Mining for Gold

My prospector buddy and I have been collecting and assaying different samples from different area's in Utah and Arizona. We have found some good samples, but the problem is that we have to find a mining method to extract the precious metals from the ore. We have came up with an idea of breaking the method in two parts. My prospector buddy is doing the chemistry side where we find simple solutions to disolve and precipitate the various metals from solution, and I am doing to engineering side where we are trying to build a simple backyard furnace to heat and melt the metals into ingots. Gold is at $1,245.00 a troy ounce as of June 27, 2010, and that is really exciting especially when it comes to having Gold fever. We have worked out a good combination for disolving the metal. I have been working on several different models of a furnace and I have had good luck melting metal, but so far I need to build a furnace out of better material so it won't break down with the intense heat. I have been using coal to melt the metals and it works but it burns out to fast, so I have been trying to run a oil line to burn used oil. From what I have gathered from research is that oil has a higher BTU than propane and it runs longer without having to refuel or stoke the furnace. It is also cheaper than propane especially when you get it in a used form. WVO ( waste vegetable oil ) works good too, only you have to keep it in a warm state otherwise it will gel up. I am currently in the process of drawing up new plans and collecting the materials needed to build my new furnace. I hope that I will be able to get it all built in the next couple of months. I will keep you updated here on "Desert Gold Pick" from time to time, thank you for following along with my site.