Why such small batches???

[UncleBenBen]

The bottom of the flask?

Good save with the catch pan! I would've cried for you!

 

[Tndavid]

Ouch!

 

[kernels]

Double Ouch!

 

[kernels]

So i just started my first batch of AP and lucky i started with a smaller batch as suggested because as soon as i added the peroxide to my acid and fingers bucket it turned red!!.
I have read that it could have been something that is added to the HCL that i got at Bunnings.

What now?? Whats it doing to my gold?

I started out with some Bunnings (or Mitre10) HCl, didn't have any problems with it. The color was more likely something in your feedstock ? How much H2O2 were you adding ? Don't panic too early, Au is pretty much impossible to destroy, it will always be somewhere in your recovery or refining system as either a solid or liquid.

 

[gpoon]

I found out that that brand of hcl contains 1% titanium oxide which might explain the red/orange color. I only added about 30 ml of H202.
It hasn't eaten any of the gold away but a handful of fingers looked like they've turned a dull grey, could just be fingers that didn't contain gold are my thoughts.

 

[rickbb]

Well, AP is not supposed to do anything to the gold, just dissolve the copper underneath it. The fact it turned the gold to a different color at all is disconcerting.

One of the chemist will have to chime in on if it's the titanium oxide doing it, or something else going on.

 

[gpoon]

Well, AP is not supposed to do anything to the gold, just dissolve the copper underneath it. The fact it turned the gold to a different color at all is disconcerting.

One of the chemist will have to chime in on if it's the titanium oxide doing it, or something else going on.

Its a smallish batch so i'm not overly concerned. whats i have noticed tho is that in the morning the solution will have the expected green colour at the top but when i agitate it it'll turn purple due to the red and green mixing.

So far 3 days but no flakes have loosened yet, but i'll give it a few more days.

 

[g_axelsson]

If you don't have a bubbler then you need patience, give it a week or two at least.

The green layer at the top is where oxygen have converted the CuCl into CuCl₂, that is what dissolves the copper. The rest of the solution is lacking oxygen so nothing happens until you stir it or you wait for the oxygen to diffuse down which takes quite a while. Stirring speeds it up.

Göran

 

[Deano]

The cheap HCl from Bunnings etc contains titanium salts, it has previously been used to wash heavy mineral sands and will dissolve some titanium during this process.

It is sold as a 28% solution rather than the usual 32% tech grade.

Contact with stannous salts in solution will give coloration ranging from red to purple depending on the relative proportions of each metal and what other metal salts may be in solution as well as the operating temperature.

Deano

 

[gpoon]

If you don't have a bubbler then you need patience, give it a week or two at least.

Yep, looks like good things come to those who wait.

The cheap HCl from Bunnings etc contains titanium salts, it has previously been used to wash heavy mineral sands and will dissolve some titanium during this process.

It is sold as a 28% solution rather than the usual 32% tech grade.

Contact with stannous salts in solution will give coloration ranging from red to purple depending on the relative proportions of each metal and what other metal salts may be in solution as well as the operating

I noticed nowhere in your reply did you mention "this will ruin your gold". So thats a win in my book

Thanks for the replies people, i'm just happy to see how this goes and learn from it. Its so exciting ha!