# Newbie needs a "small" refiner...help!



## Chrisa222 (Oct 26, 2011)

Hi guys and gals. I am a newb so try not to be cruel. Here's my story and maybe someone out there is willing to help. I have accumulated some scrap gold...some of it I bought, but some of it is pieces that my Mother gave me (example, her wedding band). I am looking to have my gold refined, but here is the stickler, I want the metal back. I tried calling some refineries, and they say no. They will offer cash, or offer an exchange of bullion. What I want, is my own stuff only refined. My purpose is to use my gold to have jewelry made, so in essance I am re-using my Mothers stuff to make something for myself and other family members. Ideally I'd like it made into 14K. There is probably a total of 2-3ounces of 10-14K assorted white/yellow gold. I understand there is a cost involved and quite frankly I am willing to pay. I just want it done. There has to be someone out there who would do this for me. Is this something that anyone would do? Basically Im asking for my roughly 3 ounces of scrap gold to be refined into whatever it will yeild into 14K. I would probably offer, say $100? If anyone would like to contact me my email is [email protected] I'm located in CT but I could ship. I guess I would just have to trust that someone out there is honest enough to assure me that I'm getting back MY gold, my Mothers ring, etc etc. I tried bringing her rings to a jewelry company and they said with the impurities they would not do it unless it was refined. So here I am looking for that to happen. Thanks guys and gals I look forward to hearing from somebody..thanks for your time. I know, long post


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## niteliteone (Oct 27, 2011)

In refining your gold the end result will be over 99.9% pure gold (24K++)
Many people here can do this for you. then your jeweler can process your gold to 14K to make your jewelery.
Many of us can do the first part but a jeweler will need to do the second.

If you are able to come here (Fresno,CA) I'll gladly show you how to do the refining. :shock: 
Are you sure all is solid karat gold and no plated or filled?
If all solid I would be able to do it for you.
If interested let me know. I am sure a few others here are closer and may be willing to help also.
Tom C.

edit: Sent you a PM


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## trashmaster (Oct 27, 2011)

Welcome to the forum :lol: 

We have several members here that refines for a %% and does a goog job from whay I hear;;; 

I'am guessing that you do not want to learn to refine it yourself ;;; If you would like to refine it yourself and then tell friends and family that you did this yourself , then you can learn that here;;; That's what we do.. :lol: :lol: 

If you would like to learn about refining ,, you will have to read, read, and read some more ... 

Read; the SAFETY SECTION 
Read; the CHEMICAL SECTION

download ;;; Hokes book ( found on several members sig line )
download ;;; Gold refinging handbook 1 and 2 ( found on several members sig line ))

If you decide that you want to try this yourself after r

eading what you can and have questions then please post them .....

I would contact lasersteve you can find his post here on this great forum..


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## johnny309 (Oct 27, 2011)

She...(or he) wants back some jewelery from the gold...
Sorry ,but ...reading Hoke...have to buy silver to add to 14K gold,buy acids....and ....so on....
Shortcut is needed.


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## patnor1011 (Oct 27, 2011)

You have a very complicated task ahead. Nothing is impossible but....
First you need somebody who is going to refine your material and find exactly how much gold is in there. That will cost you either money or % of your gold. Second thing is that even if he will alloy your material to 14k you want there is no jeweler unless he is a friend of yours who will make you jewelry from your alloy and put hallmarks on that. And if that will happen it will cost you more money or bigger % of your gold. Common practice is for them to take your gold, have it checked/assayed/sold and they deduct this form price of whatever you buy/order from them.


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## Harold_V (Oct 28, 2011)

The request is not unreasonable for those that refine on an individual basis, as I did. I ran all of my lots individually, which eliminated the need for assaying. Settlement was according to yield. None of my customers were unhappy with my method of operation, and found my fee structure to be fair and quite competitive. 

The only thing I would suggest is that the original gold be returned in the pure state, not alloyed. That, of course, depends on the benchman that would do the work in making the desired jewelry. He may prefer to work with pre-alloyed gold, but that adds an unnecessary melt to the alloy, which is not in the best interest of the metal unless one melts in an inert atmosphere, or a vacuum. Virtually no one does. 

Most of my customers did their own gold alloying, so they preferred receiving gold shot, so they could weigh out the needed amount of gold to make the needed alloy. That way they didn't have to inventory various colors and karats of gold, although they were left with the sprue after casting. It was usually pickled and included as a part of the next casting, assuming it was the correct color and karat. 

