You did not specify whether your gold was electrolytic (usually a thicker
deposit and less porous) or the electroless Ni/Au (usually thinner [up to 5
microinches] and more porous). I would expect that there would be no problems
with developing mask off the electrolytic gold and there could be more
problems with the more porous electroless Ni/Au.

Most people who use gold circuitry will selectively gold plate (electrolytic)
or will plate the electroless Ni/Au after the solder mask has been applied and
cured. Let's face it, gold is expensive and the less you can get away with and
still satisfy the customer, the better for the bottom line.

I have not heard of developing LPI mask off of gold (not a whole lot of
experience here, either). Perhaps, you may need to develop more aggressively
or look at other LPI solder masks.

Larry Fisher
Dexter Electronic Materials
[log in to unmask]

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