Aqua Regia is a simple method to get all the gold as well other metals. Although simple, it is not necessarily easy, because it has a lot of inherent risk, especially for a novice to chemistry. Having said that, I was a novice when I learned to use it but I had the advantage of a well seasoned, experienced geologist with chemistry background step me through it and tell me what the dangers were, what to do if something bad did happen, etc. This is something not easily conveyed over the internet in a 'simple how-to'. In the case of making and using aqua regia I don't advise people to try it following 'how-to' instructions on the internet. After having done it myself several times, I have looked at the instructions found on the internet and in many cases they are flawed or leave out important details. Can you find a chemistry teacher, geologist who has done it or some other professional that understands chemistry to assist you in person? If not then you might want to try something like C. M. Hoke's book 'Refining precious metal wastes'. I don't have a link to it but probably someone else in this forum can supply one. But up front you need to be aware that aqua regia will dissolve most all metals, not just gold, as well as any flesh it splashes onto. It is such a strong acid that just the vapors from it can corrode the best stainless almost instantly, and that the red fumes emitted by it are toxic (for a short while until they oxidize and become less toxic). And if you do decide to try this on your own, I advise a big bucket full of water saturated with baking soda (so much baking soda in it that no more will dissolve), in case of a catastrophic spill. Also put your 'experiment' in a larger plastic tub or container in case of a spill that it is still contained. Also, some people may advise using coffee filters to filter it in some of the steps, there are some vacuum filters (buchner filters) that will greatly speed up this process. Now if this all seems a bit scary ... good. Have you considered a very good alternative (that is much safer in my opinion) ... smelting? Even if you end up getting your gold back using aqua regia you still end up having to smelt it down because the end result of the aqua regia process is a very fine powder that is dark reddish brown that looks nothing like gold ... until you smelt it. The only major difference between smelting and aqua regia is that with the aqua regia process you end up with 99.999% pure gold, where smelting you may have a quantity of silver alloyed in with it and then may have to use nitric acid to remove the silver from the gold to get it pure. Well whatever you decide, keep safety in mind, do lots of research from many sources before you try it yourself, and get guidance if you can. I personally do not want to take the responsibility for someone else' safety or life. Maybe someone else will help you out with the specifics. Good luck.