Harold


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## samuel-a (Oct 28, 2011)

Harold, may i ask.

What was your average metals turn around?


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## Harold_V (Oct 28, 2011)

samuel-a said:


> Harold, may i ask.
> 
> What was your average metals turn around?


Your question is not clear, Sam. Can you rephrase?
(What is it you're asking?)

Harold


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## samuel-a (Oct 28, 2011)

Sorry.

How long did it take, from the moment the client gave his scrap until you gave back pure metal and settlement?


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## Harold_V (Oct 28, 2011)

That varied, and was often determined by need. One of my customers melted some contaminated gold and needed it refined as quickly as it could be accomplished. The net was something like two ounces, which I returned to him in 24 hours. That resulted in his using my services up to the day I sold the business. Service is very important to these people. My quality was good, my fee was reasonable, and I was reliable. 

When I first refined commercially, I offered pickup and delivery service twice per week. That which was picked up on Monday was returned Thursday or Friday. That which was picked up late in the week was returned the following Monday. 

When my work load increased, I was usually somewhat behind, so I started requesting a full week for refining. If a customer was in need, I'd advance an ounce against the submitted scrap, so they were not held up. Again, service was very important to my success. 

There may have been occasions where a week was not enough time. An example might be a large drum of polishing wastes---where incineration was a bottleneck. It may have stretched out to two weeks. What I discovered, very early on, is when you delivered wasn't nearly as important as delivering when you said you would. If the lot required ten days to process, informing the customer up front almost always resulted in acceptance, but then I worked hard to ensure I made delivery as promised. If I was not going to be able to make delivery, a phone call was placed immediately, and if they were in trouble, gold was advanced. Service, once again. 

For small amounts of gold (ten ounces or less), toll refining, a week turn-around is not unreasonable. It can be done in less time, depending on one's schedule. 

Harold


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## Chrisa222 (Oct 28, 2011)

Hey guys,

First of all, thank you Harold for all the information that you have given me..both by the posts here and the PMs you have sent me. This stuff is all very interesting.

I did get some offers to refine my stuff, and I am going to work with one of the forum members on here. I am very grateful for his offer to do my stuff..and I am very excited to have it done. He is going to refine my 10/14k scrap to .99X pure gold, which I can then send on to my jeweler for casting into the pieces that I want made. I am not having it alloyed by my "refiner". 

I would love to learn how to do this myself..but, I don't think that I have the cojones to actually do it. I don't care how much I can read about doing it with acid...I am just a little too intimidated to take on that task solo. Between the acids and the other chemicals...or a torch...or both...I just can't do it. I'd rather put it in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing! I live in CT, seems most of you guys are out West. Where the gold is, naturally! haha.

Thanks to everyone else on this forum who helped me find the info, Im glad I found this forum. I contacted a bunch of refiners and none of them were even remotely interested in helping me. Midwest Refiners told me they would refine for 12% but I would get casting grain and it wouldn't be my familys metal, and to me that was a key to the whole thing. Knowing that a ring for my sister was being made from gold from my Moms wedding ring is kind of key. 

Thats all for now. Anyone can PM me if you have any other info I should know...but I don't need any more offers to refine because I found a really nice guy to do that for me  

Christopher (never use my whole name but someone on here thought I might be a she! LOL)


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## artart47 (Oct 28, 2011)

Hi!
Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you found someone that can help.
I have begun reclaiming gold from electronic scrap and will begin refining it soon,( Thank again to everyone who has helped me learn).
My wife has been so tolerant with the crazyness of my gold fever and putting up with stumbling over computers ect.. I too, am going to have some of the first gold made into a piece of jewelry for her to show my appreciation for her tolerance.
We'd all probably be very glad to see your new pieces when you get them made! Please post some pictures!
artart47


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## Chrisa222 (Oct 29, 2011)

Hey Art, thanks for the welcome. Yeah, I am glad I found this board, as I am psyched to be able to use my familys metal and make it into new pieces!

The refiner I have agreed to terms with, said that he will photo document the process, so I am hoping he will let me post all the pictures...so that we can all see what I started with, what it ends up looking like in grain form, and then the new peices that I have made. 

Sounds like it will be fun. I wish I could do this all myself, but Im way too intimidated to work with acids/torches/etc!!

Chris


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