Roasting Gold Tellurides and a HUGE 3-Ton Ore Smelt!! Season 2, Part 4

Deep inside my 125-year-old gold mine, we open up a rich pocket in the vein and start carefully high-grading quartz loaded with visible gold and silver-gray gold telluride crystals. Some of the pieces show native gold right in the quartz, while others look like they may contain calaverite or krennerite — gold telluride minerals that can hide serious values in metallic-looking crystal faces. Back at the shop, we test several ways to reveal and recover the gold: roasting telluride specimens in an electric furnace, experimenting with sodium hydroxide to dissolve quartz away from gold-bearing pieces, crushing and concentrating about three tons of run-of-mine ore, and finally smelting the concentrates with flux, collector metal, and cupellation. The result is a massive precious metal button weighing 143 grams — nearly five troy ounces before accounting for the mine’s silver content. From underground pocket mining to specimen work, gravity concentration, smelting chemistry, and the final gold button, this one shows the full hard rock process from vein to metal. Check out our Shopify, eBay, and Merch stores for ore, specimens, cabochons, hats, shirts, and more from our mines: Shopify: https://mbmmllc.myshopify.com/ eBay: https://www.ebay.com/usr/mtbakerminin... Merch: https://my-store-c2b497.creator-sprin... FOR MORE INFO PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL Email: [email protected] Phone: 360-595-4445 Website: http://www.mbmmllc.com/ Patreon: Patreon: MBMMLLC Facebook: Facebook: MBMMLLC Instagram: Instagram: mbmmllc Twitter: Twitter: MBMMLLC AFFILIATE LINKS What's an affiliate link? If you use our link to buy something, MBMM gets a small percentage of the money you spend. This DOES NOT mean you will spend more money using our link, you will spend the SAME AMOUNT of money while also supporting a small business and channel. UNDERGROUND MINING EQUIPMENT Milwaukee Sawzall: https://amzn.to/4vUpwbV Milwaukee Hammer Drill: https://amzn.to/3ORKSVi Hammer Drill Bits: https://amzn.to/3MjLf8A Milwaukee Driver: https://amzn.to/3OqKoDT Milwaukee Grinder: https://amzn.to/3Qwro9C Milwaukee Flood Light: https://amzn.to/3NmvYEc Respirator: https://amzn.to/3RUR0Ah Hard hat with light clip: https://amzn.to/3Iss7nL Head lamp for hard hat: https://amzn.to/433G5US Safety glasses: https://amzn.to/439w8Fo Gloves: https://amzn.to/45ceXoF Feather and wedge set: https://amzn.to/4c5l6aW Masonry Hammer: https://amzn.to/4fE0hEH Rock Hammer: https://amzn.to/4hxXak7 Sledge Hammer: https://amzn.to/4yFZBHy Yellow Pry Bar: https://amzn.to/4fCkkTM SMELTING SUPPLIES Respirator: https://amzn.to/3RUR0Ah Complete Smelting Kits: https://amzn.to/4vTTAV0 Cupelling furnace: https://amzn.to/42ZOWXV Chapman’s flux: https://amzn.to/3Of4JO0 Anhydrous borax: 1lb https://amzn.to/4h1lYRw Silica sand: https://amzn.to/3Mv0TiG Soda ash: 1lb https://amzn.to/41Ctg2N Soda ash 5lbs https://amzn.to/3BtrhDg 50lbs https://amzn.to/3oaI6Qf Lye: https://amzn.to/3Mx8OvD Litharge: https://amzn.to/3OhtHwi Lead: https://amzn.to/3MARq9t Bismuth: https://amzn.to/4q2u9zz Electric furnace: https://amzn.to/430C6cd #4 Crucible: https://amzn.to/3M92QQk #10 Crucible: https://amzn.to/42XIsIY Cupel: https://amzn.to/437F8L6 Tongs: https://amzn.to/3BB2dKp Heat safe gloves: https://amzn.to/41MxMeQ Gold pans: https://amzn.to/3pRIzra Gold screens: https://amzn.to/3pTjo7j Scales: 0.01 https://amzn.to/3BB2FZ7 0.001 https://amzn.to/438NrXh Magnets: https://amzn.to/42MFLde Pan for roasting sulfides: https://amzn.to/3pNGQTN Microscope for phone: https://amzn.to/4x4RhiX FURNACE BUILDING SUPPLIES Kaowool 2” x 12.5’: https://amzn.to/3BB9IRO Kaowool 1” x 25”: https://amzn.to/3Wd7ktO Fire bricks: https://amzn.to/4pMByCP Shop vac: https://amzn.to/434rOXV Water glass (sealant): https://amzn.to/45desuv Refractory cement: https://amzn.to/4vSIqQs Propane: https://amzn.to/3pTj60d Propane regulator and burner: https://amzn.to/3RZCibd REFINING SUPPLIES: Hot Plate: https://amzn.to/3OTVjbk Beakers: https://amzn.to/3WPtMcF Buchner Funnel Kit: https://amzn.to/43wJ4W6 Watch Glass: https://amzn.to/43F24BP FILMING EQUIPMENT GoPro Hero 13 Black: https://amzn.to/4wy6cm8 Long tripod: https://amzn.to/3WpKWgW Short tripod: https://amzn.to/3IVYdZl #goldmining #undergroundmining #smelting #refiningold