Those who want to learn the gold recovery process from e-waste extensively use the keywords how to recover gold from aqua regia. This is because most people have the conception that the aqua regia process is the only and best method to extract gold from e-waste. There are many other methods to remove gold from e-waste, and aqua regia is one of them. The economic viability and easy availability of the material or chemicals used in the gold recovery process are the first considerations when choosing a method to remove gold from e-waste.
Undoubtedly, the aqua regia method is an easy gold recovery process. To prepare aqua regia, you need to mix one part of nitric acid and three parts of hydrochloric acid. These acids are very corrosive and produce toxic fumes. So, while mixing them, you should be careful to avoid splashes, as they might cause burns. In case you happen to have some splashes on your body, you should immediately wash them with plain water.
Jewellers normally use aqua regia to get their gold from old jewellery, scrap jewellery pieces, filings, jewellery bench work, etc. One kilogramme of scrap jewellery can be digested by 3.5 to 4.5 litres of aqua regia. You can use Teflon plastic or glass for the aqua regia gold recovery method. First, gold scrap should be placed in the digesting pot, and then aqua regia should be poured onto it slowly and carefully. The scrap metal begins to dissolve into the aqua regia. The aqua regia is poured until the whole metal is dissolved. Once the metal undergoes digestion, we filter the solution. If only gold metal is present in the filtered solution, the colour of the solution is yellowish; if other metals such as copper, nickel, etc. are mixed in the solution, the colour of the solution is green. We should neutralise the excess nitric acid in the solution to ensure the easy and complete precipitation of gold. It is either done by boiling the solution to almost dryness or by adding some chemical that neutralises the nitric acid.
By now, you have only half the answer to how to recover gold from Aqua Regia. Precipitating a hundred percent gold from the gold chloride solution is not as easy as it sounds. Many precautions are taken to ensure the complete recovery of gold from the aqua regia solution, and the correct choice of the gold-reducing chemical is also a very important part of this gold recovery process. Occasionally, for various reasons, some particles of other metals may also settle to the bottom with the gold dust. To ensure the maximum purity of gold, it may be necessary to repeat the entire process.
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