What is the easiest / cheapest way to melt gold

[Miner Jim]

I am trying to come up with something I can make to melt gold with. I have been reading up on flower pot furnaces using charcoal as a fuel. Do they get hot enough to melt gold? I have also seen some intriguing stuff on making an electric furnace with resistance coils. With gold being so high I am working on putting all of the equipment together to do everything from digging ore out of the mountain to melting the gold into ingots. This is the last point I am struggling with.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Visit backyardmetalcasting.com to get an idea on your furnace. And you can get crucibles from Steves web site or a number of other places. You can do a search here on the forum and find numerous places to look.

 

[qst42know]

I have no doubt you could melt gold with hardwood charcoal and a bellows. However migdave has a website to sell natural nuggets at a significant premium. You may be better off bottling up what you find and have him take a look before you melt.

 

[Miner Jim]

I have no doubt you could melt gold with hardwood charcoal and a bellows. However migdave has a website to sell natural nuggets at a significant premium. You may be better off bottling up what you find and have him take a look before you melt.

Thanks!

My mine is hard rock so the gold is very fine, unless I find some specimens, which would be more leafy.

 

[Miner Jim]

Visit backyardmetalcasting.com to get an idea on your furnace. And you can get crucibles from Steves web site or a number of other places. You can do a search here on the forum and find numerous places to look.

Would graphite crucibles like the ones sold on eBay be good?

 

[qst42know]

I would think the graphite would oxidize as the charcoal would need plenty of oxygen to achieve the required heat. Lazersteve sells clay crucibles on his website that should work better.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

You need to look at how much material you are going to melt at a given time. Once you know that then you can go farther on your search. You can melt a few pounds in the largel crucible like Steve sells. The ones on Fleabay will work if you have a lot of material you are working with. But it depends what you plan on melting with. The small ones that Steve sells you can melt close to a pound with the right setup and paitence in what you are doing, and practice.

 

[Miner Jim]

You need to look at how much material you are going to melt at a given time. Once you know that then you can go farther on your search. You can melt a few pounds in the largel crucible like Steve sells. The ones on Fleabay will work if you have a lot of material you are working with. But it depends what you plan on melting with. The small ones that Steve sells you can melt close to a pound with the right setup and paitence in what you are doing, and practice.

I would just be melting fairly small quantities at a time. A pound of gold would be awesome though! Very good info about graphite not being the best kind of crucible in all situations.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

 

[Miner Jim]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

That is a great idea! I had totally forgotten about MAPP gas. I have been able to barely melt gold with a propane torch and MAPP is a lot hotter. What material should the dish or crucible be made out of? Is it still practical to use flux with a torch melt?

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

That is a great idea! I had totally forgotten about MAPP gas. I have been able to barely melt gold with a propane torch and MAPP is a lot hotter. What material should the dish or crucible be made out of? Is it still practical to use flux with a torch melt?

The ones Steve sells are made of bone ash. If your gold is clean a light coating of flux on your dish is fine and works well.

 

[goldsilverpro]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

That is a great idea! I had totally forgotten about MAPP gas. I have been able to barely melt gold with a propane torch and MAPP is a lot hotter. What material should the dish or crucible be made out of? Is it still practical to use flux with a torch melt?

The ones Steve sells are made of bone ash. If your gold is clean a light coating of flux on your dish is fine and works well.

Are you sure about that? I know of no melting dishes made of bone ash.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

That is a great idea! I had totally forgotten about MAPP gas. I have been able to barely melt gold with a propane torch and MAPP is a lot hotter. What material should the dish or crucible be made out of? Is it still practical to use flux with a torch melt?

The ones Steve sells are made of bone ash. If your gold is clean a light coating of flux on your dish is fine and works well.

Are you sure about that? I know of no melting dishes made of bone ash.

I thought they were but I am probably wrong. What are his dishes made of?

 

[qst42know]

What is the appeal of field melting what you find?

What is it you hope to accomplish?

For tiny amounts you won't get any cheaper than this an alcohol blowpipe. I have read a candle flame can fuel a blowpipe as well.

http://www.autodidactics.com/blowpipesoldering/index.html

 

[Miner Jim]

What is the appeal of field melting what you find?

What is it you hope to accomplish?

For tiny amounts you won't get any cheaper than this an alcohol blowpipe. I have read a candle flame can fuel a blowpipe as well.

http://www.autodidactics.com/blowpipesoldering/index.html

So many interesting suggestions!

I am actually planning to melt down the gold that I accumulate over a period of time. The amounts would probably be 1/4 oz to 1 oz. I will begin by amalgamating the gold and then cooking off the mercury to make a sponge. Sponges aren't nearly as pretty as gold melted into a nice button or ingot.

 

[Miner Jim]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

Do you have a link to Steve's site?

 

[jimdoc]

Then I would suggest you get something like one of the small dishes that Steve sells and a MAPP gas tourch.

Do you have a link to Steve's site?

http://www.goldrecovery.us/

 

[lazersteve]

I sell three types of dishes:

1- 3" Fireclay as seen in the photo Barren posted from my site.

2- 2-9/16" White fused silica dish

3- 4" White fused silica dish

I also sell magnesite cupels and fireclay crucibles.

I would go with the white dishes for the most uses.

MAPP easily melts gold in quantities up to around 3 to 4 ounces with little or no difficulty.

Steve

 

[Miner Jim]

I sell three types of dishes:

1- 3" Fireclay as seen in the photo Barren posted from my site.

2- 2-9/16" White fused silica dish

3- 4" White fused silica dish

I also sell magnesite cupels and fireclay crucibles.

I would go with the white dishes for the most uses.

MAPP easily melts gold in quantities up to around 3 to 4 ounces with little or no difficulty.

Steve

The MAPP torch is sounding like the best option at this point. Thanks!