… into the waste barrel that I send to my refiner for
recovery…
I have only recently begun collecting for refining and I am
wondering if you have any suggestions on items that I haven’t
thought of. The obvious ones I’m stashing are: drawer sweeps,
used sandpaper and used buffs. I hadn’t thought of the pickle.
What else am I missing? Is it worth vacuuming the area and
including the bag? I was also wondering where one can obtain a
55 gal. drum? Sharon
Hi Sharon,
Anything that may contain precious metals residues can be
reclaimed from. (to my knowledge however pickle won’t have much
precious metal in it-correct me someone?) You should definitley
have a jewellers sink trap system (which involves baffles,
holding tanks, makes the water go around barriers and allows
stuff to settle on its way into the sewage system-a cheap one can
be built) to reclaim water borne particles from washing during
polishing. All sandpaper, dust, floor sweeps, polishing compound
residues (up to 30% by weight metal in some cases), any possible
source can add up over time. Big facgtories have constant air
filtration to pick up particles from the air, workers wear paper
clothing and shoes which are burnt once a week, there are
anti-static mats by every doorway to pull dust off the shoes,
everyone has to shower completely before leaving and the water
goes into settling tanks. And so on. We put in a sink trap once
in a school with 50 students. Most used base metals but in a year
and a half we took the sludge from just one sink trap and after
the 300 dollar refining charges we got $700.oo back. It is
unbelievable how much goes unreclaimed in schools as well as
private shops. I like a low knap carpet in my shop, stones don’t
break when you drop them and eventually you send the carpet in
for refining. One factory in Germany when I was studying there
decided they needed a new factory building, sent in their oak
floor for refining and it PAID for the entire new building. So,
vacuum away.
Charles
Brain Press
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada
Tel: 403-263-3955 Fax: 403-283-9053 Email: @Charles_Lewton-Brain
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