Panning for gold at the local jewelry shop

[KevinInColorado]

Ok folks, I've got a good one for you, especially if you live a long way from gold country and want the thrill of finding gold... Go to your local jewelry shop and ask whether they have a goldsmith associated with the shop. Get introduced to him and explain that you'd like him to give you his used molding/casting material. Theses guys use a plaster of Paris type material to make their custom molds and they just throw the material out after doing a custom job but you guessed it...there's gold in that material! I just did this and found over 1/4 gram in just under 1 gallon of old mold material! It's a combination of 5-6 pickers (little roundish beads of gold (pretty easy and exciting to find in your pan!) and lots of really fine specks too (challenging to pan). Give it a try! FYI, steps I used: Classify to 8 mesh, then to 50 mesh. Pan. Celebrate pickers! Crush anything and everything that's not gold, pan again. Put the gold in a vial. Drive back to jewelry shop to return container and, report results and ask goldsmith to keep up the arrangement!

Pro tip: if the plaster of Paris material is somewhat hard to break up you can add baking soda (the one your wife keeps in the refrigerator to absorb odors is perfect...tell her it's time for a new one in there anyway The baking soda will react (non hazardous) with the plaster to break it down. Use hot water to speed the reaction. I even rewarmed mine in the microwave, worked great. I got all the big pieces out without doing this chemistry but doing it produced more small gold.

 

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[golden sluice]

Thats cool. Why do we trash products with gold in them all the time? Its crazy.

 

[kazcoro]

I count thirteen pieces that are not fly poop. Are you letting us down now? LOL

 

[golden sluice]

Fly poop gold is good, it means youre getting all the gold.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thanks guys. Stop in at your locally run jewelry shop and see if you can make a similar arrangement!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Good idea Kev! Everyone should also keep in mind that this is NOT going to be 24K gold!! 24K is too soft for most jewelery applications and even more so if the item is being cast in a mold. Most likely it's going to be 14K or lower. Of course you cold also purify it back to 24K if you're set up to do so.

LOL You could also volunteer to do sweeping duty in the shop.... Just saying.

 

[mendoAu]

My Dad ( Jeweler/watch repair in Iowa) told me a story of a guy that bought the old Shaffer Pen Company factory, ripped up all the old wooden flooring and burned it in a large kiln....yep....made a bundle.

 

[KevinInColorado]

That's an awesome story! ...and yes my goldsmith works with 14 and 18 karat gold which he alloys himself. That's why I originally hired him to make the ring for my wife

Oh and jewelers do sweep up their shop and send the 'dirt' to the refiner...but they throw their used molds away!

 

[goldenIrishman]

If they have molds left over they must be using a different technique than the one I used to use for casting sterling silver. I used a material called "Satin Cast" in which a wax model is mounted on a "Tree". The mold is then baked in a kiln and when it come out the molten silver is poured into it while it sits on a vacuum table. After the silver has had a chance to cool a bit the entire thing is then dropped into a tub of water. The quenching causes the Satin Cast to erupt and break up. You then remove the silver tree with your cast item(s) on it for clean up. Not much of a mold left if ya see what I mean.

 

[KevinInColorado]

The quenched satin cast is the material I am working with...sorry to be confusing.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Not bad at all, I might give that a try now.
I have always wanted to melt down some of my gold to make a pair of rings but never wanted to sacrifice my gold for that! lol
This is the perfect way to do that, though it might take a while.

Thanks for sharing!