Help With Clearing Stainless Steel Substitute for Crucible Lol

[snowdog20]

I didn't have a bigger crucible, so decided to try using my stainless steel coffee cup to do a smelt. Well, it did what I wanted and I got a lot of grey metal. Which I am sure came from both gold and silver I saw in the source material.
The metals don't want to come free. I've been trying to flux it out to no avail. It's a lot in there, like 5 ozs.

 

[Martijn]

How much is in there and what was the source material?
Try cutting the cup open and peeling the stainless steel from the metal.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I was preoccupied when this was first posted, so I didn't respond. Molten metals are great solvents for other metals. Circuit boards often go through a solder process where the solder temperature is far below the melting point of gold, but from time to time the solder bath has to be replaced because it's become "contaminated" with gold that has dissolved into the solder in the process.

I expect you created an alloy at the surface of your cup that now includes gold, silver, and the components of the stainless steel. I doubt you could flux and melt it out, just as you can't heat a wire that has solder on it and expect the solder to just separate from the wire.

Dave

 

[Geo]

Cut the stainless steel away from the mass and refine as it is. The metal is welded together and no real way of separating without refining.
Good luck.