# Gold rush Alaska season 5



## patnor1011 (Nov 21, 2014)

In episode 4 Tod is taking his gold to buyer who melt it. Here is what makes me wondering. He started with 34 oz and resulting bar was 27 oz. Now is it normal that there will be so much of impurities in recovered gold? 7 oz seems like awful lot to me. 
Second thing is that when they pour melted gold in mold I somehow think that there still might be some stuck in crucible at least it appears like that. It happens in approx minute 4 of that episode. Is there chance that some gold might be trapped in cooled slag?


----------



## shaftsinkerawc (Nov 21, 2014)

75 to 80% purity is standard for Alaska Gold. It can range lower and some has come in as high as 98%, but not many.


----------



## patnor1011 (Nov 21, 2014)

Ah, that make sense now. It looks that his gold was in about 80% range.


----------



## Smack (Nov 21, 2014)

In reference to something being left in the crucible, it's all about what they have time to show you, it's the final cut/edit that we see.


----------



## Harold_V (Nov 22, 2014)

shaftsinkerawc said:


> 75 to 80% purity is standard for Alaska Gold. It can range lower and some has come in as high as 98%, but not many.


While that may be true, that doesn't account for the discrepancy when the material is melted. The purity of the gold is determined by the percentages of other elements contained within, which are not generally lost in melting, assuming they're metals. 

If they aren't clean in their recovery and have included a considerable amount of gangue, sure, you should experience a shorter yield than the head weight, as it should report in the slag. Clean nuggets? I don't think so. 

In regards to bits (prills) remaining in the slag, if they've used a good flux formula and have heated long enough, there shouldn't be anything in the slag, aside from traces that would show with an assay. Certainly nothing that would be visible to the naked eye. If they are leaving prills behind, there's something wrong with their operation. 

When I processed my waste materials (much like melting high grade gold), the resulting slag was free of prills and assayed too low in values to be worthy of further processing. That's what a good flux formula and prolonged heating can do for you.

Harold


----------



## g_axelsson (Nov 22, 2014)

> With seven ounce lost to impurities, Todds first clean up is worth less than he hoped.


Could it be that they used an xrf on the bar and the seven ounces includes copper and silver in the gold?

Göran


----------



## Irons (Nov 22, 2014)

One thing I have noticed about clay crucibles, is the amount of PMs that manage to work their way into the body of the Crucible, even after coating with Borax. It probably doesn't apply, since I don't watch TV.


----------



## samuel-a (Nov 23, 2014)

This is the elephant in the room... one that the production of this show ignored all throughout the entire show (beside only this case IIRC).
All of the SCORES and PROFITS after the huge 'clean outs' refers to what seems to be their gross yield - Totally disregarding melt lose, assay and refining costes.

It is a good show in my opinion, just wish they will stick to the "small" details as well.


----------



## rickbb (Nov 26, 2014)

It would be a great show if they would dump Todd. I've almost quit watching because of him.


----------



## necromancer (Nov 26, 2014)

rickbb said:


> It would be a great show if they would dump Todd. I've almost quit watching because of him.




yes, he is the Dave Hester of gold reality shows

dave hester from "storage war$" but todd is the average everyday JOE that the show uses to keep the masses watching & saying " if he can do that, then i can do that"

all these type shows came out when the economy really hit the fan, they keep the general public spending which in turn is a good thing.

i have wondered if the miners on the show have visited the gold refining forum ? they sometimes get great ideas overnight (did they come from this forum)


----------

