Hammer/ball mill and shaker table question about end purity.

[akfweoiurfa]

I have been researching the potential for refining scrap with a hammer mill/shaker table setup like mount baker mining and metals make.

It seems to me that if I had a good business plan and could find a grant/loan of about $50k-$60k USD I could have all the machinery setup and enough money to buy 2-20 tons of material to run through. I currently believe I would pay that loan back quickly.

I would like to have land and a truck before I seek that money from elsewhere, so currently I am getting that going and preparing a business plan.

If I focuses just on copper I could buy bulk electric motors, transformers and such, but with electronics PCB boards it seems from what I have researched the material coming out of the shaker table is copper/gold mixed.

I don't want to refine with any chemicals, I just want to have a business model where I shred/process/lift/move the weight, dispose/sell of tailings/fibre glass waste properly and avoid dealing with chemicals.

If you have enough of this copper/aluminium/brass/gold mix are there buyers paying decent prices for this out there? That would be selling to a refinery correct?

Would I be looking at selling to a major refinery or a smaller operation? Both? I have never had enough metals that big scrap players want to deal with me, and I want to get to the point they will.

How much powder would I need before they would talk to me? Probably something like 1 ton or so yes? So 500lbs copper per 2,200 lbs computer scrap and 3-11 oz gold with other trace minerals would mean after processing 3-5 metric tons of PCB boards/ram/etc would yield 1 ton of powder. 200-400lbs an hour means I should be able to run at least 1 ton a week no problem.

Anyone doing a business where they sell this semi refined powder off a shaker table?

I have been poking around this forum all day and will continue doing so. Lots of great info here. Seems like a lot of info about chemical refining, but I would like to avoid the cost/disposal of this and try and process to a marketable product through mechanical separation.

Thanks,

 

[akfweoiurfa]

Found this video showing a further refining process of the crushed material off the shaker table.

That would be the material I want to sell.

would love to here from people with more experience in the field than I have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycgb5I7QMhU

 

[kurtak]

I can help you get pointed in the right direction as I used to handle a fair amount of e-waste (2 - 5 tons per month - which is actually not a lot but a fair amount)

However - I see you have not logged onto the forum since November 2 - so I am not sure if you have left the forum or just not had time to check back in --- so at this time I am not going to write a long post to answer your questions

So if you happen to check back in & see this - let me know (reply to this post) & I will do may best to try to help you out

Keep in mind that I am a busy man so may not get right back to you (it could take up to a week to reply) so you will have to check back until you see a reply from me

Bottom line --- I provide my help for free which I am more then glad to do - but that free help takes time - which I have a limited amount of - so sometimes you just have to wait for the answers to your questions

This holds true with most if not all our members - we don't sit here in front of our computers waiting for someone to ask a question so that we can answer all those questions for free as soon as those questions are asked

So that said - if you come back & see this - I will do my best to help you - you just may have to wait for the help

Kurt

 

[geedigity]

Since the OP is in the US, one item that has the potential to add unexpected time and money from a regulatory perspective is the plan to shred the PCBs and other electronic e-scrap. Although EPA does exclude this material from the definition of solid waste, some states in the US do treat this material as a regulated material. If the OP was not aware of this, it may be something worth exploring at this stage of the opportunity they are pursuing.

 

[akfweoiurfa]

It has been a bit since I was on. I was injured and blew my ACL out at work and was on workers comp for awhile, then moved and started a new job. Now in process of getting land and then further infrastructure for this plan. 2-5 tons of ewaste a month would be amount I would love to ramp up to.

I am in interior Alaska and it gets quite dark with little sun all winter then 23 hours of sun in summer and currently I plan to spend winters collecting and stripping things like casing etc then spend the summer running machines using solar to best take advantage of that.

I appreciate your response. I just haven't been on since my business plans have been shelved until now.
Currently I'm aiming for land/building and truck off my income then machines, heavy equipment etc with business partners, grants, loans.

Do you have a hammer mill setup?

I will be around more often now and I understand being busy and I hope it is a good busy.

I am currently most interested in that to also process steel/brass mix, copper wire, alternators etc.

 

[akfweoiurfa]

I am in Interior Alaska and as I get ramped up will for sure look into all this before buying anything, loans, grants, business partners etc.

Before getting business plan finalized and ready to seek funding I would like to connect with a mining accountant and also make sure I have all my waste processing planned as well as safety of people's health running machines.

The land I am going to do this on has no permitting, no zoning, and no property tax as well as no local government (state only).

 

[kurtak]

I don't have time right now to reply - however I will get back to this - it make take a while so you will have to check back for when I do post

Kurt

 

[nickvc]

Kurt and I have a mutual friend, an ex member of the forum, who is going down this route and I know how much money he has spent and you are going to need to spend at least 10 times the figure you are thinking now.
The key to success is separating the different materials especially the metals and in volume, get that right and you have a real money maker but and it’s a big but it’s very very expensive to set up but as I said get it right and you have a fantastic business .

 

[alexxx]

1 - get copper bearring scrap from scrap yards by the full load, in gaylords or big bags. Fair amount of Cu, good yields on Ag and traces of other PMs. The electrical contacts / industrial boards are good source feed. This material is available everywhere for cheap.

2 - get a broker that will give you fast payouts on Cu fines + PMs, even if you leave 10% on the table, your goal is volume, fast turn over. The big refineries will pay you 120-180 days. You need your infrastrucure to run 20 hours a day + preventive maintenance and cleaning in the best scenario. You need to feed and feed and feed these machines.

3 - send your tailings with low Cu and low PM content to the big boys, this is extra money that will show up for free someday. Forget about the fiber glass, flip to the big boys, trash... If less than 2% Cu on tailings, sell to a local chinaman for peanuts fast or just trash that stuff.. fast turnover, no time / no place to deal with garbagio... Get more good stuff and forget the low grade no profit tailings.

4 - keep an eye on the tailings for aluminum, it could represent 7 to 10% of your bottom line if properly prepared. easy to melt or even sell as is fast. Depending on your feed source, Stainless and Nickel might be a money maker too...

5 - Assay your stuff like a degenerate. Know what you produce and what you ship. Just assay the hell outa everything all the time.

This is fun stuff...