Thanks Chris, I read that the Romans used bone meal in lead silver alloy, the bone meal would float to the surface and that was skimmed off. That contained the silver that would then be re heated to release the silver.
The material was used like a cupel. The bone meal would capture lead that was in the silver. It would be heated to release the lead. It was for purification of the silver.
Have an inspector plans Examiner blah blah I love looking stuff up and I've been doing this for 2 or 3 years watching you Jeff and Mount Baker Mining and having so much fun you're a great teacher my friend my dad was the best you're a second and he taught till he was 84
My second favorite part of prospecting and mining, is smelting !! I've wanted to get in to casting my own crucibles. I haven't tried it yet, but a 60/40 mix of bone ash and hydraulic cement seems like it would be usable. The bone ash would absorb some impurities during smelting as well (similar to a cupel).
@@ChrisRalph yes, I understand. But it would only absorb until the point that the crucible was saturated with oxides, just as a cupel becomes useless for cupelling after fully absorbing oxides, at which point it just becomes a melt dish (crucible).
@ChrisRalph very true, I had considered that. And it is only an idea I plan to try. The crucible may not even withstand the temperature because of expansion of the hydraulic cement portion of itself. I just hate spending money on things that I'm sure I can improvise myself.
Depending on the type of mold you use, make sure to heat up your mold before pouring molten gold. Some molds will crack if not heated up. I would advise all you newbies to watch multiple videos on melting Gold. Everyone does it differently. I always heat my molds and crucibles up before adding my Gold and flux to it. Some crucibles will crack if not heated up slowly first.
How to melt: "Induction" furnace/kiln, i promise you. Gas is not the best option. I know because i worked in a brass foundry. We used an induction furnace/kiln and set a 15+ gallon crucible inside. Induction is by far the most efficient, therefore it is used industrially. Look up "induction smelting/furnace" you will see. Not sure what a small unit would cost, but i know they are not hard to make.
If you are melting 15 pounds of gold, I'd agree. If you are melting a few ounces of gold, then no. An inexpensive induction furnace is over $1,000 - the little gas one I use costs $200.
@@ChrisRalphyou can also make an induction furnace for around $150-$200. Anyways i liked your video. Just adding an independent perspective here for everyone's benefit. ⬆️
@@experimentalprogramming1758 Induction furnaces work well for high concentrations of metals. When you try melting a low concentration of metals, with a lot of flux, they don't work well, if at all.
Nice chunk. Is there anything particularly wrong with picking it out of a melt dish into water with small amounts? I get the flux molten and put the dust in under a torch and pick out the bead after a while-then pour the slag out. Because the dishes are so cheap and I rarely do it. I hope I'm not screwing it up. Thanks if you find the time, great video as always sir.
My electric furnace goes above 2,300 degrees. Not sure which furnaces you are talking about. Torch I have used and never had the problems that you have stated. But I have been melting Gold, Silver, and Platinum for over 20 years.
Nichrome Wire has a high temperature range up to 1150°C or 2100°F - above that you are doing damage and shortening the life of the heater. What the temp gauge goes to is not important.
Are you aware of why Table Salt, Sodium Chloride, is not added? I would think it would be a low melting temp salt but I have never heard of it being used. Carbonate, Fluoride, Dioxide/Oxide, Nitrate, etc. But, never table salt or Chloride.
I believe it to be in part, fear of forming Gold Chloride, which can be volatile at higher temperatures. Also, some crucible materials would be attacked by the table salt.
@@jeffbybee5207 Silica, lowers the melting point of the mix by having less bonds for the heat to break and form a melt. The idea is from magma and how it separates according to temperatures within it. Felsic on the top, mafic on the bottom and intermediates when the magma moves and mixes. You do not want to melt Quartz with Gold still in it. Melted Silica forms a tacky liquid that will attack the Quartz and break many Oxygen bonds. Short answer,...To Oxidized.
@@jeffbybee5207 Silica is added to balance the fluxes. Ores, or concentrates, have a certain PH. Silica, and other fluxes, are what is considered to be acidic. Carbonates are considered basic, or on the higher side of the PH scale, than silica. You have to consider the crucible material composition, when balancing your fluxes. If too many Carbonates are added, you will dissolve certain fire clay composition ( silica and Alumina ) crucibles. So adding silica to a primarily metal only smelt, is necessary, so you don't erode ( melt a hole ) in the crucible while firing.
