# Calculating Silver Recovery



## jeneje (Feb 16, 2013)

I started 31.8 grams of .925 last night in 50/50 HNO3, to calculate the return do i figure it the same way as gold. Example 31.8 x .925 = 29.415 grams of pure silver.

I have somewhere around 20 troy ounces to process and i was trying to figure my return. I think i'm right here!

Thanks
Ken


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## philddreamer (Feb 16, 2013)

That's correct, but like in gold, the sterling most likely will be short of .925. I do my math using .900 as reference. Remember, their is a chance of PGM's, too!
Take care and be safe!
Phil


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## jeneje (Feb 16, 2013)

philddreamer said:


> That's correct, but like in gold, the sterling most likely will be short of .925. I do my math using .900 as reference. Remember, their is a chance of PGM's, too!
> Take care and be safe!
> Phil



Thanks
Phil, i will save all my left overs.

Ken


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## jeneje (Feb 16, 2013)

Well, my gold project is at a stand still, but the silver is coming good :mrgreen: Its cementing just fine. A few pics :mrgreen: 

Ken


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## Anonymous (Feb 16, 2013)

I started out with 31.6 grams of what I thought was .925 silver yesterday. After dissolving the metals and having 2 pieces left over that wouldn't dissolve in the Nitric Acid, I cemented out the silver and I ended up with 27.7 grams of powder. 

I did the subtraction of the other metals that didn't dissolve, and the actual total weight of the .925 silver was 29.7 grams, but I now have 27.7 grams of powder. A difference of 2 grams. It may be slightly less once I melt it. Then again, I may have more after I recover the beads still left stuck on the melting dish from other melts.

Kevin


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## jeneje (Feb 16, 2013)

testerman said:


> Then again, I may have more after I recover the beads still left stuck on the melting dish from other melts.
> 
> Kevin



Thats always a good thing, more is better. : :lol: 
Ken


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## kadriver (Feb 20, 2013)

jeneje said:


> I started 31.8 grams of .925 last night in 50/50 HNO3, to calculate the return do i figure it the same way as gold. Example 31.8 x .925 = 29.415 grams of pure silver.
> 
> I have somewhere around 20 troy ounces to process and i was trying to figure my return. I think i'm right here!
> 
> ...



Ken,

you have calculated the theoretical yield (what you should expect if all things are perfect)

But due to errors, losses, spills, technique and other variables, your actual yield will be different (usually lower).

I recently processed 971 grams of sterling/925. The theoretical yield should have produced 971 X .925 = 898 grams of cemented silver.

But after cementing, drying and weighing, the actual amount of silver I recovered was 844 grams.

This means that the actual yield was around 87% because the 971 grams of 925/sterling only actualy produced 844 grams: 971g x .87 = 844g

kadriver


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## jeneje (Feb 21, 2013)

kadriver said:


> jeneje said:
> 
> 
> > I started 31.8 grams of .925 last night in 50/50 HNO3, to calculate the return do i figure it the same way as gold. Example 31.8 x .925 = 29.415 grams of pure silver.
> ...



Based on your yeild kadriver, i think i will base my buying on .800 from now on. As you know there is not a very big proffit margin between buying and selling and i would like to think i am close to the actural yeild then way below. Most of what i buy i pay 85 to 90% of spot on. 

What i find around here is people are shopping for the best price on payout and they want damn near spot on everything. I have had to pass on several silver deals here lately because i want pay that and they are not willing to take any less, What they think is if silver is $30.25 they should get $32.00 an troy once for theirs :roll: If you can't make at least 5% after refining there is no need to do it - at least for me.

Ken


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## mikeinkaty (Feb 21, 2013)

I just did a 881 gram batch of 'quality' sterling and when I weighed all the crystals produced by electolysis I had an 88% recovery. Almost identical to kadrivers experience. By 'quality' I mean this batch was a Gorham serving tray. The largest difference between recovered and expected was with the weight of the dropped cement. I probably could have minimized this difference if I had more knowlege in measuring and applying the physical properties of the solutions. Another place where I tend to lose weight is with the melting and pouring of the bars. I use a gas torch and having an electric furnace probably would keep that loss smaller.

Gorham sterling is high quality from what I've read and it is supposed to be 92.5% silver. If so, then I lost about 37 grams of silver somewhere. I think I would quit doing this if that was gold that was lost!

Mike


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## Palladium (Feb 21, 2013)

If you torch melting you should lose VERY little and i do mean little silver in the melting process. Does you silver bubble, spit, pop, or do anything besides melt and flow like butter?


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## Anonymous (Feb 21, 2013)

Palladium said:


> If you torch melting you should lose VERY little and i do mean little silver in the melting process. Does you silver bubble, spit, pop, or do anything besides melt and flow like butter?


I have to agree with *Palladium*. There should be very little loss of silver when torch melting. I still have all my notes and my loss have been very little.

The key I found out is to do this.... which we should all know, because I was taught this from here on this forum

*1.* Weigh the actual material in the form before any processing is done.
*2.* Process and do everything to get it into powdered form. Then weigh it.
*3.* Melt, and then weigh it again.

When you do all three of the above, it's much easier to see where the loss must have occurred. 

Kevin


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## mikeinkaty (Feb 21, 2013)

I did an 8 oz pour today where I only lost 3 grams! I must be getting better! Either that or I picked up a bunch of bb's from the last pour.

I do need to get a different torch head for my ac/ox torch. It has a small orfice about 1mm in size. Don't know where to look though.

Mike


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## Anonymous (Feb 21, 2013)

mikeinkaty said:


> I did an 8 oz pour today where I only lost 3 grams! I must be getting better! Either that or I picked up a bunch of bb's from the last pour.
> 
> I do need to get a different torch head for my ac/ox torch. It has a small orfice about 1mm in size. Don't know where to look though.
> 
> Mike


Like I mentioned in anther thread, although I do use MAPP gas to melt silver, propane will suffice. I'm sure it'll save money too, and that's why I'm going to go back to using propane.

Kevin


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