# Advice for new pmg melters techniques and equipment



## Cirrus (Apr 25, 2016)

Hello
I have registered and made this thread in hopes that I may learn a great deal from the community as well as improve my self taught / researched techniques. 

I have only recently began my metal melting and refining hobby/business, after receiving a good deal of Platinum+Gold laden ores.

I have melted the base ore with an Oxy-Acetlyne torch, but the platinum and other metals are very dirty, I have gotten skilled enough to gather the metals into separate pockets but still have yet to make a truly clean product.

The idea is to take my dirty ores and melt them into purer forms of the involved metals and slags. I have used very small amounts of platinum/gold in their natural forms and have weighed the product before and after melt.

One platinum cube weighed out at 2.2 grams before melt and weighed 2.0 grams after melt. Not powered but solid cube natural formation.

I really would appreciate some advice on how to melt and refine this precious metal to the best of my DIY (Do It Yourself) Ability.

I am highly interested in a Furnace. I have done research but prefer advice from experienced people rather than my own trial and error.

What type of furnace should I invest into for this project? 
I don't need a massive furnace and would like to keep the cost below $2000 total.

Any Suggestions/Advice on which type of furnace will be best for my budget and skills?

Thank you very much for your time reading this and I hope for good replies 

-Cirrus


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## acpeacemaker (Apr 25, 2016)

Cirrus said:


> I have melted the base ore with an Oxy-Acetlyne torch, but the platinum and other metals are very dirty, I have gotten skilled enough to gather the metals into separate pockets but still have yet to make a truly clean product.
> -Cirrus



Are you saying your melting metals into pockets of the host rock?
Also your natural cube, gotta pic(s)?


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## Cirrus (Apr 26, 2016)

acpeacemaker said:


> Cirrus said:
> 
> 
> > I have melted the base ore with an Oxy-Acetlyne torch, but the platinum and other metals are very dirty, I have gotten skilled enough to gather the metals into separate pockets but still have yet to make a truly clean product.
> ...



Using somewhat unexperienced techniques yes, I use an Oxy-Acetlyne torch to melt down the cube and during that I can tell the difference of material in the molten bead due to melting temperatures, focusing the easy to melt slags into one area of the bead aswell as precious metals that are held within the initial cube.

I will attempt to load a picture but my previous attempts didn't work. 

I currently have a polished sample in a nitric acid bath and will do so for 12-15 hours, if unable to post a picture tonight I shall post one tomorrow.

Current picture that I will attempt to upload is the purest platinum bead I have managed to melt. It has survived acid tests aswell as scratch, I will be sending a sample for refining and assay to be certain of percentages. 

Also the cubes that I have melted are or were broken, not the exceptional cubes that have higher value than after melting.

I am picking up a lifelong passion of my grandfather's and managed to find some good mining


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## g_axelsson (Apr 26, 2016)

Is that a weathered pyrite cube?

Göran


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## acpeacemaker (Apr 26, 2016)

g_axelsson said:


> Is that a weathered pyrite cube?
> 
> Göran



That was my first thoughts/concern.Looks like slag in a cube form.


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## Cirrus (Apr 26, 2016)

acpeacemaker said:


> g_axelsson said:
> 
> 
> > Is that a weathered pyrite cube?
> ...



Possibly but I am new to this adventure so anything is possible in my mind haha.

Throughout all of my tests the silvery metal inside of the cube is platinum, it passed the tests.
As for the material compromising the cube itself I am still unsure, I am saving up some cash for a true Assay.

The melting temp for the platinum is correct, the gold context temp melts at correct temp, the covering material is slaggy but through my tests I feel very positive the precious metal is inside. Both gold and platinum.
My family has worked this mining claim for a few generations and given their information and findings I have no doubt the platinum and gold is true, but I have very little information about the metal compromising the main portion of the cube itself.

Magnetics do not work on it until I melt the cube. The silvery metal is non magnetic, meanwhile some small portions of the cube are magnetic. As a solid form before melting the entire cube is non magnetic. 

I just got a new oxygen tank for my Oxy-Acetlyne torch and will be melting all 7.6 grams of my cleanest product into one button. I will attempt to load up some pictures for this thread/community. 

A polish and solid cube had survived a 15 hour nitric acid bath with absolutely no deterioration of the cube itself. Tiny rust coloration in the acid but not enough to change the color of the acid completely.
Still learning haha


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## Lou (Apr 26, 2016)

What? Are you pulling perfect cubes of stuff out of the ground or what? I would be interested in one to assay.


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## Cirrus (Apr 26, 2016)

Lou said:


> What? Are you pulling perfect cubes of stuff out of the ground or what? I would be interested in one to assay.


Yes on my families generation old mining claim locations I am able to pretty much find them full cubed / clustered cubed / broken /deteriorated all on the topsoil. 

On my next trip I will spend a few days digging a 4 foot section and sifting the materials. First trip I found 1 pound of these cubes myself and roughly 5 pounds between 5 searchers and no digging.

I am currently figuring out my best option for an assay and any advice or help is more than appreciated in that.

I have just melted my 7.9 grams of platinum/gold/slag into one solid bead, polished a bit then put into a nitric acid bath. Thinking 12-24 hours for it. Will attempt a picture.

After my assay I will be doing a lot more, looking to eventually learn to use an induction furnace and so on for a cleaner melt. I take little joy in the dirty product I have created with a simple Oxy-Acetlyne torch hah.


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## g_axelsson (Apr 27, 2016)

You are melting pyrite cubes, An iron sulfur compound, probably creating an iron oxide slag in the process.

I'm quite sure that what you have isn't a metal but slag of some kind. An easy test is to hit it with a hammer, slag shatters while metals deform.

It is true that you can find precious metals with pyrite, but it is never in the form of a perfect cube. The most common way to release the gold is milling and then either running it through a wash plant or leaching the gold with cyanide.

Göran


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## Cirrus (Apr 27, 2016)

g_axelsson said:


> You are melting pyrite cubes, An iron sulfur compound, probably creating an iron oxide slag in the process.
> 
> I'm quite sure that what you have isn't a metal but slag of some kind. An easy test is to hit it with a hammer, slag shatters while metals deform.
> 
> ...



I have done crush tests and also used a hammer to test the metals.

Wouldn't pyrite have obvious effects while in a nitric acid bath? I have had zero bubbling or dissolution of the material after 12-24 hours in the acid, crush tests resulted in none of the metal breaking or shattering, it only bends slightly. The coloration on the metal is silvery just as platinum is..

Not claiming I am the master of all metals haha but I am very positive this is more than just a pyrite cube. Given my grandfather had been making a living from the gold and platinum bullion he created using this same material.

Thanks for the replies


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## Lou (Apr 27, 2016)

Send a sample to me and let's see if it is what it is.


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## Cirrus (Apr 28, 2016)

Currently in progress of getting an assay from a local refinery


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## Cirrus (May 19, 2016)

I have the results of the Assay and I am wondering if there is a way to Private Message a forum member? In particular Lou because he asked for a sample, looking for a bit in insight.

It isn't Iron Pyrite, weathered or not. Contains REE, Titanium, silver, gold and other minerals.


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## Lou (May 19, 2016)

Was the assay done with XRF?


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## Cirrus (May 21, 2016)

Lou said:


> Was the assay done with XRF?



Yes


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