text: Cupellation was also being used in parts of Europe to extract gold, silver, zinc, and tin by the late ninth to tenth century AD. Here, one of the earliest examples of an integrated unit process for extracting more than one precious metal was first introduced by Theophilus around the twelfth century. First, the gold-silver ore is melted down in the crucible, but with an excess amount of lead. The intense heat then oxidizes the lead which reacts quickly and binds with the impurities in the gold-silver ore. Since both gold and silver have low reactivity with the impurities, they remain behind once the slag is removed. The last stage involves parting, in which the silver is separated from the gold. First the gold-silver alloy is hammered into thin sheets and placed into a vessel. The sheets were then covered in urine, which contains sodium chloride (NaCl). The vessel is then capped and heated for several hours until the chlorides bind with the silver, creating silver chloride (AgCl). Finally, the silver chloride powder is then removed and smelted to recover the silver, while the pure gold remains intact.