Big Silver Recovery

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

I just wanted to share some silver single refined. Still has to go through an electro cell.

This is the biggest lot I’ve ever processed. It’s the second time I’ve ever process a large batch.

Starting Materials: 7.5 Kg Silver Foils

Net Yield: About 5 KG

 

[4metals]

Nice, caustic and corn syrup I assume? One thing I would caution you about is digestions in an erlenmeyer flask. If you add too much acid and the reaction starts to rise, the shape of the flask reduces in diameter which increases the rate of rise. Think of it as a potential volcano! I’ve seen it happen!

Are you saving up to start a silver cell?

 

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

4Metals - It’s funny you say that I would also caution other not to use a conical flask to digest. Not only did it almost volcano every addition of nitric. With the stopper, I was able to burp it.

Also with a conical, I feel like the gases released from adding nitric, pushed the oxygen out due to conical shape. Slowing the oxidation down during digestion.

In my defense, it was the only vessel I had to do the lot. But wouldn’t recommend it.

To answer your question I just did lye dissolved in distilled. Then I add regular dominos sugar that you buy at any local grocery store. I’ve dissolved the sugar in distilled before as well. Doesn’t make much of a difference in my opinion.

 

[adam mizer]

Nice large lot of sterling foils.

 

[4metals]

In my defense, it was the only vessel I had to do the lot. But wouldn’t recommend it.

I did notice a 5 liter beaker in your photo's as well. That would be better, a watch glass to direct the red NOx towards the rear of your hood would also keep the NOx over the acid without the pressure build up. Down side is you don't get to play burping Erlenmeyer's!

Domino sugar works as well, as you know, and dissolving in Distilled Water is good. Just pouring in sugar is not as effective and requires more vigorous mixing.

 

[4metals]

You could also dissolve the foils in a 5 gallon pail. Then after filtering and rinsing them return them to a 5 gallon pail to convert them. This sheet works for larger lots too where refiners use plastic lined cement mixers. The sugar of choice for this spreadsheet is Karo, or any corn syrup.

This is the kind of tumbler for larger lots.

You could use a paint mixer that goes on a drill for mixing. As the chlorides are mixed in water the standard paint/spackle mixer from Home Depot works well.

 

[4metals]

Usually the process for converting silver chloride is used when refining Silver Chloride generated from aqua regia refining. I the case of aqua regia, you have no choice but to generate Silver Chloride so it has to be dealt with. With good rinsing, the sugar reduction method can produce 0.999 Silver and allow you to skip the cell entirely.

You also had the option of cementing the Silver nitrate with copper and processing it through a silver cell. Careful cementation will yield Silver of purity at or above 99%. Great for a cell. I remember years back Chris Owen (GSP) taught me it is crazy to go through the chloride process just to go into a cell. Why go from impure Silver to Silver Chloride and back to Silver metal before the cell. He was right, but he was right a lot!

 

[Alondro]

Just a note on another interesting discovery I found with silver-plated parts: using some of the SMB-HCl waste solution from dropping gold, and allowing the parts to sit in it for weeks in my greenhouse as the temps rose and fell led to the formation of pure silver crystals over time growing in frost-like formations off the slowly dissolving base metal. Since silver chloride and silver sulfate have a tiny bit of solubility which increases with temperature, the silver plating is gradually eaten away, then reduces back on the base metal core.

It's slow, but is also costs nothing, since you're just using waste solution.

 

[GuyGuyGuythe1st]

Nice large lot of sterling foils.

Just to give people an understanding. These foils were collected for 9-10 months. All “supposedly sterling”. I also got .10 grams of gold and palladium recovered in the process. Once the solution was filtered and then the filtering was processed. Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of the process.

 

[4metals]

Just a note on another interesting discovery I found with silver-plated parts: using some of the SMB-HCl waste solution from dropping gold, and allowing the parts to sit in it for weeks in my greenhouse as the temps rose and fell led to the formation of pure silver crystals over time growing in frost-like formations off the slowly dissolving base metal.

The parts that were in fact called foils were 2/3 by weight Silver. I doubt they would benefit from the same process you describe. Silver plating is not easy to make money processing so a use of waste is attractive.

I wonder if the faint fume of the waste acid reacting would chase the damn aphids out of my greenhouse?

 

[Darkthirty]

The parts that were in fact called foils were 2/3 by weight Silver. I doubt they would benefit from the same process you describe. Silver plating is not easy to make money processing so a use of waste is attractive.

I wonder if the faint fume of the waste acid reacting would chase the damn aphids out of my greenhouse?

I wonder if the faint fume of the waste acid reacting would chase the damn aphids out of my greenhouse?
Live ladybugs are about a penny each, aphidoletes aphidimyza are better, but expensive if you but them. Aphids are hell on tobacco!

Aphidoletes aphidimyza​

 

[4metals]

My greenhouse is attached to my house which means the ladybugs come in uninvited. I know because a few years back I bought a few thousand. They did eat aphids but they liked the house better.

Aphidoletes aphidimyza, I will try to get some.

 

[Alondro]

The parts that were in fact called foils were 2/3 by weight Silver. I doubt they would benefit from the same process you describe. Silver plating is not easy to make money processing so a use of waste is attractive.

I wonder if the faint fume of the waste acid reacting would chase the damn aphids out of my greenhouse?

The fumes would destroy your leaves. I only do reactions in the greenhouse when I have all the plants out for the hot months. Plants tend not to do well with acid vapor!

 

[Alondro]

I wonder if the faint fume of the waste acid reacting would chase the damn aphids out of my greenhouse?
Live ladybugs are about a penny each, aphidoletes aphidimyza are better, but expensive if you but them. Aphids are hell on tobacco!

Aphidoletes aphidimyza​

We have those naturally around us, as well as large numbers of hover flies whose larvae also eat aphids. AND we also have the tiny parasitis trichid wasps that lay eggs in the aphids.

So, while we initially get a burst of aphids in spring, they are rapidly depleted by the predators and parasites.

The biggest problem we have now are introduced scale insects that are carried around by the highly invasive and hyper-prolific Argentine ants... which have colonies of BILLIONS of ants with THOUSANDS of queens.

 

[Darkthirty]

We have those naturally around us, as well as large numbers of hover flies whose larvae also eat aphids. AND we also have the tiny parasitis trichid wasps that lay eggs in the aphids.

So, while we initially get a burst of aphids in spring, they are rapidly depleted by the predators and parasites.

The biggest problem we have now are introduced scale insects that are carried around by the highly invasive and hyper-prolific Argentine ants... which have colonies of BILLIONS of ants with THOUSANDS of queens.

I learned about them growing tobacco. I moved them to other plants when topping flowers, they're voracious!

 

[ModernAlchemy]

The parts that were in fact called foils were 2/3 by weight Silver. I doubt they would benefit from the same process you describe. Silver plating is not easy to make money processing so a use of waste is attractive.

I wonder if the faint fume of the waste acid reacting would chase the damn aphids out of my greenhouse?

I got rid of my aphid infestation in my garden and greenhouse with this. I could not believe it. I have tried everything, I thought and then ran across a farmer on YouTube and he was using this. I have ZERO aphids after about a week.

 

[Darkthirty]

I got rid of my aphid infestation in my garden and greenhouse with this. I could not believe it. I have tried everything, I thought and then ran across a farmer on YouTube and he was using this. I have ZERO aphids after about a week.

I can probably buy all the chemical coated products cheaper and easier than growing them.