HOW TO MAKE YOUR LEACH
There are many different kinds of leach, we have listed two that we have found to work well for us. It is important that you realize that certain leaches work better on different kinds of ore and carbon depending on what other elements are included in the ore complex. We have found the 4:1-AR (diluted) solution to work better on the carbon AND that the 7:1 SSN is probably the best overall leach, although the halox leaches work very well, we are not recommending them here as they are a bit more toxic and harder to handle.
SSN Leach 7:1
SSN Leach.7: 1 (Saturated salt and Nitric acid) this is one of the best leaches for leaching gold and complex hard to leach ores and can be enhanced with addition of a small amount of Iodine. The only downside is that once you have leached your ore or carbon you must neutralize the nitric before you try to extract any of the precious metals out of the pregnant leach. Follow the directions very carefully and you will have an excellent leach for your ore and carbon. This is a mild but very aggressive leach for gold and other precious metals such as the platinum group metals (PGM's). It is not as harmful to the skin as the AR leach nor are the fumes quite as toxic, but we still recommend care and caution when making and handling this leach.DIRECTIONS: NOTE: This recipe is for 2 gallons of leach; you just use the same ratio to make any amount you want. Be sure that you have a well-ventilated area when mixing any chemicals… do not breath the fumes!
- Bring 2 gallons of distilled water to a boil in a coated metal pan… like the gray/black ones used for canning.
- Add in about 6 pounds of non-iodized salt and stir in very well. You want to fully saturate the salt into the water.
- Let the solution cool overnight and let all of the excess salt settle to the bottom of the container. Some salt may still be floating on top or stuck to the sides of the container… just tap on the side of the container and they will settle to the bottom.
- Dip out 7 quarts of the saturated salt water into another plastic or glass container. You will have a lot of salt gathered in the bottom and approx a qt of water, just save this for the next batch and repeat the process but use apprx 5+ pounds of salt on the second and future batches. We just use plastic buckets with lids on them.
- Now to your 7 quarts of saturated salt water you add 1 quart of Nitric Acid and mix it together. BE CAREFUL OF THE FUMES that are released. DO NOT BREATHE THEM!
- If you want the leach to be more aggressive… which you probably will not need because it is very aggressive as it is… you can add up to 1 ounce of iodine. This is the iodine that you buy at a feed store that is used on livestock. It is 7% solution of iodine and costs $20 a gallon.
AR Leach 4:1
AR Leach 4:1 (Aqua Regia leach) This 4:1 formula is for a diluted AR is highly recommended for gold recovery as it can be a bit more selective for the gold and is recommended for leaching gold from the carbon. Follow the directions very carefully as in the making of this leach as the off gas can be harmful to the lungs and very toxic. Our final product is a dilution of 4:1 but we have the make the leach full strength and it is quite toxic and dangerous if handled improperly. When you have the full strength AR made you let it set at least 24 hour at room temperature to "cure". After being "cured" you then dilute it 4:1 and you are ready to go. Once in its "diluted" state in is an excellent leachant for gold and is not an expensive leach to make. Remember even in a diluted state you do not want to breath the fumes and extreme caution and care should be exercised when handling this leach.
DIRECTIONS: use the same ratios to make any size batch you wish. Be sure that you have a well-ventilated area when mixing any chemicals… do not breath the fumes!
- You mix together 4 parts of Muratic Acid with 1 part of Nitric Acid in a glass or plastic container. This is a 4 to 1 ratio. For example you mix 1 pint of Nitric to 4 pints of Muratic acid. If you are using full strength industrial grade HCL then you mix at 3:1 ratio. Once you have your solution you need to let this sit for up to 24 hours. The longer it sits the darker yellow color it gets. DO NOT BREATHE THE FUMES! This is straight Aqua Regia Leach but is very strong and aggressive and can be used for some applications. But it is expensive and we highly recommend that you use the 4:1 dilution for dissolving gold out of your ores and off the carbon. It needs to be diluted down by using 4 parts distilled water to 1 part full strength AR. Diluting it down to a 4:1 actually makes it work better for dissolving gold without working on so many other of the metals.
- Now you take the above full strength solution and add it to a distilled water solution at a rate of 4 to 1. 4 parts of water for every 1 part of the above AR solution. In the above mix you have a 5 pints of acid, 4 Muriatic and 1 nitric, now you need to add 20 pints or 2 1/2 gallons of distilled water for a total volume of 3 gallons and 1 pint of AR diluted leach. You also may keep your full strength AR in a container and dilute it as needed, for example pour off 1 pint of AR into 4 pints of distilled water and now you have an excellent leach for your carbon and ores. REMEMBER, ACID INTO WATER, NOT WATER INTO ACID.
HOW TO LEACH OUT YOUR CARBON OR ORE
DIRECTIONS:
Once you have removed your carbon from the stream we recommend that you take a small amount, approximately ½ teaspoon of the carbon granules and test with the Gold Hunter Test Kit. If you get a nice purple color reaction for gold then you probably have enough gold on the carbon to proceed with the leaching process. Just follow the directions for leaching the carbon and stripping the gold.
