Gold Smelting

[mu50stang]

I am planning on smelting some black sands that have gold in them and the mold i have isn't big enough for the black sands and flux needed for the process when poured. If I poured into two molds will the 2nd mold have the gold as it would have sunk to the bottom of crucible or does the settling of the gold happen when its cooling?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[Rockwerx]

Your best results will be from pouring your smelting mix into one mold. Your second choice would be to break your black sands into smaller more manageable batches and doing a complete pour each time.

 

[goldforlife]

Your best results will be from pouring your smelting mix into one mold. Your second choice would be to break your black sands into smaller more manageable batches and doing a complete pour each time.

wondering how much black sands to produce any sizeable button..?

 

[KevinInColorado]

wondering how much black sands to produce any sizeable button..?

Fun question...it depends. On how much gold is hiding in that black sand of course. Which can vary by SO much!

 

[arizau]

I am planning on smelting some black sands that have gold in them and the mold i have isn't big enough for the black sands and flux needed for the process when poured. If I poured into two molds will the 2nd mold have the gold as it would have sunk to the bottom of crucible or does the settling of the gold happen when its cooling?

Just a thought. It is not clear what mesh size your black sand concentrates are but if it is mostly mixed sizes you might be able to further classify it to smaller sizes and pan most of the gold out and maybe not have to smelt such a big amount or at all.

Good luck.

 

[goldforlife]

Yea I saw a yt vid about smelting a small qty in a microwave oven (standard kitchen type) enclosed in firebrick and with a crucible.. turned out pretty well, I want to try this myself if I get adventurous. fire extinguisher and outside of course

 

[Rockwerx]

Yea I saw a yt vid about smelting a small qty in a microwave oven (standard kitchen type) enclosed in firebrick and with a crucible.. turned out pretty well, I want to try this myself if I get adventurous. fire extinguisher and outside of course

That is an interesting way to smelt gold. Be very careful with whatever method you use. Might be a good idea to purchase a second hand microwave oven for the experiment. Good luck with your project!

 

[chlsbrns]

If your black sands do not contain about 30% or more gold/silver/metals smelting will not work.

 

[yodi]

Let us know how it goes

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Dang i must be getting old, your just too quick for me Chris!

Yep, black sands melt at a very high temp, much higher than gold. In most cases smelting black sands doesn't work. Sorry to be a downer. Look into the hard rock stuff. If your con's are rich its much better to use chems. Smelting isn't very efficient at all.
In rich BS, crush your con's to -30 mesh and roast until red hot and no sulfer smell is noticed. Do this outside with a breeze. After roasting batch your con's and cover by 60% in hydrochloric acid. Do this outside as well as the hydrochloric fumes will rust everything!
You should notice a reaction. The HCL will attack the iron.
Rinse well and repeat, and repeat. You should be left with gold and a small amount of black powder. This is now meltable.

 

[cactusman]

You might try running your black sands through a ball mill to further help with micro gold extraction before smelting. If you smelt using a microwave, make sure it's dedicated to that purpose, as you never know what toxins could come out and have a way of hanging around and getting into food cooked in the microwave later on.

Personally, I would have a professional assay done to see if it's even worth it, as black sands can have a bunch of gold (and platinum as well as rare earth minerals) and sometimes can be rather barren. One last word of caution; be extremely careful to make sure there isn't any mercury hiding in anything you are smelting, as the vapor from it is very deadly!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Very, very good advice. One refinement: read the threads here about rod mills as that is better than a ball mill.