Hi I was hoping to get advise on how to deal with years of bench sweeps? I have paper towels that jewelers use to clean hands, as well as bits from the bench etc. I wondered if I could burn off the paper? I have no idea really what you all do to get ride of and re-coupe any gold/silver. Thanks, Noreen
Call a refiner and ask them. I use Hoover and Strong and will use Elemental probably in the future. They all have different services. I typically send in sweeps from my bench, swarf from my wet grinding areas, a mixture of rubber abrasive material and precious metal from my dry grinding and sanding area, polishing duff from my polisher, filters from my handvac dedicated to cleaning these area, crucibles and actual solid pieces of metal and even finished pieces that are worth more as scrap then finished jewelry. If you work in gold, it might even be worth sending in a cushion from a chair that you sit in at your bench. You need to have enough to be worth whatever they charge to assay your scrap if that is their policy. You might also inquire about how they determine their payout. We had a recent discussion about this. Good luck…Rob
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I don’t often send in my scrap or sweeps to the refinery. When I did it has always been to Hoover and Strong. They are very forthcoming about how it should be packaged. I haven’t sent any for a few years but my memory is at their request I bagged it in clear plastic bags with twist ties, not zip locks. I ran a powerful magnet through the sweeps and hard metal scrap several times, bagged it up, boxed it up, and off it went. An email to H & S would be wise.
We have discussed this very topic a few times through the years and a search in the archives may give you more information.
I have heard good things about Elemetal and they will likely get the next batch.
Don Meixner
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