Melting scrap silver - contaminated

I have melted scrap silver and gold successfully for a while. Today my silver scrap has ‘dissolved’ into a horrible black mess. Obviously it has got contaminated in some way but I don’t know what with. Is there any way of cleaning it up or should I just trash the lot and buy a new crucible?

I wonder if there could have been a sliver of lead or pewter in the mix……

Thanks Andy. I’m not aware of either of these metals in my workshop although I have had some aluminium in there. Do you know if I can clean it?
Patsy

Ya know it’s always worth another try. If you get an okay ingot, try to process it: forge with a hammer and then roll. If it’s bad (cracks) you’ll see it sooner than later. If it looks okay, anneal it and pickle it. The idea is to see if it’s white from the pickle. Other than that, scrap it. I do think that aluminum could be a culprit….
Best of luck!

Hi,

Over on Youtube, Melissa Muir did a video about how she (sort of) cleaned up a contaminated melt that she had done. If I remember rightly, her problem was aluminum.

Here’s the link: Melissa Muir video

Tricia

Thanks Tracy I have found this utube video very helpful. Looks like I have
a laborious chore ahead of me.
Patsy