Good morning, I needing help from you pro's today. Here my problem, I started to pour a silver ingot to form an anode for my silver. When I poured it was probably 50% bs the remainder was a alloy of of silver and copper. I then melted some more to pour a shot and it poured into my bucket it eruped with some brown crumbly stuff, there was also shot produced durning this pour. My question is I have around 20# of his cement, should I send through acid bath again and start over cementing it out, go ahead and recover it as shoot and try to run it through my cell. This is the first time this has happen and I believe I didn't get all the nitric acid used up and my copper was cemented was also cemented. Thanks and looking forward to any suggestions.
Contaminated Silver Cement
- Thread starter rock1959
- Start date
Help Support Gold Refining Forum:
This statement is unclear. Did you start with cement silver to do the melt or sterling silver? What does 50% bs mean? Did you flux the melt and stir it before you poured or did you melt without any flux? From what you said, half the pour was silver, or some alloy, and the second half was a different alloy? Please clarify what you started with and you will get a better response.
Welcome to us.
50% is not suited as anode, you should not run anything less than Sterling.
You definitely need to study some more.
And here are something for that.
Learning to search the forum will also make your life easier.
We ask our new members to do 3 things.
1. Read C.M. Hokes book on refining jewelers scrap, it gives an easy introduction to the most important chemistry regarding refining.
It is free here on the forum: https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=19798
2. Then read the safety section of the forum: https://goldrefiningforum.com/forums/safety.47/
3. And then read about "Dealing with waste" in the forum: https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/dealing-with-waste.10539/
Suggested reading:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/forums/the-library.101/
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/when-in-doubt-cement-it-out.30236/
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...le-read-this-before-you-post-about-ore.33333/
Forum rules is here.
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/gold-refining-forum-rules.31182/
Sorry from the confusion, I started with cemented silver, after I poured the first crucible I had about 50% metal and 50% bull sh?t. No sir I just melted it then poured it. I normally use a oxygen acetylene touch but wanted to try a new table top furness.
There are no bs in cement Silver only Silver and a minute amount of Copper and other PMs
So did you add the non Silver stuff?
Thanks for he reply, like I said this is the first time this has happen to me as I been doing this for about 10 years . This is the first time I used a furness instead of a torch. I had to be admitted into the hospital there day after I added the copper into the silver nitrate to be cemented, spent 10 days in the hospital. When I started to clean and wash my cement I notice most of the copper was in solution also. I have a hard copy of Hokes book and have read it several time, I have yet to find where it mentions this problem I have. Just looking for a suggest to correct my current situation . Many Thanks
Copper in solution is fine, but too much Copper in the anode is not good, so maybe you should restart, dissolve again and cement it out again.
I think the problem resorts back to your cementation technique. and your contamination comes from whatever you dissolved to cement out before melting. When dissolving any silver containing scrap, you should add the material until the reaction dies and there is no more nitric to dissolve any additional metal. If there are solids that remain undissolved in the tank, it needs to be filtered first. I suspect you had insolubles and did not remove them by filtration before you started cementing the Silver. This would account for the equivalent of a slag layer mixed in with the cement Silver.
If you have very dirty Silver and it is already in the furnace melting you should add a flux to help separate the molten metal from the oxides. Then de-slag the bar and re-melt. If the metal bar is less than 90% Silver your Silver cell will not be as efficient.
Were you cementing on to copper slabs or using copper powder? Properly cemented the Silver should be in the high 90's purity.
If you have very dirty Silver and it is already in the furnace melting you should add a flux to help separate the molten metal from the oxides. Then de-slag the bar and re-melt. If the metal bar is less than 90% Silver your Silver cell will not be as efficient.
Were you cementing on to copper slabs or using copper powder? Properly cemented the Silver should be in the high 90's purity.
I don't believe so, I check all my sterling that I buy or collect the best I know how. I bought some silver ingots off of eBay that work just fine like it suppose to. I may have missed something but after 10 years of doing this I try to be very vigilant on how I refine. The BS I'm speaking of completely separates from the silver when I pour it into the water . The brown bs will crumble to a powder in my hands .. Thanks for your replay
Many Thanks, that's the answer I was looking for. Many Thanks
After sitting for 10 days, you might have created some solid copper oxide which contaminated the crystals.
