Clean concentrates with hydrochloric acid

[Mike Marsupial]

I was reading today the HCL has no effect on gold. So, I was wondering how it would go cleaning up concentrates.
I bought some at Bunnings and mixed it 50/50 with water and a couple of tablespoons of fine quartzy material. That was a few hours ago and not much seems to be happening.
I also read that if I add vinegar with the HCL it will make any gold dissolve! Neat trick! Might use that a bit later if I get a place where I can make a decent workshop and do fancier stuff there.
Cheers

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

That would be Nitric Acid and HCL to dissolve gold.

The best way to clean up concentrates is to pan them. if its too small to collect with a snuffer bottle, throw it back and let it grow.

A human life is not worth playing around with dangerous chemicals, unless you do tons of research and know what you are doing.

Then you will realise it is not worth it. Maybe to purify 14K gold you would want to dissolve the gold.

Allbrite is something that gets used, to maybe clean up specimens that contain ironstone and quartz...

Also, never add water to acid, add the acid to the water.

 

[Mike Marsupial]

Oops, I got mixed up between bleach and vinegar.
Ah, Allbrite. 1% Hydrofluoric acid if I'm not wrong this time.
I'm staying away from that stuff!

 

[7.62marksman]

Oops, I got mixed up between bleach and vinegar.
Ah, Allbrite. 1% Hydrofluoric acid if I'm not wrong this time.
I'm staying away from that stuff!

I would stay away from it mate or let someone that works with it all the time do it for you

 

[Mike Marsupial]

Yeah, I was reading it is HIGHLY carcinogenic! Not to mention that it melts limbs off of at 100 metres!

 

[7.62marksman]

Where you located mate

 

[Mike Marsupial]

Do you know Casino? Not far from there. North Eastern NSW.

 

[7.62marksman]

Mmm yea a bit far lol
I have a mate here that does the acid so if i stuff my gold up he does it and gives it back to me to do again
Yes guys before you say anything i know it happens a lot

 

[StoneTheCrows]

I know Sydney Casino
and Hobart and adelaide and Darwin and Perth
Yep I know em all cept the one on far north NSW
Have to give it a try

 

[Mike Marsupial]

Who Dares Wins!

 

[StoneTheCrows]

Seriously do you have plenty of places to detect / pan up there

I have only been as far as Woolgoolga

 

[Mike Marsupial]

I know Sydney Casino
and Hobart and adelaide and Darwin and Perth
Yep I know em all cept the one on far north NSW
Have to give it a try

We've got our own Texas up here too!!!

 

[Mike Marsupial]

Seriously do you have plenty of places to detect / pan up there

I have only been as far as Woolgoolga

Not around Casino, but once you get up into the mountains there's plenty. Problem is that the easy stuff to find is all super fine. So, that's what I'm applying myself to; finding an easy way to make it pay!

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Oops, I got mixed up between bleach and vinegar.
Ah, Allbrite. 1% Hydrofluoric acid if I'm not wrong this time.
I'm staying away from that stuff!

At that concentration it will not melt your limb off. Well unless you immersed your arm in a tub full of it.

Concentrated Hydrofluoric Acid itself is very potent and dangerous stuff. And hard to get anyway.

Maybe look at a shaker table for your concentrates. Or chase the fine gold and find larger gold. (Easier said than done)

Good Luck

 

[Matt80]

Hydrofluoric has a strange property in that you can wash your hands in it if it isn't super strong and won't be burnt at all. The problem is that unlike most acids it will go through your skin, get into your blood and start dissolvingthe calcium out of your bones. If your worried about osteoporosis than don't because the bone loss won't kill you, instead the acid level will drop the calcium in your arteries and organs. It's a truly messed up chemical.

