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How to Use Jet Dry in Gold Refining

Jet Dry is a brand of detergent commonly used in dishwashers. It acts as a wetting agent to reduce the surface tension of water and thereby allows the water to make greater contact with the dishes. A wetting agent, such as Jet Dry, is a surfactant and may be used for other purposes, such as refining gold. Learn a safe and convenient process for increasing the amount of gold in your concentrates.

Things You'll Need

(2) 5-gallon plastic pail
12-volt battery
12-volt submersible water pump
18-gallon tub
Classifier sieve
Gold concentrating bowl
Jet Dry

Instructions

- 1
  Pre-screen your concentrates to at least 30 mesh with the classifier sieve. Place the screen concentrates in a pail,, and cover them with water. Add Jet Dry to break the surface tension of the water. This will prevent small gold particles from floating due to surface tension.
- 2
  Clean the interior of the gold concentrating bowl with a mild dishwashing detergent to remove any dirt or oil. Perform this step at the beginning of each operation, as it is essential for keeping the gold in the pan.
- 3
  Place the pail and water pump inside the tub and put the gold concentrating bowl over the pail. Connect the hose from the pump to the bowl and ensure the bowl is level.
- 4
  Fill the bowl with the water treated with Jet Dry in Step 1 and add a cup of concentrates to the bowl. Turn the pump on and slowly fill the bowl until the water empties through the hole in the center cone.
- 5
  Pump the water fast enough to discharge the lighter material through hole in the center cone, but not so fast that the heavier materials leave the bowl. Add concentrates 1 cup at a time as required. Generally, finer concentrates will need a lower water flow to be effective.

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