Saturday, October 5, 2013

Gold Refiner Treats Impurities With Acids

By Angel Dudley


The final stage in the production of yellow metal is the refining one. Impurities are removed after smelting. The process of refining is executed by help of a furnace or with acid treatment. Most refiners are left with scarp or bars that have to be melted in the furnace. A gold refiner adds soda ash to the metal which is melted to distinguish the pure material from the metals of lesser value.

A jeweler can take on the role of a smelter to purify the metal in-house. There is a possibility that the jeweler would be looking at nuggets in raw form. He or she can place these nuggets within a crucible which is usually built of graphite so that it can survive the high temperatures when the metal is melted.

To begin with, the aurum recycler aims an acetylene torch to melt the nuggets thoroughly. Once they are melted, they are then cooled so that they can harden and be treated with acids. Nitric acid and hydrochloric acid in concentrated form are used for this process.

The requirement for every ounce of the precious metal is about thirty milliliters of nitric acid and one hundred and twenty milliliters of hydrochloric acid in container capacity. The acid is poured through filter funnels. The containers could be Pyrex pots or heavy gauged plastic buckets. The reaction time that is generally allowed for the acids by the metal recycler is generally to keep the solution overnight until all fumes are dispelled.

To this acidic solution, two more things are added. One is urea and the other is a selective precipitant. The urea mixture has to be a pound per every heated water quart. The precipitant is then added to boiling water; one quart per ounce in terms of the dissolved metal. The mixtures are added to the acids gradually. It takes almost thirty minutes for the solution to have an impact on the dissolved metal particles.

When the metal particles start to separate, the acid takes on a muddy color and the dissolved metals are taken for test. This test is carried out by the immersing a stirrer in the acid and then placing few drops of that acid on a paper towel end. A detection liquid for precious metals is then dropped on those acid spots. The objective of the assayer is achieved if the color turns to muddy amber.

The purifier of metal then adds tap water to the dissolved metal particles which remain behind. Extra water is drained off after they are rinsed. The metal particles then go through treatment with ammonia water. Once this is applied, white vapors are released and caution is required to take protective action by wearing proper safety gear. Distilled water can be used to rinse the ammonia.

Distilled water is used to rinse ammonia. The dissolved particles are transferred to a beaker. It is given slow heat until the mud particles take on a powder form. They are then replaced on to multiple paper towel layers by a gold refiner. They are wrapped in the towels and soaked in alcohol. After soaking with alcohol, the particles are again melted by placing them in a graphite crucible to attain pure form.




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