Talk:Metallurgical assay

Setting up WikiProject Silverware?
Would anyone be interested in helping to set up a WikiProject Silverware? I'm interested in salvers, coffee pots, jugs, candlesticks, famous silversmiths, different styles, etc. Thanks. Girlwithgreeneyes (talk) 11:35, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Proposing a merger
I would like to propose that Assayer be merged into Metallurgical assay. Information in the former is scarce and, if expanded, would likely just mirror that of the latter.-RHM22 (talk) 23:55, 9 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Having received no objections, the former is now a redirect to the latter. I went over both articles and found no unique information in Assayer, so I simply changed it to a redirect.-RHM22 (talk) 02:32, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

Fire assay totally destructive?
Fire assay is not totally destructive as the article claims. In the assaying of gold ores, the ore itself is destroyed, but when a gravimetric finish is used, the gold is recoverable. If a spectroscopic finish is used, the gold content of the aspirated solution is lost, but the rest can be easily recovered. The silver precipitates from the solution upon addition of HCl, so that metal can be easily recovered too. In the assaying of bullion, the gold and silver is likewise recovered. Handschuh-talk to me 01:11, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
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X-ray Fluorescence and melting material
The section on X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) says:

One process for X-ray fluorescence assay involves melting the material in a furnace and stirring to make a homogeneous mix.

My question is, why? You would not want to destroy a Gold American Eagle or a Gold Maple Leaf coin that way.

I was talking to folks at a large nationwide refinery. I asked them if they performed XRF testing on coins (because I needed the service to authenticate some gold coins). They told me:

... but to truly know if it is real or fake you must melt the coin/bar. You can try to find some one to run a x ray on them but this still will only tell what is on the outside of the coin/bar.

And speaking with a metallurgist over the phone, he told me an XRF analyzer could not penetrate more than about 20 microns from the surface. So a bar with a solid gold surface but lead or tungsten core would test as pure gold. And that's why refiners drill into a large bar and sample the core metal.

Obviously, I can't cite a private email or a phone call. So it would be nice if the wikipedia article explained XRF and limitations in detail.

71.244.245.169 (talk) 03:39, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

Missing section on Ultrasonic assay
The article is missing a section on Ultrasonic assay. See, for example, .

71.244.245.169 (talk) 03:49, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

Missing section on PMV assay
The article is missing a section on Precious Metal Verification (PMV) assay. See, for example, .

71.244.245.169 (talk) 03:50, 19 April 2024 (UTC)