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N

no1special

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
54
Location
SE MO
The jewler that i have been selling my gold to has been so impressed that he asked me to leave my number so that he could recommend me so the people who ask him about refining. I am far from a expert, but when he used his test kit on the finished balls of gold that I (with the knowlege and assistance I got here on this very site... thank you all) recovered and refined from escrap, didnt react at all when he applied his 22k acid which was as high as he could test. Today I got a call from a person whom he referred to me and will be coming by tomorrow with gold flakes that they unearthed while digging a swimming pool. My jewler told me that when he applied his 22k acid to some of it that while it did have a slight reaction that it basicly just burned off a small amount of impurities and then left some pretty yellow stable streaks on his stone. When i asked how much we were talking about the guy told me that he had 64oz pickle gar 3/4 full of these flakes that he is bringing by in the morning for me to check out and possibly refine for him. I am planning on testing a small amount with the little bit of one pot nitric that i made, and then showing him a small scale example of making auoric clorine and precipitating back with smb. My questions are: How much would be a fair price to charge for this (I live in SE MO) and while I am not trying to rip the guy off, I dont intend to do any charity work either. I was thinking of asking for 10% but want a honest opinion on wheither that is fair, too high, or too low. And also will hcl/clorox be able to dissolve these flakes, or should i use AR. I fouled up on AR back on my first attempt refining (but that was before I found this site or even heard of Hoke) and am fairly confident that I can get some mud in the bottom of my jar now. But i have to get some nitric in order to do so and i have everything for hcl/clorox now and unless there will be problems that i am unaware of that is how i was planning to proceed....
Please help me look good. :mrgreen:
 
The first thing you need to do is to demonstrate in front if your customer you know how to test, for gold nitric is necessary as most yellow metals apart from gold react or dissolve completely in it at temperature, if you have any residue after the reaction stops you have a fair chance it's gold, this saves you the embarrassment of dissolving all your customers material only to report there was no gold there. The chlorox method works well with foils and small grains but struggles with larger pieces so AR may have to be used but use GSP, s method of over using the hydrochloric and only adding nitric when all reaction stops, this needs to be a heated reaction, and always add a little more hydrochloric before adding the nitric, too much hydrochloric doesn't cause problems, too much nitric does!
As to returns on small deals it's got to be done on a gut feeling, if it's days of concentrated dedicated work you have to factor in your time if it's just add some acids dissolve, filter, wash, dry and melt then I feel your 10% is fair, the real answer lies in what the actual job is worth, if your refining karat scrap continuously then 1-2% is all your likely to be able to charge but doing low grade materials, e scrap, sweeps or ores it has to pay the bills so a larger % is fair, so long as both parties are happy the deal is good.
 
First off how much placer gold is mined in your area?
Even in rich gold producing ground that sounds like too much gold for one tiny hole in the ground.
My first thoughts are fools gold.
Ore and electronic scrap are two different ball games.
A proper assay would be the best option.
That sounds like an awful big jar full of stuff to actually be gold from digging one small hole in the ground to put a swimming pool into, and just because it does not react to one acid test is not an indication it is actually gold, even though it may contain traces of gold, I cannot see the material or what size the nuggets are in or if they are just small flakes of pyrite, pyrite will crush easily gold can be hammered and smashed, iron pyrite will give off sulfur dioxide fumes when heated with a torch, gold would melt, if a proper flux is used iron would go up into slag gold would melt to metals, I would incinerate before trusting any acid tests, sulfide ore will not react to acids like a metal will, or trying to put it into solution to test, or trying to dissolve away (if iron) in a solution like nitric acid.

Sometimes it may be better to pass on a job than to ruin the reputation you are building, not that you may not be able to do a good job, but what if your first tests look promising and the jeweler has already got this guy's hopes up, what happens after all of this material is dissolved in acid and you find there is no gold, will this guy believe that he had a fortune in pyrite then, after he has started paying for construction workers to start digging more swimming pools in his yard?
 
Thanks for your input. Do u happen to know a nitric supplier that will sell to a individual other than the $65 pint i got off ebay last time. prefferably in se MO or close enough for pickup to avoid the shipping.
 
According to my jewler there used to be a comsiderable amount of gold mining in this area. I do know that there is still a lot of lead and copper mines still running in the area, and that between here and STL is known as mineral area. U may be right, but I dont think my jewler would be fooled by fools gold, i showed him some crockpot pins and powder before melting the first time i went to him (he is a friend of my moms) and he recognised imeadeatly even in raw brown powder and foileys that were far from shinney. But my plan was to do a small test in his presence to verify if it is or isnt Au. And if i have ANY doubt I will be posting pics and more info when i get to see it.
 
Am even making a fresh batch just for the ocassion. Can anyone help on a reasonable nitric source for south east Missouri?
 
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/branchSearchResults.shtml?currentAction=searchBranch&branchSearchSuccess=success.branchsearch&branchSearchError=error.branchsearch&searchType=state&input=&searchValue=MO

Do you have a freind that has hydroponics business, greenhouses or a machine shop Even If they don't use nitric in that business and get chemicals from a supplier ,any chemicals, they can order nitric with no problem. Farmers are another person to talk to. Feed stores might be able to help.

Set Up a real business and order some.

Eric
 
From what I have always understood the gold up north has always been very scarce. I have an individual I get my nitric down here. I will ask them their selling requirements if you want?
 
Palladium said:
Don't know if this will help or not. http://www.terracepackaging.com/
Click to expand...

Other Chemicals - (only chemicals sold to individuals)

Hydrogen Peroxide Glycerin Ammonia Mineral Seal Oil Sodium Meta Silicate Trisodium phosphate Formaldehyde Pine Oil Mineral Oil Terrasol
 
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=13501&hilit=www.terracepackaging.com%2F

They might have fixed there problems??

Eric
 
acpeacemaker said:
You can get a TIN number online as well for free.
Click to expand...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxpayer_Identification_Number
A TIN may be:
a Social Security number (SSN)
an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
an Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number)
an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number, used as a temporary number for a child for whom the adopting parents cannot obtain an SSN[3]
a Preparer Tax Identification Number, used by paid preparers of U.S. tax returns[4]
SSNs are used by individuals who have the right to work in the United States.
 
I originally meant EIN. I remember I was required to get one when I started. It was and still used to buy things at wholesale etc. You can get it before you actually have a license. Thank you for the correction Irons.

Andrew
 

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