DIY Fire Assay of Gold Ore, Beginning to End | How much gold?

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  • čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
  • I perform a complete fire assay of two gold ore samples, including smelting, cupelling, weighing the gold bead and calculating the fraction of gold. I demonstrate the use of a DIY analytical balance and a home-designed magnifier.
    Keywords: gold ore, fire assay, cupel, smelting flux, crucible, gold bead, litharge, weighing gold, gold prill, lead button, magnifier for gold ore

Komentáře • 68

  • @AUMINER1
    @AUMINER1 Před rokem +9

    Excellent! The instruments you have created are as impressive as the fact that you figured out such a complicated and failure prone process in such a short amount of time. :)

    • @jdeluisa
      @jdeluisa Před rokem +3

      I agree, very impressive microbalance. Obviously an engineer.

  • @surefireKorea
    @surefireKorea Před rokem +2

    Your 3 kW pottery kiln is impressive. You make excellent use of low cost materials in its construction, yet are able to achieve excellent performance and quality. That, in itself, is the mark of an efficient and cost effective design. I learned something useful here. Thanks for your time and effort!

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      Nice comment, thanks. Kilns are interesting to design and build and much cheaper to make than a commercial model. There are pitfalls, however... -- Dave

  • @asrar_altiqnia
    @asrar_altiqnia Před 25 dny

    I am very happy to see someone who is proficient and distinguished in what he does. I applaud you for this wonderful effort. In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to the electrolysis of metals and mixing them with salts such as sea salt and placing copper electrodes at a specific voltage, for example 12 volts, 3 volts, or 1.5 volts. Leaving it to produce results from this solution, transforming them, precipitating them, and melting them so that we can see what this new birth is. This is just an example of many options that are likely to result in amazing things. It is just working for pleasure and thinking about God’s creation in this great universe. I greet you again, wonderful person. I am following you from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 👍

  • @markanderson3740
    @markanderson3740 Před rokem

    I'm so happy to have stumbled onto your channel, It's so refreshing to watch somone besides sreetips follow an actual system they've followed hundreds of times before. your assay was clear, controlled, and conclusive. The ones who constantly add new variables like different flux methods between samples are just untrustworthy. thank you for creating content with confidence.

  • @MerchantMarineGuy
    @MerchantMarineGuy Před rokem +1

    This is truest impressive work, and very well taught. Thank you!

  • @brixtonnabunat1822
    @brixtonnabunat1822 Před 8 měsíci

    You made fire assaying very easy and simple to do, I'm so glad that i found your channel, new subscriber here! ❤❤❤❤

  • @ericschultz5413
    @ericschultz5413 Před rokem +2

    Excellent, straight forward and informative video. Thank you for your hard work in producing it!

  • @eduardbuletsa9485
    @eduardbuletsa9485 Před rokem +2

    Immediate subscription! 👏
    Did you see a metallic gold in magnifying glass of this ore after you crash the stones?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +2

      I didn't look. Next time I will.

  • @pertinentparadigm1337

    Wow, you're a genius!

  • @gregbilotta2472
    @gregbilotta2472 Před rokem +1

    The algorithm has brought me here and I am pleased with its gift

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +1

      Haha. Yes, we are all guided by the great algorithm....

  • @pascalbedard4191
    @pascalbedard4191 Před 7 dny

    In the slag,you can have maybe 10% of your lead,i started with 50 g of lead,my button was 44g,and i recover another 7g from the slag 🤚

  • @criscris5061
    @criscris5061 Před rokem +2

    Increíble

  • @kerrihansen2413
    @kerrihansen2413 Před 3 měsíci

    HOW does that last orangish ingredient you add determine the size of the finished button? And is the black glass the melted sand?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před 3 měsíci +1

      Hi Kerri, The orange material is Lead Oxide (Litharge). The charge is 100 grams of ore, 100 grams of Borax, 100 grams of Soda Ash, 100 grams of Chapman's flux from Legend, Inc., 30 grams of Litharge and one iron rod. Bring the charge to 2100 F and soak for 10 minutes.

  • @balajiramamoorthy1476
    @balajiramamoorthy1476 Před 5 měsíci +1

    Why you have added iron rod??

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před 5 měsíci +1

      The iron captures any remaining sulfur and converts it to FeS, which is easily dissolved in and removed by the flux.

  • @jdeluisa
    @jdeluisa Před rokem +1

    Interesting vid. I enjoy your videos. I find it interesting that you use Chapman's flux for assay work. Any thoughts on that? In his book, Chapman suggests that Mg Dioxide can cause silver values to report to the slag. It also seems like more litharge could be beneficial when assaying 100 g of material. One assayer that I have worked with uses significantly more litharge, even in smaller samples. Others have suggested this to me as well. Finally, why not part and weigh? The math calculations may not account for other values like PGM's.

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      You are correct on all accounts. I'm trying to part the gold beads right now. It's another step that needs to be mastered. I'll soon have exhausted my supply of Chapman's. At that point I'll move to just Borax and Sodium Carbonate as the flux. More Litharge requires larger cupels. I've been running some experiments on that aspect and I'll report in a later video. Thanks!

  • @jeffbybee5207
    @jeffbybee5207 Před rokem

    It seems your cushing and siving would preferentially keep the softest friable part of the sample. Would not this throw off the assay of the ore?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      I've wondered the same thing. It must skew the analysis at least a bit. -- Dave

  • @ashotarzumanyan9958
    @ashotarzumanyan9958 Před 2 měsíci

    How many celsius does you heater Heat ?
    Thanks

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před 2 měsíci +1

      The pottery kiln can get up to 1200C

  • @jothimurugan2319
    @jothimurugan2319 Před 2 měsíci

    Sir What is the name of the rock you have assayed ?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před 2 měsíci +1

      It is from a quartz vein.

