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Fire Assaying II

The document describes the general procedure for fire assaying, including receiving an ore sample, drying, crushing, pulverizing, and incrementally sampling the ore. It then discusses charging the sample with fluxes, fusion, separation of the lead button, inquartation, cupellation, recovery of the doré, parting, and final weighing to obtain the assay.

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George Gomez
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31 views20 pages

Fire Assaying II

The document describes the general procedure for fire assaying, including receiving an ore sample, drying, crushing, pulverizing, and incrementally sampling the ore. It then discusses charging the sample with fluxes, fusion, separation of the lead button, inquartation, cupellation, recovery of the doré, parting, and final weighing to obtain the assay.

Uploaded by

George Gomez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fire Assaying II

General Procedure
Receiving of Ore Sample
 Samples may be
obtained from
different sources;
e.g.:
Drying of Sample
Sample Preparation
 Sample is stage- crushed to -1.83mm

 300 grams is obtained


Sample Preparation
 Ore is pulverized to -100 mesh
Sample Preparation
 Increment Sampling
 Samples in increments of an assay
ton is obtained as required by the
assayer
Charging / Fluxing
 These charges must
be calculated based
on the nature of the
ore
 To aid in the fusion of
an acid substance, a
basic flux: litharge,
sodium carbonate,
limestone, or iron
oxide should be
added.
 To aid basic
substances an acid
flux such as silica or
borax should be used.
Charging / Fluxing
 Ore and flux is mixed in the assay
crucible
Fusion
 The crucibles are placed in a muffle
furnace (pre-heated to 10000C) for 40-
45 minutes
Separation of Pb Button
 Molten fused charge is poured into
molds for separation of Pb button
Separation of Pb Button
 Breaking the core of Pb from the slag
Inquartation
 Lead button is hammered into a cube
Inquartation
 Ag inquarts are hammered into the
Pb cubes
Cupellation
 Inquarted Pb button is placed in a
pre-heated cupel and then placed in
the furnace
Recovery of the Doré
Parting
 The doré bead is flattened and
weighed
Parting
 The doré bead is
dissolved in 1:4
HNO3 to water, then
to 1:1 HNO3
solution
Parting
Doré

Au flakes Ag, in solution

Anneal AAS / ICP

Weighing
Final Assay
Annealing
 The gold is heated
to achieve original
color and to
remove volatile
contaminants
Final Weighing
 Au bead is
weighed using a
microbalance
(sensitive up to
0.001 mg)

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