One thing I've wondered, exactly how easy would it be to find a gold puddle after a fire anyway? I mean it's not going to vaporize or walk off on its own, but is it just going to be a little solidified glob there to pick up or what?
Yes, it might flow around in the fire but it would be in the same area. A metal detector would be the fastest way to find it. Likely less time to find it solidified than looking for jewelry on a beach. Certainly less time than mining the gold.
I've found aluminum globs under fires that had cans or trashed roofing thrown in. Pretty clean, since nearly everything floats on it, and easy to spot in ashes.
Once the core of the fire is mostly charcoal temperatures can climb up to 1100C. It doesn't have to be windy or even a large fire. Just need to be burning charcoal and not evaporating water or burning off volatiles.
The fires I have found aluminum globs in were long burning beach campfires and a bonfire to burn brush(big fire). The beach campfires were moderately sized but they certainly weren't bonfires built with 6-8 foot logs.
