Borates in Metallurgy and Gold Refinement (2024)

Using borax as a flux helps remove metal oxides, improves slag control

From mining to processing to metal recovery, borates serve a versatile role in metallurgical applications.
Their functions include:

• Making excellent fluxes, removing metal oxides and dissolving impurities

• Stabilizing metallurgical slags, to enable greater waste control

• Passivating ferrous metals, to reduce harmful corrosion

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• Producing more corrosion resistant alloys (steel and aluminum)

The right borate purity, concentration, and granulometry influences these properties and determines their efficacy. With it, you can recover more high-quality material, improve flux functionality, and avoid costly defects in finished products such as cracking and pitting in electroplating.

You invest heavily in your equipment and materials—make a smart decision by partnering with a high-quality supplier, a trusted partner of many top metal producers.

Borax in metallurgy

Borates’ uses span a wide range—from stabilizing blasting holes to fluxes, refinement, and oxidation protection.

As a metal producer, you’re seeking ways to become more cost efficient, increase yields, and reduce energy consumption. Borates enable improvement across metallurgical processes, from using borax for flux formulations to their ability to enhance product quality.

Key metallurgical uses include:

• Borax for fluxes: During smelting, borates reduce melting temperature and viscosity, dissolve metallic oxide impurities at a relatively low temperature, lowering energy costs
• Refinement and impurity removal: Any oxides, impurities, or siliceous material will be subject to borates’ high solvent action when used as a refining flux
• Electroplating: By controlling pH, boric acid prevents nickel deposits from cracking and pitting, so you can avoid costly defects

• Stabilization: Metallurgical slag is problematic, wasting time and money on proper disposal. Borates modify the slag into a stable rock-like material, simplifying slag handling and give you great control over slag to lower your environmental impact
• Reducing fluorine emissions: If you’re looking for an alternative to fluorine-containing flux, potassium pentaborate is an effective solution to reduce fluorine emissions

Why is borax used in melting gold?

When used in a gold refining flux, borates keep recovery high and equipment degradation low.

In gold metallurgy, borates are:

• Incorporated in refining flux formulations to dissolve metal oxides

• Used as a flux in gold assaying

The right borate concentration helps you save energy, reduce damage to melting equipment, and recover more precious metal. That’s because borates dissolve metal oxides at lower temperatures.

Slag stabilization

Borates impart greater control and stabilization of slag in fluxes for stainless steel.

As a stainless-steel producer, you can rely on borates to help stabilize slag. If a slag becomes unstable (or even partially stabilized), a fragile, dusty slag can form. In that case, recycling becomes impossible, and more waste is generated.

By using borates in a flux for stainless steel, slag is modified into a stable rock-like material. As a result you can reduce slag dust to:

• Save money on handling and treatment

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• Lower disposal costs

• Improve regulatory response and adherence

Learn more about how borates enhance control over steel slag stabilization.

Borates in lead recycling and metal recovery

Your goal is to produce a product that’s as pure as a primary metal. Reaching it requires a high-performing borate-based flux formulation to surface oxides and impurities so you can easily decant or skim them off. Using borax as a cover flux provides safe and easy handling, greater slag control, and reducing harm to refractories.

What can happen if your borate concentration is insufficient?

Lead recovery

Insufficient boron levels may result in a higher liquidus temperature, ultimately causing less lead to be recovered. Energy use and costs subsequently increase because your furnace must operate at higher temperatures.

Copper recovery

An inadequate borate concentration produces more slags and serious scaling—causing more equipment maintenance. It also increases the likelihood that you will lose more copper to the slag.

Nickel recovery

Borates ensure neutral pH during the last stage of nickel recovery—electrolysis. The right borate level (in boric acid, boric oxide, or anhydrous borax form) enables greater pH control and proper separation of contaminants from pure nickel deposits.

Aluminum

Adding borates in your crucible melt can improve aluminum’s appearance and help reduce tearing on rolling into thin sheets.

What makes U.S. Borax the right partner for your metal application?

Technical expertise, premium quality, and extensive product offerings separate us from market alternatives.

Unmatched quality, consistency

Your metallurgical process demands reliable, effective inputs. That means you need high-quality products with low impurity levels, consistent granulometry, and product options such as anhydrous borates. As a world leader in refined borates, you can trust our products to deliver superior quality.

Proven technical expertise

Our technical team provides the knowledge you need to meet your specific metallurgical application. Whether it’s supplying technical information, suggesting a packaging format, or help with proper loading percentage, we’re a trusted partner always there for you.

More about Borates in Metals and Gold