- You need a leaching container. For our carbon filtering we have some leaching containers at a nominal price that are perfect for the carbon and pouring off the leach. See our order page for prices and details. The bottom is sealed to prevent any leakage and there is a cap for the top while your are in the leaching process or just storing your leach wait for the next batch of carbon. You can a simple stand to hold them with 12” shelf stock material. We will not be selling the racks as they are easy to build and we are posting the plans on the site. Just build a rectangle box with dividers, leaving enough room for 3 of the containers to slip in on the top to keep them standing up straight. We use a total of 3 different containers for each batch of leach. We leach the material in the first tank, then transfer the pregnant leach into the second tank. We then put rinse water back in with the carbon and then pour the rinse water (which is good and contains gold) into the 3rd tank. This makes for a nice handy little set up. This process is recommended for carbon only, we DO NOT use this for leaching our ore material, as it is sometimes difficult to get the ore back out of the bottom of the containers.
- When leaching we put our loose carbon or the carbon blankets down into the container and then fill the container with the leach solution to where the leach is just covering the carbon. Any similar container will work. We have also used plastic buckets and low flat plastic containers with lids but we have found it easier to pour the pregnant leach off using our containers. You will find a screen in each container and you need only to fold it down over the top of the container like you were wrapping the end of a Christmas present and then run a strip of wide strapping tape or tape around it to hold the screen around the top of the container. Once taped it holds its form so we just take it on and off whenever we need it. This stops the carbon from pouring out and allows the leach to run right through the screen.
- Once you have the leach solution of your choice covering the carbon you need to let it sit and “cook” for a period of time. The temperature of the leach will determine how quickly it works. The warmer the leach the quicker it works. The time period that your carbon or ground ore is in the leach will depend on the size of the gold that the leach is trying to dissolve and bring into solution. We recommend at least 24 to 36 hours. The carbon would not require near the time in a leach solution, as would an ore mix. If your ore mix is not ground up fine enough the leach solution will not be able to get to the gold to dissolve it. . Some waters contain a greasy film that can clog up the pours in the ActiCarb carbon and it may be necessary to wash the carbon with a strong soap solution prior to leaching. IF YOU NEED TO DO THIS… DO NOT THROW AWAY THE WASH SOLUTION… as it very likely will contain gold. Save it and add some leach to it to dissolve the gold or just add a more concentrated leach solution tothis water in the carbon.
- Once you have the gold into the leach solution you need to store it in a secure container until you have time to process the leach. When processing the leach it usually needs to be diluted down in strength to get the PH to a proper level. You can use the rinse water solution to dilute down the original full strength leach
HOW TO EXTRACT GOLD FROM SOLUTION
DIRECTIONS:
You will need to follow these steps very carefully as gold extraction can be quite exasperating AND REMEMBER you do have to have gold in the solution to be able to extract it out. There are many methods for extracting gold and these that we recommend those that have worked best for us. We are going to recommend several different methods and all have been quite successful for gold extraction but again it depends on the complexity of the ore and how you follow directions. We are not in the "refining" business nor do we expect that you are equipped to do refining. You will need more equipment to get volume extraction and sometimes depending on what you do it can involve a considerable investment. That is why we recommend that you do a lot of preliminary testing and test extracting to see exactly the amount of gold that can be recovered. We will recommend some assayers that will reconfirm what you think you have but remember sometimes the assay will come back showing no gold and yet there is a considerable amount of micron or ionic gold in solution. Micron gold can be very difficult to detect when you send a sample for assay but when it is leached and changed to a gold chloride it can be easier to extract and get to a "button" of gold. Once you have progressed to a stage that you have gold into a gold chloride state then you will need to measure very carefully the amount of ore you used and the amount of gold recovered. In essence you really are doing your own assay but the beauty of you doing this process you can calculate the amount of gold that is recoverable and then just do the math to determine how much gold you can actually recover per ton and the exact cost of the materials needed. Sometimes there is good gold in a solution but it can be very difficult to get it to drop out of solution and into a form that is sellable. It depends on the complexity of the ore and sometimes other metals can hinder the extraction process. It is also very important to note the if you are using any leach with nitric acid as part of the mixture the nitric MUST be neutralized before you can properly recover the gold. Sometime too much iron will interfere and you may have to remove the iron first before proceeding. REMEMBER we are only giving a standard process and for the extraction to work there sometimes other factors to consider. If you gold in the solution and you can't recover it you have to go to a different process such as zinc cementation or use the Butyl Diglyme and Oxcalic acid solvent extraction process. We are only giving you recommended methods that have worked for us and other miners but we by no means guarantee that they will work for you. Extracting gold is very precise and a lot depends on the ORP (Oxidizing Reduction Potential) of the solution as your leach is working so we recommend that you have an ORP meter if you are going to be doing much extracting. Also the "ph" of the solution is very critical when trying to precipitate gold out of a solution and we also recommend that you have a ph meter or you can also get an ORP/PH meter with separate probes that will work quite well. You probably should have a magnetic stirrer which sometimes can be found on E-bay or other sites for somewhere between $50 and $100 and if you are going to do the DiGlyme extraction process then you will need some beakers and a sepatory funnel also which can be found on the internet. You probably will need a small furnace as to get the precipitant to a gold button you will have to furnace at 1750 to 1800 degree with some flux.
The Gold Hunter Test Kit
Click here to purchase
the Gold Hunter Test Kit for only
What users say...
"The Gold Hunter Test Kit
is a money maker for me.
John Guerette, ME
More...