The best historical surveys of methods for (a) extracting silver and
gold and (b) parting gold from silver are the chapters by Paul Craddock
in Andrew Ramage and Paul Craddock, King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at
Sardis and the History of Gold Refining (British Museum Press, 2000).
David Killick
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0030
U.S.A.
phone (520) 621-8685
fax (520) 621-2088
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
chris Salter
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 2:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: cupellation
Mike,
You don't state what period the reference comes from, nor who is
writing.
However, strictly cupellation only refers to the separation of silver
and gold
from argentiferous/auriferous metallic lead by oxidisation of the lead.
There
are may have been earlier steps in the extraction process to produce the
silver-rich lead such a liquation. But, whatever process was used, this
would
normally end up with a cupellation stage.
Of course, cupellation will not separate gold and silver. That requires
a
parting process.
Michael Shaw wrote:
> If a reference is made to cupellation can it be assumed to be a
reference to
> a production method for obtaining silver from lead or would it also
include
> other similar processes for separating noble from base metals and if
so what
> is the limiting factor in the process.
> Mike Shaw
Chris Salter
Material Science-Based Archaeology Group,
University of Oxford
Department of Material,
Sandy Lane, Yarnton,
Oxford.
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