Simplified Refining Instructions

[Anonymous]

please help, this is my first forum- but should there be an attachment or link. By the amount of views this is a must read!

 

[joem]

go back a few posts, I just downloaded the pdf myself

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response, i thought getting chemicals in New Zealand was hard enough. Did the pdf come out as code for you?

 

[joem]

Thanks for the response, i thought getting chemicals in New Zealand was hard enough. Did the pdf come out as code for you?

go to goldsilverpro's post it works fine

 

[Anonymous]

Hello , I wonder how is the best way to extract gold values from plated jewellery, What is the cheapest method??

 

[goldsilverpro]

Hello , I wonder how is the best way to extract gold values from plated jewellery, What is the cheapest method??

The plating on gold plated jewelry is typically very thin. I would estimate the gold value to be from about $0.05 to $0.10 per square inch of plated area. There are a few exceptions but they are most always stamped with such markings as HGE, Karatclad, etc.

To be profitable, you would need a lot of it - I, personally, would want at least a hundred pounds to even consider setting up to do it. For this material, I would say any method that required dissolving the base metal would not be profitable. Therefore, you would need a method that would selectively strip the gold plating without effecting the base metals. Three methods come to mind, cyanide, iodine, or the electrolytic sulfuric stripper that has been covered in great detail on this forum. Personally, I would use cyanide, but this is generally unavailable to the small user. Iodine is expensive and is also hard to get. The sulfuric stripper can be easily set up but is slow unless you have a fairly large setup and are able to tumble the parts.

Were I you, I would study the forum to determine what is required in these processes. Also, I would measure and calculate the surface areas of some of the pieces in order to get an idea of the value and then determine whether it's worth it or not. If you have just a small amount, I would forget it.

 

[PreciousMexpert]

Hi Folks
In this pdf Harold wrote he says

At that point, add enough tap water to double the volume in the
beaker and pour off the solution into the bucket containing copper bars. You will recover the silver in this operation, along
with any platinum group metal that will be in solution.

I cant understand what happens here
The silver will precipitate and then what will happen to the platinum and palladium
I am sure there is a thread about this maybe someone can give me the link
Thanks

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Hi Folks
In this pdf Harold wrote he says

At that point, add enough tap water to double the volume in the
beaker and pour off the solution into the bucket containing copper bars. You will recover the silver in this operation, along
with any platinum group metal that will be in solution.

I cant understand what happens here
The silver will precipitate and then what will happen to the platinum and palladium
I am sure there is a thread about this maybe someone can give me the link
Thanks

The copper will also cement out of your solution the platinum and the palladium to recover and refine.

 

[PreciousMexpert]

Barren
If silver ,platinum and palladium cement out than how do you separate than from each other


Theoretical Process for Dental Lab Dust-Collector Material
In this thread I see a lot of help but Still I didn't get my answer

 

[Barren Realms 007]

After they cement out you process the material in nitric to recover the silver and palladium and the residue that is left should be platinum and you run it in AR.

 

[Harold_V]

I cant understand what happens here
The silver will precipitate and then what will happen to the platinum and palladium

The pregnant solution (containing silver, plus traces of palladium and/or platinum) will be poured to a vessel containing copper. The copper will cement the silver, then, as the silver content is exhausted, the palladium and/or platinum will cement. When it's present in your solution, it will generally have a green color instead of blue. Be certain to test with stannous chloride any time you deal with silver.

Be advised that the platinum metals can be slow to cement. You can see them accumulate by the black coloration of the cemented silver. When they have been extracted, my experience was that the barren solution turned blue. Regardless of color, always test with stannous chloride to insure you aren't leaving values behind.

The platinum metals (as well as traces of gold) are not recovered directly from the cement silver. Instead, the cement silver should be washed well, then melted and poured as an anode. When the silver is parted in a silver cell, the values will be left behind in the anode slimes. It is the slimes you process for recovery of the platinum metals. By allowing silver to carry them, they are concentrated, making recovery worth the effort.

Harold

 

[golddie]

Burn it very well, at the end heating it with the torch until all combustion has ceased and the glowing bits have burned out.

Hi Harold
I had a mixture of polishing dirt and some sand paper I incinerated these things together.
On a electric hot burner and it got real hot and I let it stay there for a while.
and I tried what you say here with one of these
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nakka-rocketry.net/ablative/ul100.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nakka-rocketry.net/ablatex1.html&usg=__Czfj0ljEDwlDsDXntcXyCBmwg2k=&h=902&w=600&sz=20&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=OVQPxIdkIp2SaM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=79&ei=dMZCTZP_HMKB8gbPpJ3IAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpropane%2Btorch%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D578%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=596&oei=dMZCTZP_HMKB8gbPpJ3IAQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=40&ty=47

I had on low volume and I noticed that the dirt was being blown away from the force of the fire.

