For example, in Platinum, White Gold, Yellow Gold, or Rose Gold. 9-carat or 18-carat most often. ... Surprisingly, the process of melting down a ring to remake a new one is more expensive than when we create an item from new Gold or Platinum. The reason is twofold. Firstly, the item is isolated to ensure that the original metal is kept separate. Step 1: Smelt. smelt 1 (sm lt). v. smelt ·ed, smelt ·ing, smelts. v.tr. To melt or fuse (ores) in order to separate the metallic constituents. I placed 10 pennies on a spoon and heated them with a propane torch. The spoon was held with locking pliers, which was held by a wooded clamp. Once the zinc liquefied I removed the copper with a metal. Answer (1 of 6): Certainly. 'Karat' is just a measure of the total percentage of gold in a specific solid piece of gold or gold alloy. For some reason, the standard is 24 karat = 100% gold. If you mix equal masses of gold alloy, one that is 12 karat and one that is 24 karat, your resulting mass.