Where to find input?

[kurtak]

I can get a busted car for 500, is there enough PM in the cat? Is there a place I can legally buy catalytic converters for processing?

Per the bold print - NO - there is absolutely NO WAY you can process CATs & make a profit - especially if you intend to leach the CATs --- the ONLY possible hope in processing CATs with a HOPE in making a profit is to smelt them - & even then - to do so at a profit is going require a MAJOR investment in the equipment need for smelting - on a scale that is profitable

Here is a thread I posted about 10 years ago about an attempt to process CATs on a "for profit" larger scale

https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/large-volume-vs-small-volume-cat-processing.20573/#post-211200
You will note that in the first post of this thread that this was a "joint venture" with one of scrap yards I did business with --- we set up a complete lab in a 3,000 square foot building & because it was a real business we had all the required permitting --- it took about 4&1/2 month just to set up the lab which included 3 large commercial fume hoods with large capacity fume scrubber - reaction vessels - waste management/treatment etc. etc. --- after about 4&1/2 months (plus the 4 & 1/2 months to set up) of working (focusing) on the CATs - & about $100,000 - $120,000 invested we soon figured out you can not process CATs - at a profit - unless you want to invest about another million $$$ - just to get started --- & then that would be in smelting NOT leaching (both of which we did)

So after about 9 month of working with the CATs we abandoned the CATs & moved on to processing other PM scrap including (but not limited to) circuit boards of which the VAST MAJORITY we took in from the public simply got shipped out to larger buyer/processors - processing ONLY the VERY HIGHEST grade stuff in house

In other word - you CAN NOT make a profit trying to process run of the mill consumer circuit broads (E-waste) --- the ONLY way to profit with actually processing of E-waste is to process ONLY the VERY HIGHEST grade stuff - which DOES NOT come out of consumer grade electronics - & even with the very high grade stuff you need A LOT of it to profit in the processing

Don't get me wrong - you can profit processing consumer grade stuff - BUT - you will need to invest at least one million $$$ - just to get started !!!

Believe me - with consumer grade E-waste - you are FAR better served to simply take the stuff in (collect) & then send it off to the BIG BOYS - AND - even then for it to be profitable you have to handle it by the ton(s)

That is what I did (as described in the last couple post)

To put it in perspective - when I first started out I had absolutely NOTHING - I was dead broke (went bankrupt & lost everything in the 2008 housing collapse) so started scrapping ANYTHING I could get my hands on - 10 years later - when I decided to retire from this I was handling E-waste by the ton(s) per month with the VAST MAJORITY going to the BIG BOYS & processing ONLY the VERY HIGHEST grade stuff

It takes A LOT of hard work & A LOT of dedication - & trust me - I did not get rich but did make a fair living

Kurt

 

[kurtak]

And slowly and steadily building trust and relation. Then, it will take the traction. You can be very surprised how quickly it can spiral out of your control, and suddently you will be drowning in scrap

This is absolutely correct - BUT - it takes A LOT of hard work & A LOT of dedication - to succeed

Like 12 - 16 hour days - with 40 - 50 % of that time doing LOTS of research - sourcing materials - sourcing equipment/chems/supplies - & setting up to do the processing - on a scale that will turn a profit

For the first few years - every penny you make goes right back into it - in order to grow it into a business that starts to see a real profit

In other words - the first few years you will be lucky to cover cost & eat - before you start to see actual money go into your pocket (profit)

Kurt

 

[Dreamer]

"You can walk away with a little bit of money if you start off with a whole lot of it."

Really, concentrating the metals and selling them on eBay is where you make money. There is an endless stream of people struck with gold fever buying ingots of "gold" brass bars and gold plated watch bands for absurd amounts online. The days of 0.33 gram Au per CPU are long gone unless you want to pay $50 USD each. Consumer electronics don't even plate thier contact points anymore, they use a new term called "Gold Flashing".

The educational route is promising. We had a guy on here who's idea was to develop kits with sample materials and chemicals to teach people how to recover and refine. He is probably selling a lot of starting material to his students for far more than its PM value.

Sreetips, Lazer Steve and a host of other people are making content and videos preserving the art responsibly and make a few bucks (not sure how much it cost them though).

As far as Automotive, the scrap yards are filled with spark plugs that everyone overlooks. Start clipping the electrodes and you'll quickly have a valuable source of Pt to sell to an advanced refiner.

As mentioned on this thread, pursuing the refining of PG metals is difficult and potentially deadly and should only be attempted after years of experience and expertise with chemicals.

Personally, I buy hoards of costume jewelry and assay things that look promising then turn around and sell back what I don't use. I took in 200 laptops from a school district. A lot of work for little return, but hey, It's a hobby.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Best wishes.

 

[offtrailhiker]

, i also accept (for free, with me handling the shipping ) old TV`s

I hope this helps,

Pete

How do you process the CRTs?

 

[Heavy-Black-Sand]

With the clear trend towards small smart phone devices replacing desk top computers .... i don't see much of a lucrative long supply of computer scrap being available anywhere.

Most of the 3rd world/developing world countries largely skipped the "desktop computer" phase, and went deep into smart phones instead.

 

[GoIdman]

How do you process the CRTs?

Hey, sorry for this late reply.

I have an agreement with a scrapyard who accepts and dismantles/sorts electronic apliances mostly, So what I do is dismantle, sort the material and only keep the copper coil from the TV/monitor/etc. The rest of plastics, cables, PCB`s, and tube is selectively sorted and I bring to them, and they`ll take it (I dont process those, jut go after the copper). Sometimes I help them to do the same at their facility for free, just to keep a healthy relationship.

Its a win win..