How to Melt Gold Safely: Methods, Temperatures & Risks

Melting points of gold and karat alloys

Pure gold has a fixed melting point of 1064 °C (1948 °F). Karat gold is an alloy of gold with silver, copper, zinc and sometimes nickel or palladium, and alloys melt over a range rather than at a single temperature. As a rule of thumb, lower karats melt at lower temperatures. The figures below are typical ranges for common jewelry alloys; exact values depend on the recipe.

• 24k (999): 1064 °C / 1948 °F.
• 22k (916): about 965–1000 °C / 1770–1830 °F.
• 18k yellow (750): about 900–960 °C / 1650–1760 °F.
• 14k yellow (585): about 820–880 °C / 1510–1615 °F.
• 10k yellow (417): about 780–870 °C / 1435–1600 °F.
• White golds containing nickel or palladium: usually higher, often 950–1150 °C.

Equipment professionals use

This guide is an overview of how professionals approach melting, not a set of instructions for a home setup. Jewelers, casters and refiners work in dedicated, ventilated workshops with equipment rated for these temperatures.

• Electric melting furnace or kiln: purpose-built units with a graphite or ceramic crucible and a temperature controller. They are the safest and most controlled method for small amounts.
• Induction furnaces: used by refiners and casting houses for fast, clean melts of larger quantities.
• Torch melting: jewelers sometimes melt small amounts with an oxygen-propane or oxy-acetylene torch on a melting dish. It takes training, a fire-safe bench and proper gas equipment.
• Crucibles: graphite, clay-graphite, quartz or ceramic vessels rated well above the melting temperature, preheated so they do not crack.
• Flux: usually borax, which helps impurities separate and protects the melt from oxidation.
• Molds: preheated graphite or cast-iron ingot molds, kept completely dry — moisture in a mold can cause molten metal to spatter violently.
• PPE: heat-resistant gloves, a full face shield or shaded safety glasses, a leather apron, closed shoes and natural-fiber clothing.

Fumes and ventilation

The biggest hidden risk in melting jewelry is not the gold itself but what is alloyed or attached to it. Many karat golds contain zinc, which vaporizes well below gold's melting point and produces zinc oxide fumes that can cause metal fume fever. Older solders and some alloys contain cadmium, whose fumes are highly toxic and can cause severe lung damage even from short exposures. Plated items, glues, enamels, gemstones and costume components release further fumes.

This is why professional melting is done under an extraction hood or in a well-ventilated workshop with fume control, and why refiners often use respiratory protection. A kitchen, garage or closed room is not a safe place to melt metal.

Fire and burn safety

Molten gold at over 1000 °C can ignite clothing, wood and paper instantly, and spills cause deep burns. Professionals work on a non-combustible surface, keep a metal-fire extinguisher (class D) and a dry-sand bucket nearby, never pour over concrete that may contain moisture, and keep water well away from molten metal. Gas torches need proper regulators, flashback arrestors and leak checks. If you do not have this setup and training, do not attempt it.

Why melting jewelry usually does not raise what buyers pay

Many people assume a neat bar will fetch more than a bag of broken jewelry. In practice, buyers pay for the pure gold content: weight × purity × spot price × their payout percentage. Melting does not change the amount of gold. You still have to prove the purity, and a home-made bar of unknown fineness is often harder to sell than hallmarked jewelry, because the buyer has to assay it before making an offer.

Melting can also lose you money. Mixing karats averages the purity, so 18k pieces lose their premium when melted with 10k. Some metal is lost as dross and in the crucible. And if a piece had value as jewelry, an antique or a signed design, melting destroys that value permanently.

If your goal is the best price, sort your items by karat, weigh them and compare offers using the scrap gold calculator and our guide on what buyers really pay. For large amounts, a professional refiner will melt and assay your gold as part of the service, and pay you on the assayed result.

A legal note on coins

Melting gold coins is a separate issue. Older US gold coins and many foreign coins carry collector value that can exceed the melt value, so melting them can destroy value. In the United States, there have at times been legal restrictions on melting certain circulating coins (notably cents and nickels), and laws differ between countries. Check the rules before melting any coin, and look up its value first on our gold coin melt value page.

When professional refining makes sense

Professional refiners are the right choice when you have a large quantity of scrap, mixed karats, dental gold, or gold-filled material. They melt the lot in controlled conditions, take an assay sample and pay on the measured gold content, minus a refining fee. For most people, though, selling sorted jewelry to a reputable buyer or refiner without melting it first gives the same or better result with none of the risk.

If you are curious about the purity of your pieces, read our guide to gold karats and purity or try the hallmark checker.