# scrap copper?



## Elfs (Jul 19, 2011)

Philosophically speaking, If residential wire is 99.98% percent pure. Could there be some gold and silver in the 00.02%. Or any other copper like pipes ect.
I am asking if one can pull gold and silver from scrap copper?


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## element47 (Jul 19, 2011)

It's entirely possible. Given the amount of copper that will dissolve in nitric acid relative to how much silver, if you were willing to spend about $80,000 an ounce for your silver in chemicals, primarily nitric acid, and then deal with about 600-800 pounds of heavy metal waste, I am sure that several tens of thousands of silver atoms could be refined from the amount of copper used to plumb and wire a house.


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## Harold_V (Jul 19, 2011)

Elfs said:


> Philosophically speaking, If residential wire is 99.98% percent pure. Could there be some gold and silver in the 00.02%. Or any other copper like pipes ect.


It is well known that copper comes from the refiner as electrolytic pure, and that's true even for making pipe, or other copper items that rely on copper being rolled and otherwise formed. Pure copper works well, while contaminated copper does not. To expect to find values in copper used in items made in a production facility is a very, very long shot. Traces that may be found would cost more to recover than their value. Were that not the case, they would have already been removed. 

You do know that *ect* is not a word, don't you? It's not even the contraction of two or more words. It's not anything! Did you mean etc.? (Et cetera)

Harold


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## Elfs (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for your wisdom Harrold.
No need to tease.
I meant Et Cetera
Forgive typo.

:twisted:


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## Oz (Jul 19, 2011)

He is not teasing. We try our best to keep spelling and grammar correct here as there are many that need to use a translating program just to correspond here as English is not their first language. You will notice that the moderators encourage others to correct us if we make a mistake as well.

In addition, with chemistry a mistake or misspelling could result in serious injury or death if someone is trying to follow instruction.


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## Harold_V (Jul 19, 2011)

Oz said:


> He is not teasing. We try our best to keep spelling and grammar correct here as there are many that need to use a translating program just to correspond here as English is not their first language. You will notice that the moderators encourage others to correct us if we make a mistake as well.
> 
> In addition, with chemistry a mistake or misspelling could result in serious injury or death if someone is trying to follow instruction.


What Oz said. 

Harold


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## goldsilverpro (Jul 19, 2011)

Gold and silver are both byproducts of copper refining and I'm sure that both can be found as trace elements in the purified copper, along with 20 or 30 other elements.


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## Harold_V (Jul 20, 2011)

goldsilverpro said:


> Gold and silver are both byproducts of copper refining and I'm sure that both can be found as trace elements in the purified copper, along with 20 or 30 other elements.


I couldn't agree more---but most likely as parts per billionths. 
As I've said previously, there's no such thing as absolutely pure elements. Even 6n's gold isn't pure. 

Harold


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## Reno Chris (Jul 20, 2011)

As a related concept, most rocks naturally contain ppb trace levels of gold - your average mountain probably has a pound or more. Sea water has traces of gold. The oceans contain tons of gold. 

The only problem is that even at $1600 per ounce it will cost you far more to extract it than the value of the metals recovered. So what value is it?


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## nickvc (Jul 20, 2011)

Reno Chris said:


> As a related concept, most rocks naturally contain ppb trace levels of gold - your average mountain probably has a pound or more. Sea water has traces of gold. The oceans contain tons of gold.
> 
> The only problem is that even at $1600 per ounce it will cost you far more to extract it than the value of the metals recovered. So what value is it?




Ah hell Chris and there was me ready to sell gold electrolyte by the gallon on ebay, well the containers and directions to the beach to collect their own.....lmao!


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## element47 (Jul 20, 2011)

EXCELLENT idea, Nick! I can easily imagine a multi-state beach-sluicing operation selling directions and equipment for extracting gold from seawater. Did I mention I take PayPal? LOL.


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## Harold_V (Jul 21, 2011)

Reno Chris said:


> As a related concept, most rocks naturally contain ppb trace levels of gold


An article I read some time back stated that gold is one of the most wide spread of all of the rare elements, found, virtually, everywhere, but rarely in recoverable concentrations. 

High grade gold ores are truly rare. 

Harold


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## Harold_V (Jul 21, 2011)

Reno Chris, 

On the subject of gold, I used to do business with GD Resources, located at 450 E. Glendale Ave, in Sparks, Nevada.

Assuming you are from Reno, do you know what became of them? 

Harold


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## Reno Chris (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm not originally from Reno, but I've been here a long time and I knew the folks at GD Resources quite well and was in their facility dozens of times. The folks that started the operation and ran it were from South Africa. The facility processed spent carbons from the Nevada Mines by incinerating them and doing what was essentially a fire assay on the ash. The went out of business about 15 years ago. Two things happened: 1) in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the price of gold went down and the number of Nevada mines greatly decreased. That caused that they had less business.; 2) second, a competing company named "Just Refiners" went into business locally, shipping the carbon overseas, resulting in a lower cost processing model. Just Refiners still exists in Reno.


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## Harold_V (Jul 21, 2011)

Thanks. 
I sold them some of my waste materials, which were then processed in those arc furnaces they used. I was amazed at the size of the huge cupels they used. 

I was well pleased with them, and learned a little from talking with them. I had driven to their site twice, obvious, now, not too long before they closed their doors. Sorry to hear they are gone, although I knew they were no longer in business at that address. 

Harold


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## Reno Chris (Jul 21, 2011)

Don't know if you ever saw those arc furnaces in operation, but I did see that a couple times - most impressive!

At one time they were very busy and occupied the building next door as well as the one at 450 Glendale.

I think in the end the loss of business and cost of waste disposal killed them. They recycled as much of the lead as they could, but still generated a lot of lead bearing haz-waste. Those huge hand made cupels were something!


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## Harold_V (Jul 22, 2011)

I don't recall seeing the furnaces in operation, but I was duly impressed by seeing them. I got to that department only once. 
Having lived in Utah for 56 years, leaving about the time GD must have closed their doors, seeing how the mining industry has taken a bullet has been something to behold. I have great memories of the large number of assay shops that used to exist in Salt Lake City, proper. Not one remains. The last one in operation closed its doors about the time I sold my refining business. 

This country is setting itself up for a huge catastrophe. We do almost nothing on our shores these days. Most all of the critical industries have departed. It's a sad commentary on our leadership. I'll stop here----don't want to turn this in to a political discussion, which we don't allow. 

Harold


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## Reno Chris (Jul 22, 2011)

Agreed.

We also used to have something like 17 or 18 assay shops in Reno, but I think 3 of them, by the skin of their teeth, survived. They are now doing very well. I heard a while back of someone who was looking at opening the first new one in a long, long time.


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