Kundan

g’day, some little while ago someone was talking about Kundan (no
I have never done the process) in regard to making spongy gold.
Well, if you REALLY need spongy gold, you can amalgamate gold with
mercury into a butter coloured paste. Take it out in the open in a
steel tray and put it over a small, hot fire, then stand well clear,
so the wind doesn’t blow the resultant fumes over to you. When ALL
the mercury has evaporated off, you will have a piece of spongy gold.

That’s how the old miners used to recover very fine gold from
ancient ironsand beaches in NZ. A later refinement was to use
standard iron water pipe fittings to make a kind of retort, which
enabled the distilled off mercury to be collected and reused. They
either sold the spongy gold to the itinerant gold buyers who visited
the workings, or they consolidated it with a hammer on a heavy stone.
– Cheers for now,

John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ

G’day, some little while ago someone was talking about Kundan (no
I have never done the process) in regard to making spongy gold.
Well, if you REALLY need spongy gold, you can amalgamate gold with
mercury into a butter coloured paste. Take it out in the open in a
steel tray and put it over a small, hot fire, then stand well clear,
so the wind doesn’t blow the resultant fumes over to you. When ALL
the mercury has evaporated off, you will have a piece of spongy
gold.

That’s how the old miners used to recover very fine gold from ancient
ironsand beaches in NZ. A later refinement was to use standard iron
water pipe fittings to make a kind of retort, which enabled the
distilled off mercury to be collected and reused. They either sold
the spongy gold to the itinerant gold buyers who visited the
workings, or they consolidated it with a hammer on a heavy stone.
and than sold it in town - when they ran out of food.

PS I sent this before, and it was bounced, but no reason was given
This is about the third tim this has happened. – Cheers for now,

John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ

Kundan is the Indian technique for setting gemstones using very
pure, thin gold. I would like to learn how to do this - does anyone
know how to do it, or know where I can learn?

thanks!
Tereze