hi
I am interested in buying a gold-refinary machine. It should be
semi-automatic or fully- automatic. The capacity should be 500-1000
grams. Does anybody has any idea of availability of such machine
.Thank you .
mithun
Dear Mithun, Investigate this possibility. Shor has a system you can
check out and it’s environmentally friendly.
Good luck, Johnny I
Shore International has a “simplicity” refining system that is fast,
economical, and easy to use. Your results are .999 fine and you are
not using a lot of harsh chemicals. I have used one for years and
love it. They can be reached at shorinternational.com. I an not
associated with them in any way but have been a satisfied customer.
Phillip Scott
One problem with the Shore machine. It will not work very well if you
are using palladium white golds or if you have platinum in your scrap
as it cannot separate them out of the scrap . As long as you are
using only nickle white gold and yellow and red golds it works just
fine.
Jim
James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (510) 533-5108
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (510) 533-5439
Member of the Better Business Bureau
Philip, I have a Shore refining system and I am a trade jeweler.I have
filings with silicon rubber dust in it.How do you dissolve the rubber
in the filings?They recommend lye which is dangerous to work with and
does nothing to the rubber.I also have two buffers and have alot of
dust to refine.How do you handle it?I have got it to work once.I used
a solid bar of scrap.Other than that it is sitting there collecting
dust.Thanks J Morley Coyote Ridge Studio
I’ve had some serious doubts about these do-it-yourself refining
systems for some time now. For solid scrap, all you’ll need to do is
melt it down into an ingot. However, when it comes to buffing
collection, sweeps contaminated with abraisives, etc., it’s another
story. I was told by the manufacturer that you’ll have to burn off
the included materials in a crucible, after subjecting the materials
to solvents to remove the polishing compound binders. Messy and
dangerous, in my book. I think if I had one of these, I would
confine it’s use to refining solid scrap, and send the rest to the
refinery. They’ve got scrubbers on their incinerators, access to
environmentally responsible disposal of dangerous wastes, and
hopefully, their workers are working in such a way and with proper
equipment so that they are minimizing their exposure to the health
risks associated with these procedures.
David L. Huffman
Philip, I have a Shore refining system and I am a trade jeweler.I have filings with silicon rubber dust in it.How do you dissolve the rubber in the filings?
G’day; hope you don’t mind me jumping in here, but I am pretty
certain that there is no solvent that will dissolve silicone rubber
(at reasonable temperatures) I would suggest that the simplest way to
reduce your refinable scrap would be to heat it very strongly -
preferably in a small kiln with adequate venting. You continue the
heating until there is nothing left but ashes. Any non volatile
metals like zinc and any mercury (from fillings, perhaps) will go up
the vent. Refining can then be done because the silicone rubber will
become silica and organic materials from buff materials and polish
will convert to carbon dioxide. Mineral constituents of the polish
will simply be part of the ashes finally left and will not interfere
with further refining processes. Cheers –
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua Nelson NZ
I, too, invested in a Shor refining system. I went into it knowing
that it would be labor intensive, yet at the time I had more time to
spend than money so I figured it was a worthwhile endeavor. I had
dismal results using it as I use a lot of platinum and palladium
white gold. The system simply does not work well when these metals
are present, even in tiny amounts. Platinum group metals change the
pH of the solution, creating an acidic solution that slows down the
refining process, as well as creating the typical noxious odor of
nitric acid.
I also was disappointed with the use of the machine with bench
filings. I can’t even imagine trying to refine polishing material
from a dust collector. Besides, the percentage of gold you will get
from this type of material is so small as to be nearly worthless to
attempt. You’ll spend more money in labor than you will get back in
gold. As well, the entire reason for using the Shor system is that
it is environmentally friendly, without the need for toxic or
dangerous chemicals. Once you start using lye or creating so much
toxic gas when you burn off the polishing compounds, you defeat the
original purpose of using this system.
The only time the sytem really worked for me was when I had a buddy
who was in the pawn business. In exchange for “grading” diamonds for
him, he sold me gold jewelry below market price. I always got the
lowest karat items he had, as they were the best material for this
system. I moved and no longer have this arrangement. Since then the
system has sat in my garage.
Save your polishing waste until you have a few trash bags full and
send it to a reliable refiner. I would say that unless you have more
time than money, send out the bench sweeps as well. Use the system
only for solid metal of which you know the alloy content.
Good luck,
Larry Seiger
Hi All For all you metal refiners out there , try the three books by
Roland Loewen two cover gold the other silver .These are published by
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths ,London . They are project report
no44/1 no 44/2 & no53 . They could still be in print ,if so you
can get them direct from Goldsmiths Hall . Some of the methods
discribed we use in our own work shop . Happy refining ! Regards
David Sheard L A Sheards England