hendo Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 I have a question. I have some gold(50 mesh minus) mixed with some iron pirites. I'm having a hell of a time separating it. Will nitric acid dissolve the pirites? Inquiring minds want to know Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOC Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 You know that's a good question. I'm not sure. I have a feeling it won't. I wonder what muriatic acid would do? For sure don't mix them together unless you want to disolve your gold. I'll bet hydroflouric acid would do it, but the stuff is way too dangerous to work with.Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Porter Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Hydrochloric acid should do the trick (commonly known as spirit of salts or pool acid) as it does a good job of removing iron staining on gold here in OZ.JP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chascpetty Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 I have a question. I have some gold(50 mesh minus) mixed with some iron pirites. I'm having a hell of a time separating it. Will nitric acid dissolve the pirites? Inquiring minds want to know Hendo Ask jewelerdave Email -- [email protected] Web site -- EnviroMintCoins.com Don't know if posts on this forum but you can find him on http://forum.treasurenet.com Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendo Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The reason i'm asking, is I have assess to both, and Nitric is stronger. Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendo Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Where is Reno Chris when you need him? Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Yo All...Hydrochloric cures a world of problems...Remember, pour the acid into the water, not visa versa....Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whats4supper Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 either one. but it helps to heat up the nitric acid. if using nitric acid, do it outside in a spot safe from kids, balls, accidents. if you do this inside, the fumes could mess you up as well as corrode or tarnish (rust) any metallic object within a matter of 20 minutes or so.nitric acid is commonly used to clean natural gold of impurities, coatings, oils, etc., allowing mercury to adhere to the cleaned gold. If you don't care about values, amalgamation works to sopp up all of the gold into amalgam. then take the glob and using a piece of chamois, wring the glob placed inside to get off excess mercury. place what's left into some nitric acid, which will pull the mercury into solution and leave the gold. the gold won't look like shiny gold, but sort of a dull dirty look. To recover the mercury, place some previously cleaned copper into the acid mix and the mercury will adhere to the copper, allowing you to recover most, not all of it. best to use copper flat stock, and some sort of squeegee.With any placer gold, it is best to pick out all of the larger pieces before going into the amalgam stage. the larger pieces can bring more money in their natural state. Flakes and smaller gold, recovered by amalgam, will drop the values to about 25%- 35% below spot price. where larger dinks and nuggets increase to 2-3 times the weight value; the rougher ones being worth more as collectibles and specimens. Some natural gold is worth even more than that.Another tip: Don't cue any of your neighbors in on any of your chemical use and experimentation. someone with a big mouth could bring down the EPA to swoop in and nail you over mercury and heavy metals contamination of the residence. don't go around showing anybody that you have mercury, and don't let the kids play with it and show it to their friends.A year or so ago, some other miner that lived on Saylor Way, let the kid have some mercury, who showed it to friends, one whose mom contacted the fire department, and in they came to the house to perform a thorough cleanup at a cost of $200,000, plus medical screenings and tests for all of the occupants and neighbor kids. The man was billed for this 'service', most of the interior of the house was gutted in the process, and the bill did not include residence restoration. People are after a witch hunt and law suits nowadays.I am sure that many have all played with mercury, but the modern times are not the same as it was back then.There are books about this topic, such as 'recovery and refining of precious metals' by Ammen, that go into safety and method. While I understand your need to discover testing methods, perhaps it would pay you to send the stuff off to an assayer or other such tester such as can be noted in the ICMJ. Most have very reasonable fees, considering the situation with nosy neighbors that want to get money and brownie points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendo Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Thanks guys for your replies. I don't mess with mercury any more, been there done that. There are better ways now. Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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