Abstract
THE problem presented by the necessity of refining gold was one for which a solution was sought at least as early as the time, about B.C. 700, when coins were first manufactured in the Western world. Apart from toughening or the removal of base metals which was sufficiently cared for by the ancient process of cupellation, it is clear that some measure of success attended the efforts made to part gold and silver. Thus, some of the ancient Greek coins containing 997 or 998 per 1000 of gold. The earliest parting process used was one of cementation, which was succeeded by the nitric acid process. At the present day chlorine is the predominant agent for parting gold from silver in Australia, electrolysis in America, and sulphuric acid in Europe.
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Refining Gold by Electrolysis . Nature 95, 100–101 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/095100b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/095100b0