Gold parting will not dissolve gold, nearly pure gold (very close to 99.5% pure) will be left behind after the reaction is complete. After removing the solid gold other elements like silver and copper may be extracted from the liquid. To get the gold to a very high level of purity (999 fine gold) it is sometimes processed further with aqua regia to effectively remove all the impurities. Aqua regia was also used for parting. It was made by adding sal ammoniac to nitric acid which produced a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. This acid dissolved the gold to a
Methanesulfonic acid Methanesulfonic acid Methanesulfonic acid (MsOH) is a colorless liquid with the chemical formula CHSOH. It is the simplest of the alkylsulfonic acids. Salts and esters of methanesulfonic acid are known as mesylates (or methanesulfonates, as in ethyl methanesulfonate). It is hygroscopic in its concentrated form. Methanesulfonic acid may be considered an intermediate compound between sulfuric acid (HSO), and methylsulfonylmethane ((CH)SO), effectively replacing an –OH group with a –CH group at each step. This pattern can extend no further in either direction without breaking down the –SO– group. Methanesulfonic acid can dissolve a wide range of metal salts, many of them