Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Gold Refiner Treats Impurities With Acids

By Angel Dudley


Impurities are removed from the yellow metal after the smelting process in the final stage of refining. This process is carried out in furnaces or by acid treatment. Many refining companies are left with the metal in the form of scrap or bars and this metal in liquefied in furnaces. Soda ash is added to the molten liquid metal by the gold refiner to bifurcate the pure metal from lesser precious metals.

A jeweler can also be a smelter and can refine the precious metal at his own lab. Assuming that the metal is in the form of nuggets, they can be placed inside a crucible. The crucibles are generally built of graphite that can withstand the melting of the metal.

The process of melting is taken care of by the aurum recycler with the help of an acetylene torch that is aimed on nuggets for dissolving them. The melted nuggets are cooled to harden. They are then treated with concentrated acids such as nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

The ratio for the addition of acids is 30 ml. For nitric acid and 120 ml. For hydrochloric acid per ounce of the metal. The acids are poured by way of filter funnels in containers such as Pyrex pots. The solution is kept overnight until all the fumes of the acidic reaction are evaporated.

The next step is to add urea and precipitant. The mixture has to be one pound of urea to one quart of heated water. This mixture is added gradually to the acids. A selective gold precipitant is added to a quart of boiling water per ounce of the metal. This is also added slowly to the acids. The solution needs about half an hour to work on the particles.

After the solution works on the metal in the containers, the acid changes to a muddy kind of color. This happens when the metal particles separate. The acid among the dissolved metal is then tested in the lab by the immersion of a stirrer in that acidic solution. Drops of the acid solution are placed on the end of paper towels. The test is carried out by the assayer by dropping a detection liquid particularly for precious metals on the spots on the paper towel. When the color of the solution transforms into a muddy-amber one, then the dissolved metal is well on its way to be refined.

A little tap water is then mixed with the dissolved particles. They have to be rinsed and the extra water is thrown away. The particles go through treatment with aqua ammonia releasing white vapors. Proper protection is warranted against inhaling these vapors by wearing protective gear like a face mask and goggles.

The mud deposits are then kept in a beaker once the distilled water is drained away. The beaker is kept on a hot plate and allowed to heat by the gold refiner until the mud develops a powder like consistency. The mud deposits are removed on to double layers of paper towels. They are then to be wrapped and soaked in alcohol. The mud has then to be placed into a graphite crucible and melted for it to take pure metal form.




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