noun
- Plural of cupellation; the process of refining precious metals (especially gold and silver) by heating them in a cupel to remove base metals.
Usage: technical; metallurgy
Examples
- The cupellations of the ore samples revealed high silver content.
- Ancient metallurgists used repeated cupellations to purify their gold.
- Modern assay laboratories perform cupellations to determine the fineness of precious metals.
- The cupellations process requires precise temperature control to avoid metal loss.