Back yard Prospecting

[Southfork]

I'm a bit confused.
Are you trying to cupel these?

I'm using then like a melting dish it's all I had on hand to test small samples I use the crucible as a safety to catch boil over. It all failed Now I'm grinding all the failed cupels and a crucible to see if there's any gold. I'm not using any collector metal just powdered concentrate and flux. I've made a lot of gold buttons this same way there only good for one heat cycle.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I'm using then like a melting dish it's all I had on hand to test small samples I use the crucible as a safety to catch boil over. It all failed Now I'm grinding all the failed cupels and a crucible to see if there's any gold. I'm not using any collector metal just powdered concentrate and flux. I've made a lot of gold buttons this same way there only good for one heat cycle.

Ok. The use of Borax puzzled me.

 

[Southfork]

No puzzle with borax helps with sticking Chapman's flux is a pre-mixed refining flux used for refining gold, black sands, and ore concentrates. It contains Anhydrous Borax, Soda Ash, and Silica Sand1. The recipe can be adjusted based on the specific ore being worked with2. Another common recipe contains 40% Borax, 20% each of Soda Ash, Manganese Dioxide, and Silica

 

[Yggdrasil]

No puzzle with borax helps with sticking Chapman's flux is a pre-mixed refining flux used for refining gold, black sands, and ore concentrates. It contains Anhydrous Borax, Soda Ash, and Silica Sand1. The recipe can be adjusted based on the specific ore being worked with2. Another common recipe contains 40% Borax, 20% each of Soda Ash, Manganese Dioxide, and Silica

The puzzle was that if you were cupeling, Borax did not belong.
But since you were not, it is no more a puzzle

 

[Southfork]

I reground my failed attempt at smelting - jaw crusher - chain mill - Blue Bowl - panned with mercury. I may have gained a little gold and have a little dirty gold in Phosphoric Acid soaking. I need to combine and retort the amalgam and see what I have for a total weight.

 

[goldshark]

I reground my failed attempt at smelting - jaw crusher - chain mill - Blue Bowl - panned with mercury. I may have gained a little gold and have a little dirty gold in Phosphoric Acid soaking. I need to combine and retort the amalgam and see what I have for a total weight.

Did you roast the sulfides prior to smelting? Are you going after the Silver in the Galena?

 

[Southfork]

Did you roast the sulfides prior to smelting? Are you going after the Silver in the Galena?

This is cleanup from our place in northern California not the Nevada ore. I still need to crush the rest of the Nevada samples before I decide. I'm roasting our ore samples as part of my sampling routine.

 

[Southfork]

The puzzle was that if you were cupeling, Borax did not belong.
But since you were not, it is no more a puzzle

Your right you don't want the cupel glazed to work properly when cupeling.

 

[Southfork]

Nice day for a little cleanup of micro gold you never know what's hiding in a piece of quartz. 5 pounds of quartz roasted-jaw crusher-chain mill- through a stack of screens ribbed micro sluiced then panned. It takes a bunch of this to make a payday, but this rock was right next to the barn by my work area