Gold parting of the salt cementation process. This mixture is then added to an earthenware pot and layered with thin sheets of gold fold. The pot is then sealed and heated in a furnace. It was during the medieval period that distillation was discovered and the first description of nitric acid production was given by Pseudo-Geber in the "Summa perfectionis", 1330. Nitric acid is able to dissolve silver. The addition of sal ammoniac to nitric acid creates Aqua regia and this acid is able to dissolve gold. Both acids are used in the acid method of parting but the acids were expensive
Simultaneously extracted metals and Acid-volatile sulfide be determined. In initial versions of the SEM-AVS approach, six metals were measured: nickel, zinc, cadmium, copper, lead, and mercury. More current methods call for the measurement of silver in addition to these metals. In applying the SEM-AVS approach, two concentrations are determined: the total concentrations of all toxic heavy metals of interest, represented as [SEM], and the acid-volatile sulfide concentration, represented as [AVS]. From these concentrations, the [SEM]/[AVS] ratio can be obtained, summarizing the results in a single value. Based on the extremely low K values for heavy metal sulfides, if [SEM]/[AVS] is less than 1 ([SEM < [AVS]),