Melting Gold Jewelry to High Purity (.999) - Troubleshooting

Question
Chris,
I have been using a technic for melting gold jewelry down with Amalgamite to recover as pure gold as possible. However when firing the cuple with an oxy-acetylene torch to recover the final button of gold, the gold disappears along with the other materials. How can I melt gold down to nearly pure without chemicals?

Answer
Jim,
There are a couple of options here. Remember the gold isn't gone, simply changed form to a vapor. Also the purer the gold is the higher it temperature it melts at. If you must use a oxy/acetylene torch, I suggest you add borax flux to help contain the vapor and also be more gentle with your torch heat  not to overheat & boil the gold. Or, you can use an electric smelter & regulate the melting temperature to avoid boiling away your gold. I also suggest adding the borax flux & then using a sulfuric acid pickling solution to remove it. Batterns makes a pickling solution also. I know you didn't want to use chemicals but these do not combine with the the gold. I hope this helps.