Assaying and Refining Gold

If you are one of the lucky ones that has just so happened to run into a rich gold spot

You will want to find out how much it is worth. Before doing this though, and before doing amalgamation be aware that it is not something that should be taken casually. Mercury is a very dangerous material and it should only be used by those that know how to handle it. so if you have run into gold and do not have any experience with mercury etc, you should take your samples to an assayer. An assayer will be able to fill you in on your sample.

If your assay just so happens to prove you have a good amount of gold there are several things you can do in this case. You have the option of getting in touch with a mineral resource company so they can help you develop the lode or you can try to develop it yourself.

If you have decided it would be best to do this job yourself you will need to take the material so it can be refined for you and then returned to you. It’s possible the refiner will want to buy this gold from you as well.

If you are good at placering, you also have the option of selling your gold to a jeweler, dentist, refinery, assayer or prospectors supply store. You will obviously first need to find out what the actual price of gold is in the market and you can find this information out by looking it up in the paper or the Internet. Unrefined gold will sell for less than the gold price quoted in the market; but the knowing what the price is in the market will give you somewhat an idea of where you can start.

Remember that any nugget that has a good size to it will be worth more than its weight and this is because they are hard to come by and collectors and jewelers look for these specifically.