensive and difficult to obtain, so using less expensive, more readily available ingredients is a cost-effective approach. The downside is that the poor man's nitric is less pure than commercial acid, so good technique in preparing the acid is important.

I hope you prepared the nitric acid separately, then used the clean result to add to the HCl, and you didn't just put them all together.

I know that all seems pedantic, but even the slightest misunderstanding in what we do can hurt or kill someone. I'm not picking on you, as you may already know all this. When I make posts like this, it is for the benefit of everyone who may read this thread in the future.

Dave

 

[ssmontecarlo]

I'll be the one to be nit-picky on terminology here.

• You said "Aqua Regia"
• But, then you said "HCL/BLEACH.
• And, finally, "Liquid fire and potassium nitrate".

Correct terminology is important here, as many members don't speak English well and have to use translators. Your post could be confusing.

I see Yggdrasil has already pointed out that aqua regia specifically means HCl and nitric acid (HNO₃).
HCl and bleach is another way to dissolve gold, but it's not aqua regia.

Using Liquid fire (sulfuric acid) and a nitrate will create "poor man's" nitric. Nitric is often expensive and difficult to obtain, so using less expensive, more readily available ingredients is a cost-effective approach. The downside is that the poor man's nitric is less pure than commercial acid, so good technique in preparing the acid is important.

I hope you prepared the nitric acid separately, then used the clean result to add to the HCl, and you didn't just put them all together.

I know that all seems pedantic, but even the slightest misunderstanding in what we do can hurt or kill someone. I'm not picking on you, as you may already know all this. When I make posts like this, it is for the benefit of everyone who may read this thread in the future.

Dave

Ok. Well I started with Hydrochloric acid and bleach. While keeping it warm after 20 minutes some of the gold dissolve. I added a half teaspoon more Hydrochloric acid and a teaspoon bleach. Stirred. Came back in approximately 10 min still very little gold dissolve. So I add approximately half teaspoon of the potassium nitrate. I hopes it would create a stronger solution to dissolve gold. Well, came back again in approximately 10 minutes. Alot of the single foils were dissolve It still had 2 larger clumps of undissolved gold remaining. Added a teaspoon of Hydrochloric and teaspoon bleach. Stirred solution. Came back nearly all of the gold was dissolve. Also the remaining carbonized/burnt black filter was dissolved. Not all of the black carbonized filter was broken down to a fine residue...for a lack of better words. Which leads me to a question. But we will get to that later. So...I actually used a combination of items to dissolve this gold. And this is how I have done this process in the past, with what I'd say fair results. Again, I'm still learning and always open for advice/ constructive criticism, if you will. I just began to melt the material after washing it in very warm HCL acid. But ran out of O2. So have ride to the Amish out on mtn tomorrow and exchange my bottle or go use a torch. Which I probably will do. Here is a picture of the melt. And Dave, I take no offense to your post. I understand I need to be more exact, my apologies for the misleading information. So I began with HCL and bleach while keeping solution warm. After several minutes little gold dissolved. So I added half teaspoon potassium nitrate. Then came back and added in teaspoon increments HCL/bleach. All of this process is done outside, with a fan blowing from behind me, while wearing PPE. Yes I truly understand the danger in the refining process due to the chemicals used, and gasses released. I hope this has clarified my process.
Frugalrefiner. In regards to poor man's nitric acid. I use a 4 liter glass beaker. Added my material. 540 gram I think of ram card trimmings. Filled beaker up to 2800 ml with distilled water. Added 250 ml of liquid fire. Than 150 ml of potassium nitrate. Begin heating. Now...during this process if reaction slows, I will mix up some poor man's nitric acid and add it to the 4 liter beaker. I use to just slowly pour in the sulphuric acid until my dummy self realized what I was doing. It took about two times. Again feel free to respond. The more responses the better.

 

[ssmontecarlo]

I may of have just posted the same response twice. My apologies. Here are results. I'm adding a picture of two gold buttons being held in a hand. The button closest to the palm is the gold I just melted. Other is from various trial runs/experiments that I did. To make an omelet you gotta break a few eggs...lol. I thank each of you for the feedback, be safe and have a great evening.

 

[BlackLabel]

Please, don't call it "liquid fire".
That's not scientific.
It's "sulphuric acid" or H₂SO₄.

 

[BlackLabel]

The surface of the dull button is looking very interesting.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Ok. Well I started with Hydrochloric acid and bleach. While keeping it warm after 20 minutes some of the gold dissolve. I added a half teaspoon more Hydrochloric acid and a teaspoon bleach. Stirred. Came back in approximately 10 min still very little gold dissolve. So I add approximately half teaspoon of the potassium nitrate. I hopes it would create a stronger solution to dissolve gold. Well, came back again in approximately 10 minutes. Alot of the single foils were dissolve It still had 2 larger clumps of undissolved gold remaining. Added a teaspoon of Hydrochloric and teaspoon bleach. Stirred solution. Came back nearly all of the gold was dissolve. Also the remaining carbonized/burnt black filter was dissolved. Not all of the black carbonized filter was broken down to a fine residue...for a lack of better words. Which leads me to a question. But we will get to that later. So...I actually used a combination of items to dissolve this gold. And this is how I have done this process in the past, with what I'd say fair results. Again, I'm still learning and always open for advice/ constructive criticism, if you will. I just began to melt the material after washing it in very warm HCL acid. But ran out of O2. So have ride to the Amish out on mtn tomorrow and exchange my bottle or go use a torch. Which I probably will do. Here is a picture of the melt. And Dave, I take no offense to your post. I understand I need to be more exact, my apologies for the misleading information. So I began with HCL and bleach while keeping solution warm. After several minutes little gold dissolved. So I added half teaspoon potassium nitrate. Then came back and added in teaspoon increments HCL/bleach. All of this process is done outside, with a fan blowing from behind me, while wearing PPE. Yes I truly understand the danger in the refining process due to the chemicals used, and gasses released. I hope this has clarified my process.
Frugalrefiner. In regards to poor man's nitric acid. I use a 4 liter glass beaker. Added my material. 540 gram I think of ram card trimmings. Filled beaker up to 2800 ml with distilled water. Added 250 ml of liquid fire. Than 150 ml of potassium nitrate. Begin heating. Now...during this process if reaction slows, I will mix up some poor man's nitric acid and add it to the 4 liter beaker. I use to just slowly pour in the sulphuric acid until my dummy self realized what I was doing. It took about two times. Again feel free to respond. The more responses the better.

