Unwanted Chemical Reactions
- Thread starter storblixten
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What have you done with your gold scrap?
Göran
What have you done with your gold scrap?
Göran
storblixten
New member
It is as I thought an normal solution of AR and gold, urea for neutralization of HCI and SMB in good amount and let it stay some months. From the dark liquid, when I pouring it out, I find the bottom of my 2 l can covered with a 1 cm thick layer of this green and yellow crystals.
I have no idea what I have done but it is beautiful, the green crystals are about 3-4 mm in size.
I think the yellow is gold chlorate (Right in English?) It was a good amount of gold in the solution from the beginning. The green crystals is it nickel in cooperated?
Some proposals what to do with this? Separate the yellow crystals trough a mesh and use it for electrolyse.
Regards /Mikael
I have no idea what I have done but it is beautiful, the green crystals are about 3-4 mm in size.
I think the yellow is gold chlorate (Right in English?) It was a good amount of gold in the solution from the beginning. The green crystals is it nickel in cooperated?
Some proposals what to do with this? Separate the yellow crystals trough a mesh and use it for electrolyse.
Regards /Mikael
Put the liquid and crystals in a glass jar and spend some months reading. Start with Hoke, "Refining Precious Metal Wastes", you can find links to download from on the forum.
Add your country of origin to your profile, so people know it can be a language issue when you say something that doesn't make sense, chlorate and chloride is two totally different things for example. Spelling is extremely important in chemistry.
Then read up on testing (search for stannous), to see if you have gold in solution. To check if the crystals contain gold, dissolve it in water and test.
What you have done and your expectations are so full of wrongs so I can't tell you what you did wrong. Forget everything you have read outside of the forum or seen on youtube and start reading.
Göran
Add your country of origin to your profile, so people know it can be a language issue when you say something that doesn't make sense, chlorate and chloride is two totally different things for example. Spelling is extremely important in chemistry.
Then read up on testing (search for stannous), to see if you have gold in solution. To check if the crystals contain gold, dissolve it in water and test.
What you have done and your expectations are so full of wrongs so I can't tell you what you did wrong. Forget everything you have read outside of the forum or seen on youtube and start reading.
Göran
Geo
Well-known member
storblixten, You can force a solution to dissolve more metal than it can hold. There is several ways to do it, like adding heat or oxygen. Both of these things you did. You added an oxidizer and as the reaction progressed, heat was generated. The solution became over saturated with base metal. When the solution cooled and the oxygen dissipated, the extra metal crystallized. If I had to guess, I would say copper chloride crystals. Add hcl to the crystals and they should dissolve. If there's any nitrates present AND the yellow material is metallic gold, most of it will dissolve too. Be sure to test with stannous chloride for the presence of gold.
Caution!
Do not let those crystals dry!
Because you have used urea, you could have ammonium compounds, which could cause these crystals to explode on drying or heating.
Urea is not needed, and could become dangerous to use.
I do not know what you did from the beginning to now, as you haven’t given us much information to go by, but from your description I can say I believe you done it wrong, and have no clue of what your doing...
Save your solution which may hold values with base metals in solution, but do not seal the vessel tight, leave a small vent so it does not build pressure, save the metal salts, but keep them wet, which may consist of base metal chloride, sulfate, and ammonium compounds along with some possible values...
Begin your study with Hoke's book, and testing solutions, and with dealing with waste properly in the safety section of the forum, this will help you deal with the solution you have, and then you can continue your study to deal with the salts you have to recover values from this mess.
I suggest getting out of this mess, and then put up the chemicals, until you have enough study to understand the basics, and learn to recover and refine values properly, from what I see here you are just putting yourself in danger trying to do this chemistry without understanding what you are doing, and loosing your gold while trying.
This is all much more complicated than you think it is, it does take a lot of homework to learn it.
Do not let those crystals dry!
Because you have used urea, you could have ammonium compounds, which could cause these crystals to explode on drying or heating.
Urea is not needed, and could become dangerous to use.
I do not know what you did from the beginning to now, as you haven’t given us much information to go by, but from your description I can say I believe you done it wrong, and have no clue of what your doing...
Save your solution which may hold values with base metals in solution, but do not seal the vessel tight, leave a small vent so it does not build pressure, save the metal salts, but keep them wet, which may consist of base metal chloride, sulfate, and ammonium compounds along with some possible values...
Begin your study with Hoke's book, and testing solutions, and with dealing with waste properly in the safety section of the forum, this will help you deal with the solution you have, and then you can continue your study to deal with the salts you have to recover values from this mess.
I suggest getting out of this mess, and then put up the chemicals, until you have enough study to understand the basics, and learn to recover and refine values properly, from what I see here you are just putting yourself in danger trying to do this chemistry without understanding what you are doing, and loosing your gold while trying.
This is all much more complicated than you think it is, it does take a lot of homework to learn it.
Did you use iron.....because by the look of this crystals.... is like the colour and the shape made by FeCl2..... and for the gold crystal is Al involved in a FeCl2 ... I asume is a solution of AR that you drop your gold out....and assuming that was a small amount.....you drop everything in it just to try to drop more precious metals...... first you try Al.....and then Fe... I'm just assuming ,so correct me if is not like this.
Some similarities ?.... ; http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=15420&p=156104#p156104
Some similarities ?.... ; http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=15420&p=156104#p156104
Refineries that have heavy suction in their exhaust hoods often collect crystals that look just like that when their ductwork is cleaned.
Add hot water to dissolve it, filter the solids off and save them for burning and processing with residues and test the liquid with stannous chloride. In a refinery that exhausts the fume from aqua regia reactions directly the dissolved crystals will yield gold.
Now you know "waiting some months" is too long.
Add hot water to dissolve it, filter the solids off and save them for burning and processing with residues and test the liquid with stannous chloride. In a refinery that exhausts the fume from aqua regia reactions directly the dissolved crystals will yield gold.
Now you know "waiting some months" is too long.
Charles Connor
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2013
- Messages
- 47
In the bottom of the crystals seems to be brown or like burned, overheated solution maybe until boiling, could be the problem, never seen that before... they look awesome but gold is more... will check my fume hood for crystals thanks for the info 4metals.
It is often not crystals, most get it cleaned out before it drys to that state. In an operating duct in a working refinery there is a constant ever so thin layer constantly adding up which tends to keep it from drying out. It is often more like a green thick syrup.
But don't worry, it's a happy green!
But don't worry, it's a happy green!
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2011
- Messages
- 103
I had my first unwanted chemical reaction the first time I added nitric acid to the city water here.
I watched white substances appear and continue until it became 1/4 of the jar.
When finger cards that were added all metals went in to solution.
What a shocker.
Never got them to drop out.
Sent the dryed more or less white goo to my buddie.
He never got the metals to drop.
4 pounds off close cut fingers are stuck in that white goo.
It really made me think about what I was drinking in their so called safe drinking water.
When a $2000 operation on my cat pulled a quartyer sized stone that was reported back from the lab that it was made of the additives the were putting in the water.
Even the cats got filtered water from then on.
I watched white substances appear and continue until it became 1/4 of the jar.
When finger cards that were added all metals went in to solution.
What a shocker.
Never got them to drop out.
Sent the dryed more or less white goo to my buddie.
He never got the metals to drop.
4 pounds off close cut fingers are stuck in that white goo.
It really made me think about what I was drinking in their so called safe drinking water.
When a $2000 operation on my cat pulled a quartyer sized stone that was reported back from the lab that it was made of the additives the were putting in the water.
Even the cats got filtered water from then on.
