Melting Gold

We have some specimen gold that we want to turn into a gold button. The specimens aren’t all that enticing to make us want to keep them, and to sell to a refiner it would need to be in an ingot form. This is the procedure we use to perform that task. Firstly we select the pieces we want to crush and melt from the ones we have.

The next step is to tip them into a dolly pot and crush them down to a fine powder (or as close as possible). Some of the chunkier gold will flatten out and can be picked out at the next step.

After dollying the rock/gold it is tipped into a fine sieve so that the powdered portion can be ciollected in a gold pan or container of some sort. The remains in the sieve are returned to the dolly once more for another pounding. The process is repeated until we are happy that the material is fine enough.

Then we pan off the lighter waste material being careful not to let any gold escape. Practice is the key to successful panning, and this is where patience is needed as the process can be fiddly if the gold is very fine.

The gold is then dried by leaving it to dry in the sun, or placing it over a gentle heat source until the water is driven off. We need the gold dry to be able to melt it so as not to lose it from splattering.

The gold is then place in a crucible with an amount of borax (some use potash as well) and the oxy torch applies the heat to melt the gold into one blob. Map gas torches can be used but I prefer the oxy as it applies the heat much faster. Use some caution and place the largest pieces on the top to avoid the gas from blowing away the finer material.

This shows a potatoe with the button still red hot after the oxy flame was removed. We do this in a tin dish so that any spatter is retained and can be added back in. OBVIOUSLY, we do not eat the potatoe!!

The button is allowed to cool from red, and then tipped into a container of water. Any black flux usually falls off with this quenching. After drying the button can be weighed and readied for refining and payment (the best part).

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