# Silver recovery from paper back



## CaptonZap (Dec 9, 2015)

New member here,
A friend has a small stack of boxes filled with paaper that has silver emulsion on it, from some sort of photo process that is no longer used comercially. Is there some easy way to extract the silver from it?
He says that the emulsion on the paper has more silver than photographic paper, since it was used on a recorder that used light as the activating method.
Any suggestions?
Thanks, CZ


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## FrugalRefiner (Dec 9, 2015)

For a "small stack of boxes", your best bet would be to sell them. By the time you invest your own time learning how to process them, buy the chemicals, deal with fume control, dispose of the waste, and spend the time processing them, you'll be much better off selling them. Silver is at $14.16 / ozt. right now. Don't expect too much.

Dave


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## CaptonZap (Dec 11, 2015)

Dave, thanks for the reply, and I suggested that same idea. But my friend has delusions of being a mad scientist, and enjoys projects like this.
(We built a magnetizer for magnetos that has 86000 amp turns of field, using materials on hand, and used it on three magnetos. Worth it? No, but we had fun, and learned a few things, so it was counted as a great success.)
I was hoping to find some information on reclaiming the silver, with the idea that it would provide some entertainment which we would not have to pay out of pocket for, if the net value recovered was more than the money involved for the process materials.
One of the nice things about being retired is that you don't always have to run a cost benefit analysis on things you do, with the profit being the governing criteria. 8) 
So if anybody else has any suggestions, I'm all ears. :mrgreen: 
Thanks CZ


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## vgecas (Dec 11, 2015)

never done that, but - burn to ash and leach with nitric acid ... ?


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## FrugalRefiner (Dec 11, 2015)

CaptonZap said:


> Dave, thanks for the reply, and I suggested that same idea. But my friend has delusions of being a mad scientist, and enjoys projects like this.
> I was hoping to find some information on reclaiming the silver, with the idea that it would provide some entertainment which we would not have to pay out of pocket for, if the net value recovered was more than the money involved for the process materials.


In that case, start reading. You'll find many threads dealing with recovery from photographic film, xray film, paper, etc. here on the forum. You can try searches on any of those terms, but I'd suggest just reading all the threads in this section of the forum to start.

I want to repeat that you're going to need to deal with fumes and the waste you'll create. You'll also need equipment, chemicals, personal protective equipment, etc. 

As with any new process, I'd suggest starting with a small test batch. You'll be able to find out how much work is involved and how much you can expect to recover for the effort. Then you can decide if you want to try to do the whole batch or sell it.

Best of luck,
Dave


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## CaptonZap (Dec 12, 2015)

Thanks for the pointer, Dave

I'll start reading, and try the search function, althouigh I've found that most search fuctions are not exactly on a par with Google and Bing, but this one may be more precise than most.
Homework, ya gotta love it. :roll: 

CZ


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## g_axelsson (Dec 12, 2015)

Google indexes this forum so if you want to use google just add site:goldrefiningforum.com among the search terms.

Göran


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## FrugalRefiner (Dec 12, 2015)

For some additional guidance on searching, take a look through the Tips for Navigating and Posting on the Forum thread.

Dave


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