Can You Recover Gold From Gold-Filled Jewelry Without Nitric Acid? Part 1

A local coin shop had a huge pile of gold-filled jewelry sitting around for years, and the question was simple: could we recover the hidden gold without using the traditional nitric acid method? In this experiment, Jason visits Bellingham Coin Shop (https://bellinghamcoinshop.com/) to check out a large stash of gold-filled scrap that may contain a surprising amount of precious metal. Gold-filled jewelry is not solid karat gold, but it also is not ordinary gold plate. It has a much thicker layer of gold bonded over base metal, usually brass, copper, or similar non-ferrous alloys. That makes it tempting to refine, but also extremely difficult to process cleanly. Instead of dissolving the base metals with gallons of expensive nitric acid, Jason tries a completely different “mad scientist” approach. The plan starts with a small test batch of gold-filled jewelry, including pocket watch parts, chains, clasps, rings, and other mixed scrap. The goal is to melt the material, alloy it with aluminum, use sodium hydroxide to strip out the aluminum and zinc, then work the remaining copper, silver, and gold into a form that can be further refined. Things get messy fast. There are bubbling lye reactions, strange aluminum-copper blobs, brittle metal that shatters like glass, wet flux disasters, cracked crucibles, oxidized copper, stubborn slag, iron contamination, scorification attempts, cornflaking, bismuth additions, and finally a cupel test to see if any precious metal button remains. Along the way, the process reveals just how complicated the process of refining gold-filled jewelry really is. Tiny amounts of gold can be spread through a large mass of copper, zinc, steel, solder, and unknown jewelry alloys, making recovery much harder than simply melting everything down. This test does not end with a shiny gold button. Instead, it turns into a real-world refining lesson about what not to do, what might still work, and why gold-filled scrap has such a challenging reputation among refiners. Even though the final cupel did not produce visible gold, the experiment raises important questions about where the gold was lost, whether it was trapped in slag, absorbed into the cupel, diluted in copper, or never present in the expected amount. If you enjoy gold recovery, smelting, cupelling, precious metal refining, scrap jewelry experiments, and the trial-and-error side of hands-on metallurgy, this video is packed with useful lessons. It is a failed experiment, but the kind of failure that teaches a lot and sets up the next attempt at recovering gold from gold-filled jewelry. Music in this video: "Blink Dogs" by human gazpacho, Free Music Archive, CC BY "A Life Without Pain" by Schemawound, Free Music Archive, CC BY Check out our Shopify and eBay stores for ore, specimens, cabochons, and more from our mines: Shopify: https://mbmmllc.myshopify.com/ eBay: https://www.ebay.com/usr/mtbakerminin... 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 Complete Smelting Kits: Complete smelting furnace kit: https://amzn.to/3WdvHHS Cupelling furnace: https://amzn.to/42ZOWXV Fluxes: Chapman’s flux: https://amzn.to/3Of4JO0 Anhydrous borax: 1lb https://amzn.to/3M6EhUh 5lbs https://amzn.to/3pLRx9i Silica sand: https://amzn.to/3Mv0TiG Soda ash: 1lb https://amzn.to/41Ctg2N 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/45uuSPk Smelting Supplies: Crucibles: #4 https://amzn.to/3M92QQk 10# https://amzn.to/42XIsIY fire clay https://amzn.to/42K3laN Cupel: https://amzn.to/437F8L6 Electric furnace: https://amzn.to/430C6cd 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 Respirator: https://amzn.to/3IqbclD Microscope for phone: https://amzn.to/3OsAdQM Furnace Building Supplies: Kaowool: 2” x 12.5’: https://amzn.to/3BB9IRO 1” x 25” https://amzn.to/3Wd7ktO Water glass (sealant): https://amzn.to/45desuv Fire bricks: https://amzn.to/3Ogx86v Shop vac: https://amzn.to/434rOXV Propane: https://amzn.to/3pTj60d Propane regulator and burner: https://amzn.to/3pG4p0w Refractory cement: https://amzn.to/3Ok75ex Refining Supplies: Hot Plate: https://amzn.to/3OTVjbk Beakers: https://amzn.to/3WPtMcF Nitric Acid: https://amzn.to/3WM3iZC Buchner Funnel Kit: https://amzn.to/43wJ4W6 Watch Glass: https://amzn.to/43F24BP Sulfuric Acid: https://amzn.to/43CfoH6 #gold #refining #refininggold #smelting #goldfilled