Is there gold here?

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jeremyforlines

jeremyforlines

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2024
Messages
8
Location
Seattle
So quick question, after it solidifies , it looks like the first pic. After it completely cools it looks like the second pic. Is this an indication there is gold or is it just something lead does when you melt it?
It is supposed to be lead and gold.. I took a small piece of it and put it under a torch until it was glowing then let it cool.
I also put it on a bone that had been fossilized by grey clay and cedar roots, turning it into basically chalk..
1000001603.jpg1000001613.jpg
 
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jeremyforlines said:
So quick question, after it solidifies , it looks like the first pic. After it completely cools it looks like the second pic. Is this an indication there is gold or is it just something lead does when you melt it, if so, since when?View attachment 63570View attachment 63571
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Without a description to what the starting material was and what you have done to it we can't say.
 
galenrog said:
What was the starting material? What processes did you use to get your current result? Each step, please.

Time for more coffee.
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I began with a piece of what I was told was lead and gold. I asked my friend he said teeth. I said how many, he said about 130, at that point I honestly didn't want to know any more he said he tried enquarting them and had no clue what he was doing I agreed with him. So he said there should be gold in it he hopes but there may not be because at some point he tried cooling it off with water and I told him he's lucky to be alive. He doesn't know if he collected all of it so I'm trying with little experience to see if it's even worth the effort. I asked about enquarting he said he used a couple of silver forks and he thinks too much lead. He again has YouTube experience only . I have electronics scrapping and jewelry scrapping experience but not too much.
 
jeremyforlines said:
I began with a piece of what I was told was lead and gold. I asked my friend he said teeth. I said how many, he said about 130, at that point I honestly didn't want to know any more he said he tried enquarting them and had no clue what he was doing I agreed with him. So he said there should be gold in it he hopes but there may not be because at some point he tried cooling it off with water and I told him he's lucky to be alive. He doesn't know if he collected all of it so I'm trying with little experience to see if it's even worth the effort. I asked about enquarting he said he used a couple of silver forks and he thinks too much lead. He again has YouTube experience only . I have electronics scrapping and jewelry scrapping experience but not too much.
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Since I don't have a cupel I decided next best thing would be these bone fossils that powder up and stick together nicely with a few drops of water and some pressure.. but decided to try a piece on one of the bones before I crushed it. It does work just not as well I think.
So I broke off a piece of the lead and hopefully tooth mix and put it on the bone and began torching it.. it melted and after it turned red and glowed I cut the heat and watched it... It turned gold then almost the color of lead after cooling. I melted some more and dropped it on the floor and when I flipped it the bottom side is yellow gold color.. I'm assuming the teeth are there still in The lead. When he gets back I'm going to inquire more as to where he got all the teeth because thinking about it.. there aren't many good explanations for that.
 
jeremyforlines said:
Since I don't have a cupel I decided next best thing would be these bone fossils that powder up and stick together nicely with a few drops of water and some pressure.. but decided to try a piece on one of the bones before I crushed it. It does work just not as well I think.
So I broke off a piece of the lead and hopefully tooth mix and put it on the bone and began torching it.. it melted and after it turned red and glowed I cut the heat and watched it... It turned gold then almost the color of lead after cooling. I melted some more and dropped it on the floor and when I flipped it the bottom side is yellow gold color.. I'm assuming the teeth are there still in The lead. When he gets back I'm going to inquire more as to where he got all the teeth because thinking about it.. there aren't many good explanations for that.
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IMG_20240703_102607.jpghere's a cupel I made from crushing the bone fossil
 
jeremyforlines said:
View attachment 63573here's a cupel I made from crushing the bone fossil
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If it is truly fossils, you may have committed a crime.
Anyway fossilised bones do not work.
It has to be proper bones that are burnt to ashes and milled to a fine powder.
Or do it easy, use Portland cement.

You really need to do some studies before you do things.
 
Dry Portland cement, packed to a bowl shape that will stay together. This is often done in a metal bowl with the use of force to help it maintain its shape. This will make a usable cupel. The heat needs to be a reducing flame, so oxygen can reach the metal bead. It can take some time for it “flash” over, a sign that the base metals are gone into the cupel.
 
Ok thanks I will. Yeah the bone does seem to absorb everything. So what would anyone recommend if I said I have a 17lb slab of this stuff to process? The bones do make for some interesting art tho.
 

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Looks like dental amalgam. Mostly silver, lead, mercury. Little gold unless gold caps/crowns included. Many crematoriums collect dental metals to avoid environmental pollution during cremation. It is an ethical practice to recycle the metal.
 
How much gold do you think a cupel that size would swallow up while driving the lead? I know it depends on the amount of silver, but I'm curious.
 
I set up a shop in Denver some years back and we had to show the EPA how much lead was absorbed in cupellation and how much was lost to driving the lead. After weighing the cupels before and after and knowing how much lead was used per cupel the data showed on average the loss of lead was very close to 10%.

If the lead in this mystery lot was clean lead without a lot of base metals, the cupel is large enough to absorb all of the lead. I am sure specifics about the furnace and the air exchanged while driving the lead after the lead became molten would cause the number to vary a bit but nothing earth shattering.
 
4metals said:
I set up a shop in Denver some years back and we had to show the EPA how much lead was absorbed in cupellation and how much was lost to driving the lead. After weighing the cupels before and after and knowing how much lead was used per cupel the data showed on average the loss of lead was very close to 10%.

If the lead in this mystery lot was clean lead without a lot of base metals, the cupel is large enough to absorb all of the lead. I am sure specifics about the furnace and the air exchanged while driving the lead after the lead became molten would cause the number to vary a bit but nothing earth shattering.
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Any idea how much of the 10% was captured by the filters system, or would it catch any since it went up in smoke basically?
 

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