I do propane and acetylene
I think acetylene will also blow away the dirt
I am thinking about trying a propane torch the kind used by jewelers not the mini torch


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.submarineboat.com/images/metal_working/Harbor_Freight_propane_torch.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.submarineboat.com/foundry.htm&usg=__OpeKGUF2RFYnepyOvJMW_r0e25I=&h=199&w=360&sz=29&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=8WjSj9t5yXgw5M:&tbnh=95&tbnw=172&ei=dMZCTZP_HMKB8gbPpJ3IAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpropane%2Btorch%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D578%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=251&vpy=128&dur=496&hovh=159&hovw=288&tx=144&ty=47&oei=dMZCTZP_HMKB8gbPpJ3IAQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
I dont have one on these but I think it will also be strong
I guess the reason for burning with strong fire is so that you use less acid otherwise it does not matter
Am I right about this
Also maybe you can tell me which type of torch would be best
Thanks

 

[Oz]

I am assuming that since you have acetylene that you also have oxygen.

What I do is heat an old stainless steel pan from below with a propane burner until I get a dull red heat. I then stir my material in the pan and pass a flow of oxygen over the material in the pan from the top at the same time so it can be completely combusted. This does not need to be a strong flow of oxygen as to displace fine particles.

 

[Harold_V]

The process described by Oz is exactly what I pursued.

Torch!

The one I'd like to recommend I can no longer find. I purchased mine back in the early 80's, from Freshman's Supply, in Utah. Unfortunately, they no longer carry the torch, and I've been unsuccessful in locating it elsewhere. It was a large Hoke type torch, with the tip resembling a rosebud. That's the torch I used to use for both incineration and for melting pure gold. For melting I had a second tip, one that was kept scrupulously clean, to avoid contamination of the gold.

It may not be obvious from the photo, but I fueled my torch with natural gas @ 1 pound delivery pressure, and oxygen.

You can see the (well used) torch on the left side of the picture, below.

A comment on complete combustion.

It is well known that activated carbon absorbs gold in solution. That it does from gold chloride, or not, I can not answer, but if nothing else, any remaining carbonaceous matter will act as a sponge, so values will be trapped that are difficult to recover. I highly recommend complete combustion, for many reasons. Follow the procedure outlined by Oz.

Sorry I'm not more help.

Harold

 

[Oz]

The process described by Oz is exactly what I pursued.

Harold, I only wish I could give proper credit to the individual that was fundamental in teaching me the value of incineration, LMAO. For those of you new here that do not get this joke, it is Harold that taught me just how valuable this is. Not just when changing acids, but also in recovering all traces from filters and other carbonatious materials used in refining.

I am going to point out something Harold said as a “by the way” in the title he had on the picture he shared. You should always have a dedicated melting and casting tray or pan like what Harold has in the picture he shared. I do not know what material he constructed his pan/tray out of, but mine is approximately the same size and made of plywood. Depending on how much material you process you may be surprised by how much in the way of very fine beads, spatter, or PM gases that condense, and accumulate in such a dedicated space.

I chose plywood because at the end of its useful life it is easily incinerated to recover fine values contained within it. In the meantime I use an insulating block under my melting crucible to protect my plywood tray/pan from the heat. I also sweep it out monthly with a painters brush and refine the resulting fine powder that accumulates. It is well worth your time if you process any quantity of material.

We work so hard to extract all values before discarding the rest as waste. Why would you choose to lose it under the torch in a far more concentrated form?

All of this falls under the category of my old friend Irons advice, “get everything but the squeal”.

 

[Harold_V]

I do not know what material he constructed his pan/tray out of,

3/8" thick Transite (cement bonded asbestos).
It was still available when I built my lab. My entire hood was made of asbestos, although three different types. I used what I could get.

Harold

 

[golddie]

Harold_V
Oz
Thanks for your help

Can you give me more explanation about the pan/tray
I don't recall Hoke using something like that

 

[Harold_V]

Can you give me more explanation about the pan/tray
I don't recall Hoke using something like that

Hoke made no mention of a tray, as I recall. Mine was the result of having tipped a five ounce lot of molten gold on top of my bench, with a portion then running off to the floor. Even with a thorough cleaning of the entire garage (that was my first lab), I still lost about a quarter ounce of gold. My logic then was to melt in a pan, so if I experienced a spill, it would be contained.

Little did I realize, at the time, that I would use that pan regularly, not just for melting my refined gold. I placed a small circle of asbestos board inside, on which I'd place my melting dish, for inquarting.

When I melted my refined gold to pour shot, I also used a pair of asbestos boards that stood erect, behind the dish. They prevented the miniscule balls of gold that would leap from the dish from escaping. After melting 75 ounces or more, there was always a small collection of tiny balls in the pan. They were returned to my first refined gold to be reprocessed, not knowing if they had been contaminated, or not. At any rate, having a pan is one of the smartest things I came up with. I would recommend one to anyone that is melting and pouring.

Harold

 

[golddie]

Hi Harold
Thanks for you help
This polishing dirt that I have with a mixture of sand paper and some other things from jewelers bench
I have been boiling this thing for about 4 or 5 times and the liquid is still green.
How many times does it normally take to have it so that the green is gone in the liquid
Thanks

 

[nickvc]

Golddie I'm going to assume that your now processing the incinerated sweeps powder in AR if that is the case the colour of the solution is due to the copper and other base metals that make up Karat gold alloys.