SMB Wont work properly

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Your gold may not be in solution. It may be left behind on some undissolved pins or bits of metal in form of powder clinging to this pieces. Many times if dissolution is not complete and some parts are left in solution gold precipitate on them.
 
Harold_V said:
Again, you're missing the point. Testing is to assure you KNOW that there is gold in a solution. Once you have attempted precipitation, if you achieve results in any way, testing is a valuable resource. There's more than one reason why a solution can be yellow---or the color of gold chloride. That's the point. That you happen to be right in this particular circumstance does not guarantee that you will be right in others.

Let me be perfectly succinct. I refined for more than 20 years, on a daily basis. I tested constantly (I also used ferrous sulfate crystals, in conjunction with stannous chloride). It took little time for me to come to terms with the idea that I *didn't* know what was going on at all times---and that testing was my salvation.

Your response to me indicates a considerable amount of cockiness that is going to burn you in good time. Whether you learn the hard way, or by taking seasoned advice, is your choice, but learn you will. Displaying attitude is not in your best interest.

Harold
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Im not missing anything all im saying is i know the golds there because i dissolved the foils. Where are you picking up on attitude ???? I came here with respect and have shown it the whole time.
 
patnor1011 said:
Your gold may not be in solution. It may be left behind on some undissolved pins or bits of metal in form of powder clinging to this pieces. Many times if dissolution is not complete and some parts are left in solution gold precipitate on them.
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please explain, I dissolved foils mainly and incinerated papers.
 
Moo said:
Steve I processed foils fromm fingers and fiber cpu pins as well as gold that I couldnt get to melt properly with torch, and some paper scrap that was incinerated as described in hokes on a frypan but covered in metho till it burnt out everything I cleaned well boiling and washing in water and HCL 3 times the soultion was filtered using #1 lab filters and came through very clean. SMB is the proper stuff and has worked fine for me previously. Its now been about 46 hours and no change the soultion is clearish with a hint of yellow and very little powder on the bottom. Solution has a ph of 1
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I see not only foils. You pretty much mixed a lot of different material together. Anything metallic that was not dissolved completely may hold precipitated gold.
Give me breakdown of weight of all that material you dissolved.
 
when you dissolved the material, was there any metal that didnt dissolve.fiber CPU pins are made of Kovar (an iron based material) and can be hard to dissolve. iron will cement gold quickly, especially in warm solutions. if you had iron that didnt dissolve, there may be some gold still with the pins.
 
Patnor as I recall there was 3 grams of foils, about 2 grams of refined gold I couldnt get to melt properly I pretreated this before dissolving by acid and hot water bath to get rid of any borax, and trace impurities the pins were 90 grams in weight prior to being dissolved in acid, paper scrap I dount really know, I was all frustrated and worried when I was doing this so thats about as concrete as information as i can give you.
Thanks for your time :)

Geo im not entirely sure from what I recall I boiled the pins for several hours in acid several times over Ive done this process over a few weeks all in the great attempt to get what I can and clean up all this mess I have around so I can clear my head and start fresh.
 
Patnor yes as far as im aware there were traces of black on the filter paper though. Ive heated the solution o a few times till it steamed and what appeared as fine brown powder in the bottom is now black with a little more then originally was there. Hope that helps. Sorry im a little vague on the whole process has taken a while over time so cant say for sure. I wouldnt mind betting though that there may be traces of other dissolved metals in the solution
 
Your best bet will be to add small bit of fresh HCl to your original solution, put a big piece of copper inside and wait till solution become saturated with copper. Then decant, collect all powder from bottom and from copper bar and start over again. That powder will contain your gold.

Test left over solution after you decant with stannous to make sure all gold was cemented with copper.
 
thanks patnor, closest thing I have to a copper bar would be a big chunk of copper i scrapped from a crt monitor good enough?
 
If you are talking about the yolk, I would say no. You shouldn't use wire because it can drop bits of wire into your material, and it is coated with a varnish that would cause problems..

Jim
 
Get a pipe, cut few inches of it and either flatten it with hammer or I suggest better to cut or saw it lengthwise and flatten to make sheet.
 
Thanks patnor will do and add to the smb solution soon as I find a plumber with some to spare.
 
Harold said:
Displaying attitude is not in your best interest.

moo said:
Im not missing anything all im saying is i know the golds there because i dissolved the foils. Where are you picking up on attitude ???? I came here with respect and have shown it the whole time.
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You're not? Have you tested the solution, as you've been advised? If not, that's attitude. You're too damned stubborn to be told anything you don't want to hear. That, to me, is attitude.

You claim to have processed 90 grams of material. From that, if you're lucky, you'll recover about ten grains of gold. It will be scarcely visible when precipitated. The solution, from all indications, contained iron. That has the potential to yield a yellow solution. I also read that others have determined that you had residual iron pieces in the mix, and that they did not necessarily totally dissolve. That means that it's possible that NONE of the gold made it through the process, or that some may have. That's why one tests. Only a fool "knows" where his gold is, especially when things aren't working out as you think they should.

As I said previously, you should have tested your solution. I said it then, and I'm saying it now. Until you do, you have NO idea if there's any gold present, for you may have already precipitated what little was there, or it may be in the filter. These are the things you will learn. How you learn them is up to you.

Harold
 
Harold guess what the Gold that I couldnt melt weighed 2 grams itself see above I dont have an attitude buddy but if you keep poking away I sure as hell might. And I guarantee it wont make a difference to me.
 
Moo said:
Harold guess what the Gold that I couldnt melt weighed 2 grams itself see above I dont have an attitude buddy but if you keep poking away I sure as hell might. And I guarantee it wont make a difference to me.
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I can see the eviction notice already!

Jim
 
Moo said:
Harold guess what the Gold that I couldnt melt weighed 2 grams itself see above I dont have an attitude buddy but if you keep poking away I sure as hell might. And I guarantee it wont make a difference to me.
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I also see that it didn't melt, a sure sign that you didn't have two grams of gold. Gold is never difficult to melt----it's only difficult because it isn't gold.
Poking?
You, sir, are akin to a mule. People here are trying to help you gain an understanding of proper refining procedures, which, in the long haul, are all required if you hope to become successful. One of the cardinal rules is that you must know what you have----for you can expend countless hours chasing your tail operating under assumptions. Everything you've posted indicates that's exactly what you're doing, and you don't have enough of an understanding to consider that's the case. You would be well served to put your attitude on hold and start listening to those who have been there, done that.

You think it won't make a difference?

Continue with your obstinence, setting a poor example for how readers should respond to those who offer guidance and you'll soon discover it does make a difference, as you will no longer be able to display your attitude on this forum. You won't be the first, and most likely will not be the last.

There will be no further comments from me. I will simply perform the duty I have been assigned to perform.

Silence is golden.

Harold
 

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