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Can gold be electro refined using iodine?

June 9, 2008

I found your website very educational. For over a decade I have been looking for a short step method of refining gold chemically from ore. I have read that iodine in its oxidized elemental form will dissolve gold. I have an idea that I hope may be a workable possibility, but I need an answer to this question:

Can gold that is dissolved from gold ore into an oxidized iodine solution be electro deposited onto a gold cathode as a method of electro refining?

I realize that all safety precautions of protective clothing, ventilation and proper mixing procedures must be practiced with the iodine, chlorine, and lye solutions to work safely with these strong chemicals, but it appears that it would be a safer alternative than cyanide or the strong acids.

Please advise me. Thank you.

David Wilson
I am studying electro-plating - Denham Springs, Louisiana

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Hi, David. I'm not familiar with electroplating out of a gold iodide electrolyte, but I don't see why it couldn't be done. Of course, I'm talking of plating for recovery/removal of gold, not about reliable decorative or functional gold plating. There are a number of papers on the electrochemistry; one that popped into view on google was an abstract at
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4810304
Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 9, 2008