Thiosulfate leach

[budzag]

Thanks, I am aware of this I have a tinny little bead of gold that I will test on to see if I can get it dissolved in solution. The starting list will be 1/4 tea spoon of copper sulfate, then I will add 3 tea spoons of sodium thiosulfate, then i will add 3 tea spoons ammonium sulfate and then I will use ammonia as the liquid no water will be added. Will let it sit for a few days then will check the result and see if the bead is reducing in size.

Also what is the ideal pH to cement gold? Why would adding more ammonia rise the pH you would think ammonia would be acidic and would lower the pH

 

[Fettigconstruction1@gmail]

Thanks, I am aware of this I have a tinny little bead of gold that I will test on to see if I can get it dissolved in solution. The starting list will be 1/4 tea spoon of copper sulfate, then I will add 3 tea spoons of sodium thiosulfate, then i will add 3 tea spoons ammonium sulfate and then I will use ammonia as the liquid no water will be added. Will let it sit for a few days then will check the result and see if the bead is reducing in size.

 

[Fettigconstruction1@gmail]

The stainless only gets eaten when the voltage is to high. Above 3.5 volts your stainless starts going. I did it so I would know. Now have nickel and cadnium in the junk so gonna try and figure out how to get it out. Hoping it didn't make a complex with the thiosulphate and is sitting on the bottom in the sludge.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Also what is the ideal pH to cement gold? Why would adding more ammonia rise the pH you would think ammonia would be acidic and would lower the pH

Ammonia is a alkali NH₃OH and as such has a pH similar to NaOH 13-14 ish
Cementing only needs an "active" solution , either high or low pH.

 

[budzag]

Ammonia is a alkali NH₃OH and as such has a pH similar to NaOH 13-14 ish
Cementing only needs an "active" solution , either high or low pH.

Thank you. So in your eyes would it be better leach in a full blown ammonia solution 13- 14 pH or would you go the other way say with a full blowen Sulfate of ammonia solution an try get it as acidic as possible. As I was adding sulfate of ammonia to the ammonia it was lowering the pH so it seems like the 2 were conflicting with each other? Hmm

 

[budzag]

The stainless only gets eaten when the voltage is to high. Above 3.5 volts your stainless starts going. I did it so I would know. Now have nickel and cadnium in the junk so gonna try and figure out how to get it out. Hoping it didn't make a complex with the thiosulphate and is sitting on the bottom in the sludge.

Ok thanks I didn't have a choice with the voltage as even with the ajustable power supply it wouldn't drop the voltage it was weird the amps shoot up and I can lower below a certain amount. Volts or amps

 

[Yggdrasil]

Thank you. So in your eyes would it be better leach in a full blown ammonia solution 13- 14 pH or would you go the other way say with a full blowen Sulfate of ammonia solution an try get it as acidic as possible. As I was adding sulfate of ammonia to the ammonia it was lowering the pH so it seems like the 2 were conflicting with each other? Hmm

Be conservative with the chemicals. So 10 or so will do.

 

[Fettigconstruction1@gmail]

Be conservative with the chemicals. So 10 or so will do.

 

[Fettigconstruction1@gmail]

There is alternative that has been suppose ro work. Sodium nitrate instead of copper and ammonia. Ordered some and will keep in touch once I get to do the experiment

 

[goldshark]

Ok thanks I didn't have a choice with the voltage as even with the ajustable power supply it wouldn't drop the voltage it was weird the amps shoot up and I can lower below a certain amount. Volts or amps

The ability to do work is measured in the electrical equation of Watts (Voltage x Amperage = Watts ). It takes a certain amount of Voltage/Amperage, or Watts, to perform the work ( which can be translated to a bunch of various units of energy ) to do the work of pulling electrons across a distance, through a resistive conduit (the Silver nitrate solution, measured in Ohms ). So a higher Voltage will mean use less Amperage, and vis a versa. That is the relationship. Throw in the geometrics of an electrowinning cell, Anode/Cathode distance, and you will have to become an artist of electrowinning. The V/A relationship will vary with every leach solution, cell configuration, and even the the electrical supply source. There is no one size fits all. Knowledge of electricity is equally important as the chemistry. Sorry if this is confusing, just had a couple of good beers.

 

[budzag]

There is alternative that has been suppose ro work. Sodium nitrate instead of copper and ammonia. Ordered some and will keep in touch once I get to do the experiment

Thanks that would be awesome. I have about 15buckets of really good stuff u wana run it on but it's full of sulfides so I was really hoping I could figure this leach out. I cant see how it can be so difficult everywhere I've read is there are only 3 things needed. Copper sulfate, any Thiosulfate, and ammonia but thats where it all ends there are no details on how to prepare the mixture how long to leach, can It be done at room temperature or does it need heat to activate? It's not as easy as it sounds unless you can read chemistry formulas that over my head. And the last thing I wana create is I big mess of different chemicals which I don't know what do. There need to be clear steps to follow or it's just guess work at the end.

 

[budzag]

The ability to do work is measured in the electrical equation of Watts (Voltage x Amperage = Watts ). It takes a certain amount of Voltage/Amperage, or Watts, to perform the work ( which can be translated to a bunch of various units of energy ) to do the work of pulling electrons across a distance, through a resistive conduit (the Silver nitrate solution, measured in Ohms ). So a higher Voltage will mean use less Amperage, and vis a versa. That is the relationship. Throw in the geometrics of an electrowinning cell, Anode/Cathode distance, and you will have to become an artist of electrowinning. The V/A relationship will vary with every leach solution, cell configuration, and even the the electrical supply source. There is no one size fits all. Knowledge of electricity is equally important as the chemistry. Sorry if this is confusing, just had a couple of good beers.

Thanks for clearing that up. I know there is alot more to it. I was thinking I could just put volts through the leach and get the good stuff out. how wrong I was haha. I might have to go back to using the furnace an just smelting everything again. I really wanted this to work as it seemed like a better way to do things

 

[Yggdrasil]

Thanks for clearing that up. I know there is alot more to it. I was thinking I could just put volts through the leach and get the good stuff out. how wrong I was haha. I might have to go back to using the furnace an just smelting everything again. I really wanted this to work as it seemed like a better way to do things

What about doing things with leaches that are used in the industry?
There usually are reasons for a technique to not be used, especially if they are cheap.
If I remember correctly, this was brought up early in this thread.

 

[budzag]

What about doing things with leaches that are used in the industry?
There usually are reasons for a technique to not be used, especially if they are cheap.
If I remember correctly, this was brought up early in this thread.

Are you referring to cyanide use or mercury that the big boys use? No not going there sorry. He'll it's hard enough getting nitric acid if I had to go that way. I could get hydro acid from hardware shop I guess but then i might as well just melt everything down and smelt it into a button like I was doing previously. I just thought I would try something different and it looked promising from what I read and sounded pretty straight forward