question about gold recovery

Well, enough of that, I would really like someone with experience to answer my question. I am along way away from killing myself -

I'd say that Scott is probably the most experienced one here on this forum, now on Gold Refining Forum it might be a tossup between about 10 different people. I would say to take Scotts word like it was God talking to you,,, Just my opinion,,,

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

I'd say that Scott is probably the most experienced one here on this forum, now on Gold Refining Forum it might be a tossup between about 10 different people. I would say to take Scotts word like it was God talking to you,,, Just my opinion,,,

Mechanic,

I truly appreciate what you have said, I don't really see myself in that way, but it does make a person feel incredibly good, specially when I respect that person a great deal, when they say something like you have about me. There are many others that also refine who are on this site that could very well be a lot more knowledgeable than I am, and compared to friends of mine who also refine what I know would be a drop in the bucket so to speak. But it is greatly appreciated.

I also want to say that although I post on what I know about and don't often post questions, I have learned just as much as I have posted about. This forum and it's members have helped me in my own work beyond anything I could easily express here. And there are members here that know far more, and have far more experience in the subjects this forum was built on than I do, also the reason I am here.

So thank you for the compliment, I do really appreciate it, and thank you for your own posts, and for the posts of everyone else that add to the accumulation of knowledge that exists on this site. While GRF has hundreds of years of accumulated experience in recovering and refining precious metals, this site has hundreds and hundreds of more experience in recycling, scrapping, processing, identifying etc etc etc metals.

Scott

Originally Posted by moosescrapper

Wow...some pretty intense reactions to the question!! There is a lot of truth in what the others here have posted. I just joined this forum yesterday so I am not sure I can associate this Scott with the word of God. I have however been "recovering" and "refining" gold from eWaste for a couple of years now. I feel I am very comfortable with the processes that I use, and they are right that it does require a lot of studying. After all, you're not baking a cake or shining up some silver spoons here. The goldrefiningforum in my opinion is a top notch place to find info. The folks there tend to be a bit snobby for my taste especially if you are new and start asking questions before you start reading. In many cases understadably so. I also feel that you should read Hoke to get a better base knowledge on what this science is all about. It is also a great opportunity for you to try to amass a considerable quantity of gold bearing material. Bottom line is that there are no quick answers. There are no "get rich quick" solutions. There are loads of hazards associated with recovery and refining. If this has not already been stated, this is what i would suggest for you....
1: Read Hoke, its free online.
2: Think about your confidence level. What chemicals are you comfortable to work with at first after reading Hoke?
3: Read Hoke again.
4: Determine what kind of things you want to recover gold from. Not everything requires Nitric acid. You can do a lot with HCL and peroxide, an aerator, heat, bleach, etc.
5: Once you have chosen a familiarity test, in my opinion, removing gold flake from goldfingers with hcl and peroxide is a great one, study the notes from people on the goldrefiningforum. Lazersteve has some great videos, threads, and set ups though the initial glass jar is what i would reccommend.
6:Read the MSDS on the chemicals involved with the process you want to start out with.
7: Prepare everything in advance. Do NOT skip any safety steps, do NOT skimp on safety gear.
8-Make sure you go over the process SEVERAL times before you actually perform it.
9- Make SURE the area you are woking in is well ventilated, and that there is no danger of children or animals coming anywhere close to what you are doing.
10-Prepare prepare prepare prepare reread reread reread and then proceed with caution.

Remember, even the people who are most experienced had to have started with questions just like you. This is not childs play in the least bit, however after doing this for a while, I find it very fun! I always exercise caution, and even after at least a couple hundred batches of A/P I still have a printed out sheet above the bench with the step by step directions and safety precaustions so that I never fall into the trap of feeling too comfortable with what i am doing. Being the new guy here, I hope this response does not tick off some of the senior members. I am not trying to overstep others with more experience than I have.

So keep reading, keep studying, keep asking.

PEACE!

^^^This is the best answer to the OP I've seen in this thread so far.^^^ The most helpful and courteous answer. IMHO. And it comes from a brand new member. Ain't that something!? There were a few others that were decent, but most were not helpful at all. In fact they were mean, hateful, and and just downright disrespectful. Some were extremely verbose. Then there were those that filled with blarney and completely overate others on here. ex: "take Scotts word like it was God talking to you.." Really? Really? Sorry, not even close. I know this will be deleted, but I gotta speak my peace. Maybe the OP did ask the wrong question. I'm no gold refiner so I don't know. Was he on the wrong forum? Sure. We're supposed to be scrappers, metal recyclers, and even e-waste recyclers. Not gold refiners and certainly not prophets of God. Did he deserve to be treated a little better by the members of SMF? Absolutely.

Originally Posted by skylinejack

^^^This is the best answer to the OP I've seen in this thread so far.^^^

skylinejack, you are right, that was a great answer. I might point out, this is an A-List of everything that was already talked about. He just added it all in one post and posted it to the same thread that contained all of that information already. He just read everything and accumulated it in one post. In other words you are really complimenting all the posts before this one. Thank you.

There is very good reason why I don't give those types of answers on this forum, specially initially. If these types of answers are given on this forum, people will be looking for these types of answers here instead of where all the accumulated information actually resides. This forum does not seem like the correct place to be giving information on how to safely and properly refine.

I believe it's better to over explain than under explain, so I also believe being verbose is better than not.

I don't see where anyone has been hateful or disrespectful, I myself don't believe I have been anything but blunt and brutally honest, if you would, I would like you to point out those things specifically so that if I was involved in any of those types of comments, I can learn from my mistakes and post so that I don't offend people like you in the future. At the end of the day this is all suppose to help all of us.

It's one thing to state that SMF members should have treated the OP better, but without stating exactly what those things are, how is anyone to learn from all the mistakes that were made in this thread you have eluded to?

Scott

I was thinking about it, and maybe words are not enough. So I did a quick search and found a couple pictures of hydrochloric acid skin burns, and thought I would post them here to illustrate my point.





I hope this gets my point across!

Scott