frank,
I could be wrong.
You seem to have a problem understanding what is happening and why, it does not look like you understand what you are trying to do, or the answers meant to help, they are not very helpful to you at this point because you have no understanding of what is being said, or why. It is hard for others to help you at this point, because you need a basic understanding before those answers will make any sense to you.
It will take some time to gain that basic understanding, at first is it hard, but becomes easier, as you learn some, you can then build on that understanding to gain more, as you study and experiment to see the results of what you have studied...
First you need to work on the basics, even before trying to learn any specific process, This is where your study of Hokes book will be helpful, reading the book to see how many processes are done and why, doing the getting acquainted experiments to gain an understanding of how different metals react with different acids, why some acids will not react on some metals, and why some metals in some acids create problems, understanding why some things are done certain ways...
Then study and research any process you plan on using (from scrap to final product there may be many different processes used, to prepare scrap, recover values, and refine those values, and several other processes to deal with waste products or even methods to reuse byproducts. and most important is the study of safety when using these processes, or the dangers involved, or the dangers that lurk in each process or solution your dealing with, including things that may be unseen like gases, or dangerous reactions that can be created by mixing chemicals or metals together...
I would be willing to say that you started off doing everything backwards, first jumping in to try processing some scrap to get gold, without having any understanding of the very basic principles, and no understanding of the dangers involved, no real understanding of the different processes including the ones your trying, basically just jumping into a dangerous mess, with no clue of what to do when things go differently than you thought they would, no idea of why things are reacting the way they are, and basically asking questions for help with a problem, that you basically would not even understand (the answer), if you got the answer to those questions.
My suggestion, put away the chemicals for now, and get started off on the right foot, start with Hokes book, and studying the forum, study the safety section and anything you find or can learn to be able to do this work safely, then work with the experiments in Hoke's book, gain some basic understanding, pick a simple material like memory fingers and study each process needed like preparing the scrap, recovering the gold from that scrap, and refining the gold, to melting the gold and dealing with the waste or byproducts, each step will take study, spend all the time you need to be able to understand it.
For example like the copper II chloride etching solution read everything you can find about it, until you have a good understanding of how and why it works, where it will have problems, how you can avoid problems with it, How to rejuvenate or reuse it, and how to deal with the toxic waste from it, also study the dangers of this toxic solution, and how to protect yourself from its dangers, and others who may come into contact with your products...
Doing everything backwards, and then struggling (while losing your values), and searching for answers of how to get out of a dangerous mess, and putting yourself and others in danger in the meantime is not a good or easy way to learn.
In fact that is the worst way to learn, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome for most all new to this science, is to learn how to begin to learn, most all jump in to make a big toxic mess before the have a clue of its dangers...
Taking a little time to learn, and gaining that basic understanding. Then building on that foundation to gain more understanding and learning more on that foundation will put you much closer to that pure gold in your melting dishes, and will ensure less problems along the way, as well as being much safer to you and those around you.
Don't start off by running around blindly in circles, with no idea of where to go next.
Start this with a goal and study to gain the understanding of how to get to that goal.
It is a long journey, but as you put in a few miles it becomes much easier, don't worry about wasting time studying, this is a long journey you will actually save time and trouble, with that time spent to put you much better position and further along on your way...
