Other Recover gold from cast iron ingot

[Sy-Metals]

Hello Forum!

This will be my first thread in the forum.

I have an old gold mold made by cast iron, unfortunately I got some gold stuck in the bottom of it, what is the best way to clean it and recover the gold?

 

[Frank Hammer]

Without photo's, I presume it it's tiny threads of gold left in the cracks in the iron (something I've seen before in old gold molds.)

If you don't mind damaging the mold, and you're into chemical processing,
it would probably be easier to use a dremel or something like that to grind out the bits where the gold is caught, making sure to catch ALL the grindings!

and then treat the grindings with Aqua Regia.

I guess it depends on how much gold is stuck down there, and wether it's worth the bother!
It might be better to keep the mold as a show & tell item!

 

[Owl Tech]

Melt some lead in it and use it to collect the gold. Then cupel the lead and you'll be left with a gold bead.

 

[Madtuna]

Following with interest!

 

[hydro2]

Without photo's, I presume it it's tiny threads of gold left in the cracks in the iron (something I've seen before in old gold molds.)

If you don't mind damaging the mold, and you're into chemical processing,
it would probably be easier to use a dremel or something like that to grind out the bits where the gold is caught, making sure to catch ALL the grindings!

and then treat the grindings with Aqua Regia.

I guess it depends on how much gold is stuck down there, and wether it's worth the bother!
It might be better to keep the mold as a show & tell item!

Your Picture shows a very badly cracked vessel, Are you sure that it is cast Iron, if so just use Battery Acid to dissolve the Iron Because Gold will not dissolve in H2SO4

 

[Frank Hammer]

Your Picture shows a very badly cracked vessel, Are you sure that it is cast Iron, if so just use Battery Acid to dissolve the Iron Because Gold will not dissolve in H2SO4

I think the lead idea is the best one yet!
If you need to know about lead cupelling , watch some you-tube vids from Jason at
mbmmllc, he knows a lot about that method.

 

[Owl Tech]

Your Picture shows a very badly cracked vessel, Are you sure that it is cast Iron, if so just use Battery Acid to dissolve the Iron Because Gold will not dissolve in H2SO4

That would be like using a cannonball to kill a mosquito.

 

[Madtuna]

Hi hydro, yep it’s cast iron I accidentally got over enthusiastic with the oxy while melting some gold. There’s between 7 and 10 grams that has become one with the pot.

 

[hydro2]

I suggest you use a flower pot Furnace and a clay graphite crucible to melt your Gold Because you will be able to control melting heat more easily.
When you use the Oxyacetanlene, the flame covers your Gold and you cannot judge the temp of the hot Gold metal. Good luck recovering your gold.
The Gold Fused with the cast iron because the Gold Temp was too high.

 

[Madtuna]

I have a graphite crucible, I have a proper furnace and have been melting gold since before the pyramids were built and successfully.
This was a quick hit using oxy in the cast iron pot where I flucked up. Mind you I’ve also done it this way a billion times without incident. I flucked up this time.

 

[Sy-Metals]

I'm very sorry for late response but didn't get email about the thread updates, friend of mine advised me to use lead, same as OwItech, and this is the best solution

 

[WestTexasGold]

It's great to see the different methods suggested for recovering gold from a cast iron mold. Using lead or battery acid seems effective, but it also depends on the specific situation. Has anyone tried other methods or had success with a particular approach? Thanks for sharing your experiences!