I wish Clare Patterson was still alive, my hero, died on my birthday :) Science is a nightmare without people like him. If yellowstone is a hot spot I'll eat a donkeys but hole...rhyolite, organically sourced gasses, cherry picked line of eruptions....luckily for usgs they can grant mining and drilling rights so easily on a hot spot. All my old text books here in Wales say its unique or questionable to call it a hot spot. Cameras went down so fast in Hawaii when the source of the poison gas got melted....they said it was sea water, neglected to mention that they were pumping the volcano full of it :) such a normal eruption....
Fists Full of Gold is an excellent book. So Chris are you using purple glass from ghost towns for your manganese dioxide? When we see purple glass we slow down while metal detecting. I believe purple glass is 1915 & earlier.
I watched a documentary on Gold. There you were no grey hair. I was glad to see you on it.
It was filmed 15 years ago. I had less grey hair then.
Hi, Chris. I watched you in How the Earth Was Made, Forging América's Gold!!! You were Great!!!!
Wow, thanks! That was filmed in 2009.
Thanks Chris, I read that the Romans used bone meal in lead silver alloy, the bone meal would float to the surface and that was skimmed off. That contained the silver that would then be re heated to release the silver.
The material was used like a cupel. The bone meal would capture lead that was in the silver. It would be heated to release the lead. It was for purification of the silver.
Very good information. Thanks for sharing. I will definitely point my customers to this video for advice.
Glad it was helpful!
Jason is fantastic but you explained a few things that he did not because of your experience I love Jason Channel thank you for putting that out there
Glad you liked the video.
Great information Chris! Thank you for putting together step by step .
Glad it was helpful!
Always very instructive, thank you teacher.
You are very welcome. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Have an inspector plans Examiner blah blah I love looking stuff up and I've been doing this for 2 or 3 years watching you Jeff and Mount Baker Mining and having so much fun you're a great teacher my friend my dad was the best you're a second and he taught till he was 84
I hope I am still around teaching when I am 84.
Another great presentation, packed full of valuable information! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
My second favorite part of prospecting and mining, is smelting !!
I've wanted to get in to casting my own crucibles. I haven't tried it yet, but a 60/40 mix of bone ash and hydraulic cement seems like it would be usable.
The bone ash would absorb some impurities during smelting as well (similar to a cupel).
What you would be making would be a cupel and would likely absorb any flux, like a cupel.
@@ChrisRalph yes, I understand. But it would only absorb until the point that the crucible was saturated with oxides, just as a cupel becomes useless for cupelling after fully absorbing oxides, at which point it just becomes a melt dish (crucible).
When cupels over absorb, stuff leaks out the bottom, sticking the crucible to the floor of the furnace, and can make a mess.
@ChrisRalph very true, I had considered that. And it is only an idea I plan to try. The crucible may not even withstand the temperature because of expansion of the hydraulic cement portion of itself.
I just hate spending money on things that I'm sure I can improvise myself.
I still have 250 lbs of Jason’s ore to process. This tutorial is going to help me. Thank you!
Best of luck to you in processing the ore.
Love the shirt Chris
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Thanks Chris. I just bought your book and the Kwik Kiln but didn’t know there was a promo code🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
You could call them and have them fix the order. They are good folks and easy to deal with.
@@ChrisRalph thank you, will do.
Mike in Arizona I ruined my oven doing exactly what you just said hilarious
Sorry about that.
I have been watching some of the BC mud slide flood videos to see how the fast water flows and where the slower flow is.
Sounds interesting.
Depending on the type of mold you use, make sure to heat up your mold before pouring molten gold. Some molds will crack if not heated up.
I would advise all you newbies to watch multiple videos on melting Gold. Everyone does it differently.
I always heat my molds and crucibles up before adding my Gold and flux to it.
Some crucibles will crack if not heated up slowly first.
Did you see that I did heat up my mold before pouring?
