How to Melt Gold

Co-authored by Himesh Patel

Last Updated: December 25, 2023 Fact Checked

Maybe you have gold jewelry that you want to melt. Or you’re an artist or jewelry designer who wants to create a new design by melting gold. There are several ways you can melt gold at home although you should always take great care to remain safe when melting gold because it requires extreme heat.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Getting the Right Equipment

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1
Buy a crucible container to hold the gold as it melts. You need the right equipment to melt gold. A crucible is a container that is specifically designed to hold gold as it melts because it can withstand the extreme heat.
- A crucible is usually made of graphite carbon or clay. Gold’s melting point is at about 1,943 degrees Fahrenheit (1064 °C), which means you will need temperatures that hot to melt it. Thus, it's very important that you don't just choose any container.^{[1]
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  Research source} Always give the crucible time heat up so the temperature can stabilize before you melt anything.
- In addition to a crucible, you will need a pair of tongs to move the crucible and hold it. These need to be made out of heat-resistant material.
- If you don't have a crucible, a homemade method uses a potato to melt gold instead of a crucible. To use this method, cut a hole into the potato, and place the gold in it.^{[2]
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Use flux to remove impurities from the gold. Flux is a substance that is mixed with the gold before melting it. It is often a mixture of borax and sodium carbonate.^{[3]
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- You need more flux if the gold is impure. You can use many different formulas for flux mixtures. One method involves mixing borax and sodium carbonate. Add two pinches per ounce of clean jewelry scrap and more for dirty scrap. You can use regular baking soda or bicarbonate purchased from the store. When you heat it, it forms sodium carbonate.^{[4]
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- Flux helps hold together the fine gold particles, and it also helps remove impure materials from the gold as it heats. When using the potato method, add a pinch of borax into the hole in the potato before melting the gold.^{[5]
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Be very careful of safety at all times. It can be dangerous to melt gold because of the extreme heat needed to do it.
- Consult a professional if you have no training in melting gold at all. You also should find a place in your house to melt gold that is safe, such as in your garage or a spare room. You will need a work bench to put your materials on.
- Make sure that you wear safety goggles and a face shield to protect your face. You should put heat-resistant gloves on your hands and wear a heavy apron too.
- Never, ever melt down gold near something that is flammable. It can be very dangerous, and you don’t want to cause a fire.
Clear pointers enabled a DIY gold melting. "I wanted to melt down some old jewelry into an ingot, and it clearly laid out the must-have gear and step-by-step directions for melting. Thanks to the specific tips on flux amounts and getting the crucible ready, I managed to make my own gold bar successfully!" - Johnny K.

A great confidence booster for a beginner like me. "I was curious about melting precious metals but hesitant to try it out. This gave me a thoughtful intro to the process, the equipment I'd need, and key safety stuff to consider. Now that I'm better informed, I feel ready to slowly start exploring this intricate craft." - Sunita P.

The ideal prep for my first smelting attempts. "I had some scrap gold I wanted to melt down before selling, and this had everything I needed to get started — the gear, how much flux to use, heating options, etc. With that level of detail, I finally felt confident enough to start learning some smelting techniques!" - Ken S.

Gave insight to avoid a dangerous DIY. "I'd thought about trying to melt down an old gold tooth crown to reuse the metal for jewelry. This made it clear how tricky it is to safely melt gold at exact temps. Wisely, I've decided to leave smelting precious metals to the experts!" - Baudilio M.

Valuable resource supports ongoing education. "As an amateur goldworker, the info here on heat sources and the step-by-step demos have expanded my knowledge tremendously. I find myself coming back to it often as I practice this intricate craft, and my skills improve each time!" - Barbara S.

Did you know that wikiHow has collected over 365,000 reader stories since it started in 2005? We’d love to hear from you! Share your story here.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using a Heating Kit

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1
Buy an electric furnace that is used for melting gold. These are small, high-powered kilns that are specifically designed to melt precious metals, including gold and silver. You can buy them online.
- Some of these electric gold furnaces are pretty affordable. They also allow people to mix metals together (such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and so on) and melt them at home. To use them, you will need the same equipment, including a crucible and flux.
- If the gold item also contains small percentages of silver, copper or zinc, the melting point will be lower.^{[7]
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Try melting down gold in a 1200-watt microwave. You want to use a microwave that does not have the magnetron on the top but rather has it on the side or back.^{[8]
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- You can buy a microwave gold smelting kit or kiln. You place the kiln on a kiln shelf in the microwave. The crucible holds the gold while it is being heated and is placed in the kiln, with a lid on top.^{[9]
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- Don’t use the microwave for cooking food again if you have used it to melt gold, though.^{[10]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Finding Other Sources of Heat

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1
Try using a propane torch to melt gold. As noted before, you must be extremely careful about safety concerns if you are going to use a torch. However, a torch will melt gold within a few minutes.
- The gold should be placed into a crucible. Then, put the crucible on a fireproof surface, and direct a torch toward the gold within the crucible. If you add the chemical borax to the gold first, you can melt it at lower temperatures, which might be needed if you’re using a torch.
- Be careful to bring the torch down slowly if you have fine powdered gold in the crucible because you could easily blow it around. Heating the crucible too fast also could crack it. You want to heat it thoroughly and slowly. An oxy-acetylene torch will melt the gold faster than propane.^{[11]
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- With a torch, hold the flame well above the gold powder and slowly work in a circular motion. Once the powder begins to heat up and turn red, you can begin to work the torch in slowly until your powder is reduced to a nugget.
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Shape your melted gold. You need to decide what you are going to do with the melted gold. Perhaps you want to sell it in a new form. You could try to make an ingot out of it or another shape, like a gold bar.
- Pour the melted gold into the ingot mold or other mold before it hardens. Then, let the gold cool. The mold should be made from similar material as the crucible
- Don’t forget to clean up your mess! You never want to leave heat sources unattended or in the reach of children.

Community Q&A

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Question

Can I make a mold for shaping other metals out of gold?

Caleb Hale

Community Answer

You could, but as soon as you poured the molten metal into the gold mold, and it started cooling, your other metal would bond itself to the gold.

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What kind of flame should I be using to melt gold?

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You can use propane as a fuel, and if you use an oxygen pipe, the gold will melt faster.

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Can gold be fake? How do I know if I have real gold?

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Check out this article on How to Tell if Gold Is Real.

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Warnings

24 karat gold is very malleable. If you need to make it stronger, alloy it with another metal.

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Melting gold takes skill, so you could check with a professional before you try it.

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