Could you please use line breakers?
This is for all purposes a chore to read.

Her is a version with line breaks and comments:

Edited quote of post

Ok.
Well I started with Hydrochloric acid and bleach.
While keeping it warm after 20 minutes some of the gold dissolve.
Hydrochloric Bleach need to be kept cold so the chlorine stay as long as possible in solution.
I added a half teaspoon more Hydrochloric acid and a teaspoon bleach. Stirred.
What was the pH? You need to havc low 1-2pH so the HCl can do its job.
Came back in approximately 10 min still very little gold dissolve.
So I add approximately half teaspoon of the potassium nitrate.
This creates poor mans AR, but if your pH is too high it will not work.
I hopes it would create a stronger solution to dissolve gold.
Well, came back again in approximately 10 minutes.
Alot of the single foils were dissolve It still had 2 larger clumps of undissolved gold remaining.
Added a teaspoon of Hydrochloric and teaspoon bleach.
Use enough HCl to keep it acidic 10 to 1 would be a better ratio, but make sure the pH are in the 1 range.
Stirred solution. Came back nearly all of the gold was dissolve.
Also the remaining carbonized/burnt black filter was dissolved.
Not all of the black carbonized filter was broken down to a fine residue...for a lack of better words.
AAh, Carbon can not be in the mix, it has a high affinity for PMs. Why is it carbonized? Either do not carbonize or ash completely.
Which leads me to a question. But we will get to that later.
So...I actually used a combination of items to dissolve this gold.
Do only one process at a time, this is gambling with your health, life and values.
And this is how I have done this process in the past, with what I'd say fair results.
Again, I'm still learning and always open for advice/ constructive criticism, if you will.
I just began to melt the material after washing it in very warm HCL acid. But ran out of O2.
So have ride to the Amish out on mtn tomorrow and exchange my bottle or go use a torch. Which I probably will do.
Here is a picture of the melt.
And Dave, I take no offense to your post.
I understand I need to be more exact, my apologies for the misleading information.
So I began with HCL and bleach while keeping solution warm. After several minutes little gold dissolved.
So I added half teaspoon potassium nitrate.
Then came back and added in teaspoon increments HCL/bleach.
All of this process is done outside, with a fan blowing from behind me, while wearing PPE.
Yes I truly understand the danger in the refining process due to the chemicals used, and gasses released.
I hope this has clarified my process.

Frugalrefiner.
In regards to poor man's nitric acid.
I use a 4 liter glass beaker. Added my material. 540 gram I think of ram card trimmings.
Filled beaker up to 2800 ml with distilled water.
Way to much liquid in that beaker, try to plan the end level at no more than half full, in case of runaway reactions.
Added 250 ml of liquid fire. Sulfuric Acid
Than 150 ml of potassium nitrate.
Begin heating.
This process seems off, you usually make the poor mans Nitric first and then add it to the items to process alongside some DI water. Lazersteve has some excellent posts on making poormans Nitric.
Now...during this process if reaction slows, I will mix up some poor man's nitric acid and add it to the 4 liter beaker.
And then this, so you add more of the same, i do not fully understand what you do here??
I use to just slowly pour in the sulphuric acid until my dummy self realized what I was doing.
It took about two times.
Again feel free to respond. The more responses the better.

All comments in red bold text.

 

[jphayesjr]

Thank You. I have been recovering and refining for about 2 and half years. I'm still learning. Still reading. I will post a picture of the finished result and a weight. Hopefully by this evening.

Don't know your plan for gold you refine, but if you accumulate and sell, a quick read of Good Delivery Rules will help you get the top prices possible. Good Delivery - Wikipedia

 

[ssmontecarlo]

Don't know your plan for gold you refine, but if you accumulate and sell, a quick read of Good Delivery Rules will help you get the top prices possible. Good Delivery - Wikipedia

I just been refining, to best of my knowledge and abilities. And just putting each ounce in gun safe. But I will read and take your advice. Thank You

 

[ssmontecarlo]

Could you please use line breakers?
This is for all purposes a chore to read.

Her is a version with line breaks and comments:

All comments in red bold text.

Could you please use line breakers?
This is for all purposes a chore to read.

Her is a version with line breaks and comments:

All comments in red bold text.

Yes. I can post replies in such a style/ format.

 

[ssmontecarlo]

The surface of the dull button is looking very interesting.

Could you elaborate on this reply. What is interesting about its dull surface?