 

[7.62marksman]

Hydrofluoric acidis asolutionofhydrogen fluoride(HF) inwater. It is a precursor to almost all fluorine compounds, including pharmaceuticals such asfluoxetine(Prozac), diverse materials such asPTFE(Teflon), and elementalfluorineitself. It is a colourless solution that is highly corrosive, capable of dissolving many materials, especiallyoxides. Its ability to dissolve glass has been known since the 17th century, even beforeCarl Wilhelm Scheeleprepared it in large quantities in 1771.Because of its high reactivity toward glass and moderate reactivity toward many metals, hydrofluoric acid is usually stored inplasticcontainers (although PTFE is slightly permeable to it).
NamesOther names

Hydrogen fluoride gas is an acute poison that may immediately and permanently damage lungs and the corneas of the eyes.Aqueoushydrofluoric acid is a contact-poison with the potential for deep, initially painless burns and ensuing tissue death. By interfering with body calcium metabolism, the concentrated acid may also cause systemic toxicity and eventualcardiac arrestand fatality, after contact with as little as 160cm2(25 square inches) of skin.

 

[7.62marksman]

Nitric acid(HNO3), also known asaqua fortisandspirit of niter, is a highlycorrosivemineral acid.
The pure compound is colorless, but older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to decomposition intooxides of nitrogenand water. Most commercially available nitric acid has a concentration of 68% in water. When the solution contains more than 86% HNO3, it is referred to asfuming nitric acid. Depending on the amount ofnitrogen dioxidepresent, fuming nitric acid is further characterized aswhite fuming nitric acidat concentrations above 95%, orred fuming nitric acidat concentrations above 86%.

Nitric acid is the primary reagent used fornitration the addition of anitro group, typically to anorganic molecule. While some resultingnitro compoundsare shock- and thermally-sensitiveexplosives, a few are stable enough to be used in munitions and demolition, while others are still more stable and used as pigments in inks and dyes. Nitric acid is also commonly used as astrong oxidizing agent.

 

[7.62marksman]

Hydrochloric acidis acorrosive,strongmineral acidwith many industrial uses. A colorless, highlypungentsolutionofhydrogen chloride(HCl) in water, when it reacts with an organic base it forms ahydrochloridesalt. Hydrochloric acid was discovered by the alchemistJabir ibn Hayyanaround the year 800 AD.[5][6]Hydrochloric acid was historically calledacidum salis,muriatic acid, andspirits of saltbecause it was produced fromrock saltand "green vitriol" (Iron(II) sulfate) (byBasilius Valentinusin the 15th century) and later from the chemically similarcommon saltandsulfuric acid(byJohann Rudolph Glauberin the 17th century). Free hydrochloric acid was firstformally describedin the 16th century byLibavius. Later, it was used by chemists such asGlauber,Priestley, andDavyin their scientific research. Unless pressurized or cooled, hydrochloric acid will turn into a gas if there is around 60% or less ofwater. Hydrochloricacidis also known as muriaticacidand hydronium chloride.
With major production starting in theIndustrial Revolution, hydrochloric acid is used in thechemical industryas achemical reagentin the large-scale production ofvinyl chlorideforPVCplastic, andMDIandTDIforpolyurethane. It has numerous smaller-scale applications, including householdcleaning, production ofgelatinand otherfood additives,descaling, andleatherprocessing. About 20 milliontonnesof hydrochloric acid are produced worldwide annually.[citation needed]It is also found naturally ingastric acid.

 

[iamagoldenoldie2]

hydrochloric acid the flux for soldering galvanised steel used heaps when i was an apprentice clears the nostrils brick cleaners used it to dissolve the mortar dags cleans or should i say eats cement/concrete

sulphuric acid a very heavy corrosive acid used in batteries and tanning skins

 

[Mike Marsupial]

I had a lot to do with sulphuric acid years ago when I was in the automotive battery game. lololol lots of workers in that game get around with lots of holes in their clothing, which can be good in summer. Contrary to what most people think, at 30~30% (as found in batteries) it is pretty harmless - unless you're silly enough not to wash it off within a couple of minutes. We never worried too much about the stuff - we worried more about all the lead. lolol I remember drinking some from a fresh bottle (no lead in there) to show someone it wouldn't kill me on the spot as they thought it would. Tastes a bit like lemon juice or sticking your tongue on the terminals of a 9v battery.
Also remember marvelling at being able to see all the veins in my hands so clearly when I was cleaning some printing screens in a bathtub with straight bleach. lolololol Veins are pretty easy to see if a good amount of skin is gone!