  • @aidanwhite6711
    @aidanwhite6711 Před rokem

    Hello, why cant you use the same furnace for smelting and cupelling?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +1

      I could and most people do. The large furnace takes a long time to heat, so I prefer the smaller furnace for cupelling. Why not use the small furnace for smelting? Because I like the larger charge that I can get into the #5 crucible. Good question.

  • @user-ls7xj8gs6q
    @user-ls7xj8gs6q Před rokem

    لكن هل يمكن تركيز الذهب عبر الغسل لهذا الخام ، أو ان الذهب سيهدر مع الغسل

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +1

      "But is it possible to concentrate the gold by washing this ore, or will the gold be wasted during the washing?" Yes, in practice we would first concentrate the gold in the ore by fine grinding and then performing some sort of gravity separation. Good question, thanks. -- Dave

    • @user-ls7xj8gs6q
      @user-ls7xj8gs6q Před rokem

      @@orophilia thank you

    • @user-ls7xj8gs6q
      @user-ls7xj8gs6q Před rokem

      @@orophilia thank you

  • @arotogtech
    @arotogtech Před rokem

    Wanted to ask your opinion if it js okay with you.
    Outcrops grabbed from on top of the reef on the ground surface fire assayed 0.22g/t and 0.19 g/t respectively. What is your general opinion of this?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      That would be very low grade and not worth pursuing in my opinion. It does show that the area has gold, so you might want to keep looking. How are you getting the assays done? Good luck with your hunt. -- Dave

    • @arotogtech
      @arotogtech Před rokem

      @@orophilia
      Hi mate. Thank you for your opinion. We'll, I got them fire assayed. They were grab sample quartz boulders from the top of a certain mountain.

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      @@arotogtech Look for the highly mineralized quartz veins and take samples directly from the vein. Can I ask how much you paid for the assay? -- Dave

    • @arotogtech
      @arotogtech Před rokem

      @@orophilia
      The question is, how do you look for the highly mineralised quartz vein? I just dowsed using copper rods...... do you have any other methods......? You could share a few tips...... I paid $25 each.....

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      @@arotogtech The quartz should have lots of inclusions of brown / purple / black material. The more ugly and rusty the better. -- Dave

  • @TerribleShmeltingAccident
    @TerribleShmeltingAccident Před 11 měsíci

    actual flower? like the kind you use to bake bread?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před 11 měsíci +1

      Yeah, we just need a handy source of carbon.

    • @TerribleShmeltingAccident
      @TerribleShmeltingAccident Před 11 měsíci

      @@orophilia how does the carbon affect the reaction?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před 11 měsíci +2

      @@TerribleShmeltingAccident The carbon acts as a reducing agent. The lead, in the form of PbO, is reduced to metallic lead by reduction. -- Dave

  • @johnsabatka2978
    @johnsabatka2978 Před rokem

    Where did you get that classifier?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      From Amazon. It's a cake flour sieve: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZRJFYH1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

  • @soso.123m4
    @soso.123m4 Před rokem

    Which size have these mabor cupels?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      The one that can absorb 35 grams of lead.

  • @yuhangqian6991
    @yuhangqian6991 Před rokem

    Where is the cupel produced,India or China?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      I use Mabor cupels. I'm not able to determine the country of origin. -- Dave

    • @yuhangqian6991
      @yuhangqian6991 Před rokem

      @@orophilia Mabor cupel is produced from India.

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      @@yuhangqian6991 Thanks!

  • @user-oz7sv8er4c
    @user-oz7sv8er4c Před rokem

    Good morning 🌄 my 🙏

  • @SURFEAMORETERNO
    @SURFEAMORETERNO Před rokem

    If the ore also contains some silver,where is it?

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +1

      The silver is also in the bead but in very small quantities. I try to explain the way I measure it at the end of the video but it might not be so clear. -- Dave

    • @SURFEAMORETERNO
      @SURFEAMORETERNO Před rokem

      Thanks for the answer.
      Be cautious of fumes. I recently placed an ore of the Platinum group to dissolve in aqua regia, and was surprised to find Osmium, whose salts are extremely toxic. Luckily I used a fume hood with a filter and handled small amounts.
      My equipment is also "Frankestein's"
      A hug!

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem

      @@SURFEAMORETERNO Yeah, thanks. I always use a good respirator. Very interesting to find Osmium! -- Dave

    • @SURFEAMORETERNO
      @SURFEAMORETERNO Před rokem

      Interesting but too complicated to separate the Platinum group metals to be able to refine, especially when Osmium Iridium and Ruthenium are present. It takes special facilities, sophisticated equipment and a lot of knowledge. You believe that Platinum Chloride is toxic until the day you put the whole gang in solution. Things get really violent.
      A hug!.

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +1

      @@SURFEAMORETERNO The world is a beautiful, interesting and complicated place. Un abrazo. -- Dave

  • @aliosmankucukpacalar
    @aliosmankucukpacalar Před rokem

    Turksh translate plz

  • @myadventure7069
    @myadventure7069 Před rokem

    I sometimes thinking why people getting gold expensive way possible

    • @orophilia
      @orophilia  Před rokem +2

      This just an assay, but yes, it's a very expensive way to get a couple of milligrams. On the other hand, it's one great hobby! Thanks for the comment. -- Dave

    • @myadventure7069
      @myadventure7069 Před rokem

      I using chemicals to recover gold