I bought a used large dust collector some years ago. It had
previously been owned by a smallish gold jewelry manufacturer. I am
wondering about sending the internal parts to the refinery. There are
about 20 “baffles” that hang down- canvas covered metal skeletons-
that you kick to shake out and remove dust and particles. It seems to
me that there must be a certain amount of gold particles embedded in
the fabric. I would welcome any advice regarding how to locate a
trustworthy refiner, and how much this might cost? Should I just send
it all along, or send one as a sample to see if it will be
worthwhile? Thanks, Karen
Cynthia uses Hoover and Strong and has been doing so for YEARS…
Nice folks, trustworthy and helpful if you have questions.
John Dach
Try United Metal Refining but watch out for minimum charges. I think
the fee is the same for up to about 50 oz of silver. May be diff for
gold. I sent in my sweeps and got a nice surprise 
Carina Rossner
Karen I would recommend United Precious Metals at 800-999-fine. They
will answer your question and are the refiners of choice for me. I
would include any other buffs and dust etc. in your refining lot to
increase the yield. Keep bench sweeps and scrap in a different lot.
Call them and they will send you buckets and paperwork to fill out
and give you a idea of cost over the phone. (usual disclaimer goes
here)
Frank Goss
Hi Karen,
Yes indeed. There could be some residual gold particles in the
fabric of the dust collector.
However, be aware that the fabric will be destroyed in the
reclamation process & you’ll have to buy new ones.
A good refiner is Hauser & Miller
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/hauserandmiller
in St. Louis. they’ve been in business for over 100 years.
Contact them for about sending in the fabric.
Dave
However, be aware that the fabric will be destroyed in the reclamation process & you'll have to buy new ones.
And therein is the rub. Those filter bags are not exactly cheap.
Polishing dusts are not high metal content wastes. Typically, a pound
of polishing dusts may have substantially less than an ounce of
actual metal, the rest being the polishing compounds and residue from
the buffs, though of course this can vary wildly depending on how the
machine was used. It takes a fair amount of the dusts to contain
reasonable amounts of metal, especially after considering refining
fees, and even with the current high prices of metals. If you clean
the bags well, I doubt you’d have enough metal remaining in the bags
to justify refining them, if you don’t have other scrap to send in
with them, and also plan to be able to keep using the machine,
meaning you’d need new filters.
I’d suggest being very vigorous with that kick lever to shake loose
as much of the dust as you can, following up with a small shop vac
fitted with a paper filter to catch anything it can find. Vacuum both
sides of the filter cloth bags thoroughly, then reinstall them. That
would be my recomendation. And if polishing wastes is all you’re
refining, wait until you have at least a pound of the dusts before
sending them in, or the refining fees will negate too much of the
value of the recovered metal. Some refiners recommend more like five
pounds, though that may be out of date at this point.
Peter
Hello Karen, Call-me on the cell and I can tell-you or explain what
I have been doing with my filters for the last 42 years!
Stephen Wyrick, CMBJ _ Gemmolgist _ DesignSkills