Wohlwill process is a process that is used to refine gold to the highest degree of purity (99.999%) with a process of industrial scale chemical procedures. Many people do not realize or even think about he purity of their gold. However the fact of the matter is that the purity of gold affects everything from the value of the gold to its qualities in terms of being efficient for different applications. This is the reason that it is important people interested investing in gold educates them on the Wohlwill process.
The process was first invented by Emil Wohlwill in 1874 in Hamburg and has been known as one of the most popular procedures for gold purity ever. The process sees impure gold cast into anodes of 100 ounces. These anodes are usually suspended in porcelain cells awhile this is happening cathodes are thin strips of pure gold. Using an electrolyte solution, an electric current us passed through the anode to the cathode, which results in the anodes being slowly dissolved and the gold that is within in anodes gets deposited onto the cathodes. Any other metals such as silver will precipitate to the bottom of the cells leaving the cathode pure gold. The process usually takes around two days and is still not complete at this point. Now that the gold has all been transferred to the cathodes, they will still have to be removed, melted and eventually cast into gold bards. This initial procedure allows for purity of up to 999.5 % purity. However further processes that are usually part of the overall Wohlwill process that will allow you to reach 999.9% purity. The fact that this process was so effective at removing and impurities from the gold is the reason that is was able to be so successful.