Definition of "cupellation" [cu•pel•la•tion]

• A refining process for nonoxidizing metals, such as silver and gold, in which a metallic mixture is oxidized at high temperatures and base metals are separated by absorption into the walls of a cupel. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But the satisfaction was at its height when the crucible produced, after cupellation, a button of"
• "FIRE ASSAY* smelting with gold collector, separation, cupellation muffle or retort furnace, crucible, cupel taste (assay) lead, borax, soda, potash chemical"
• "The appliances in connection with mining and metallurgy include a five-stamp battery, Blake crusher, automatic machine jigs, an engine pulverizer, a Root and a Sturtevant blower, with blast reverberating, wasting, cupellation, and fusion furnaces, and all other means for reducing ores."