How to melt: "Induction" furnace/kiln, i promise you. Gas is not the best option. I know because i worked in a brass foundry. We used an induction furnace/kiln and set a 15+ gallon crucible inside. Induction is by far the most efficient, therefore it is used industrially. Look up "induction smelting/furnace" you will see.
Not sure what a small unit would cost, but i know they are not hard to make.
If you are melting 15 pounds of gold, I'd agree. If you are melting a few ounces of gold, then no. An inexpensive induction furnace is over $1,000 - the little gas one I use costs $200.
@@ChrisRalphyou can also make an induction furnace for around $150-$200. Anyways i liked your video. Just adding an independent perspective here for everyone's benefit. ⬆️
@@experimentalprogramming1758 Induction furnaces work well for high concentrations of metals. When you try melting a low concentration of metals, with a lot of flux, they don't work well, if at all.
Cool !!!!!!!!!
looking forward to the larger bar pour !!!!!
I still want to get together this summer.
Nice chunk. Is there anything particularly wrong with picking it out of a melt dish into water with small amounts? I get the flux molten and put the dust in under a torch and pick out the bead after a while-then pour the slag out. Because the dishes are so cheap and I rarely do it. I hope I'm not screwing it up. Thanks if you find the time, great video as always sir.
Just the problem of blowing fine gold out of the dish, and you will never get that gold back.
👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed the video.
My electric furnace goes above 2,300 degrees. Not sure which furnaces you are talking about.
Torch I have used and never had the problems that you have stated. But I have been melting Gold, Silver, and Platinum for over 20 years.
Nichrome Wire has a high temperature range up to 1150°C or 2100°F - above that you are doing damage and shortening the life of the heater. What the temp gauge goes to is not important.
What about roasting your concentrate before melting ?
That can help in some situations.
Are you aware of why Table Salt, Sodium Chloride, is not added?
I would think it would be a low melting temp salt but I have never heard of it being used.
Carbonate, Fluoride, Dioxide/Oxide, Nitrate, etc. But, never table salt or Chloride.
I believe it to be in part, fear of forming Gold Chloride, which can be volatile at higher temperatures. Also, some crucible materials would be attacked by the table salt.
Listened to it twice and still didn't understand what silica does???
Thankyou for a good teaching video
@@jeffbybee5207 Silica, lowers the melting point of the mix by having less bonds for the heat to break and form a melt. The idea is from magma and how it separates according to temperatures within it. Felsic on the top, mafic on the bottom and intermediates when the magma moves and mixes. You do not want to melt Quartz with Gold still in it. Melted Silica forms a tacky liquid that will attack the Quartz and break many Oxygen bonds.
Short answer,...To Oxidized.
@@guywhoisaguy67676 Thankyou
Silica captures other oxides like iron oxide (black sand). It also makes the melted flux a bit thicker.
@@jeffbybee5207 Silica is added to balance the fluxes. Ores, or concentrates, have a certain PH. Silica, and other fluxes, are what is considered to be acidic. Carbonates are considered basic, or on the higher side of the PH scale, than silica. You have to consider the crucible material composition, when balancing your fluxes. If too many Carbonates are added, you will dissolve certain fire clay composition ( silica and Alumina ) crucibles. So adding silica to a primarily metal only smelt, is necessary, so you don't erode ( melt a hole ) in the crucible while firing.
I wish Clare Patterson was still alive, my hero, died on my birthday :) Science is a nightmare without people like him. If yellowstone is a hot spot I'll eat a donkeys but hole...rhyolite, organically sourced gasses, cherry picked line of eruptions....luckily for usgs they can grant mining and drilling rights so easily on a hot spot. All my old text books here in Wales say its unique or questionable to call it a hot spot. Cameras went down so fast in Hawaii when the source of the poison gas got melted....they said it was sea water, neglected to mention that they were pumping the volcano full of it :) such a normal eruption....
You will note that I never mentioned once anything about a hot spot. Merely that there is molten magma underneath - which is true.
Fists Full of Gold is an excellent book. So Chris are you using purple glass from ghost towns for your manganese dioxide? When we see purple glass we slow down while metal detecting. I believe purple glass is 1915 & earlier.
Purple glass is pre-WW2. I use some purple, but I don't care what color it is.