Global demand for precious metals continues to soar, whether for jewellery or for use in industrial applications. While gold and silver have been used for thousands of years in jewellery, more recently precious metals are performing useful and specialist functions in chemical processes, electronics manufacturing, aerospace and automotive systems, eg catalytic converters. Carbolite Gero equipment is used throughout the world both for recycling these relatively rare commodities and for assessing their purity. Two key processes in the precious metals market are smelting and cupellation.
In cupellation & smelting furnace, raw ores or metal concentrates are heated to high temperatures to extract pure metals from their ores through a chemical reduction process.
Cupellation is a metallurgical process used to refine noble metals like silver and gold. The process involves heating ores or alloyed metals in a cupel—a porous container able to absorb lead oxides and other impurities. When the ore or alloy is heated to high temperatures in the presence of lead, the base metals oxidize and are absorbed by the cupel, leaving behind the pure noble metal.
Melting: The furnace heats the ore to temperatures at which it melts. The type of furnace used on the specific metal being extracted and the nature of the ore.
Chemical Reduction: The high temperatures cause the ore to react with a reducing agent (often carbon from coal or coke) to remove oxygen from the metal oxide present in the ore. This reaction produces the pure metal and carbon dioxide or other byproducts.
Separation of Slag: During the smelting process, impurities in the ore, such as sand, rock, and other non-metallic elements, combine with fluxes (substances like limestone) that are added to the furnace. These substances form a lighter, molten layer called slag, which floats on top of the denser molten metal. This allows for the easy separation of the slag from the pure metal.
Extraction of Metal: The pure molten metal collected at the bottom of the furnace can then be poured off and further processed or cast into shapes.
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