Is it worth a hobby refiner to refine karat scrap

[TBoom27]

This is probably a question for the hobby refiners, but I would like the input of the pros as well. Is it worth refining karat scrap for a hobby refiner, outside of the skill to do it? For reference, Hoke is my bible and this forum is where I improved all the processes I use so far. I have a fume hood and am very comfortable and respectful of the chemicals and processes.

I frequently get karat scrap from the usual places and occasionally get a lot at a very good discount. Not going to say where or how as I expect the party will not last long before others find it and it goes away. I do find a lot of Gold Filled and E-Scrap that I know makes a decent profit, currently on my 20th ozt, with a pile of chips to go. That said, outside of the learning and otherwise fun of refining Karat scrap, is it worth it? Assuming I have a buyer that is trusted and always within a few percentage points of my calculated value.

I want to refine the karate scrap but it seems like I am giving away money to do so. To provide context, I am really comfortable with Gold Filled and E-Scrap and make a good profit on my "hobby" I just can't see how I add value Karat gold. I get the Ag and PGMs that are there, but are they worth the cost of chemicals? I am sitting on a lot of it and just trying to justify why I would refine it, or just sell it.

Thoughts, is it worth refining? Is it worth the non AU values vs. the chemicals and time to recover those values, or is it better to skip the refining effort and sell it as is?

This is a struggle for me as I love the feel of refined 999 gold, but I hate giving away money.

 

[Yggdrasil]

This is probably a question for the hobby refiners, but I would like the input of the pros as well. Is it worth refining karat scrap for a hobby refiner, outside of the skill to do it? For reference, Hoke is my bible and this forum is where I improved all the processes I use so far. I have a fume hood and am very comfortable and respectful of the chemicals and processes.

I frequently get karat scrap from the usual places and occasionally get a lot at a very good discount. Not going to say where or how as I expect the party will not last long before others find it and it goes away. I do find a lot of Gold Filled and E-Scrap that I know makes a decent profit, currently on my 20th ozt, with a pile of chips to go. That said, outside of the learning and otherwise fun of refining Karat scrap, is it worth it? Assuming I have a buyer that is trusted and always within a few percentage points of my calculated value.

I want to refine the karate scrap but it seems like I am giving away money to do so. To provide context, I am really comfortable with Gold Filled and E-Scrap and make a good profit on my "hobby" I just can't see how I add value Karat gold. I get the Ag and PGMs that are there, but are they worth the cost of chemicals? I am sitting on a lot of it and just trying to justify why I would refine it, or just sell it.

Thoughts, is it worth refining? Is it worth the non AU values vs. the chemicals and time to recover those values, or is it better to skip the refining effort and sell it as is?

This is a struggle for me as I love the feel of refined 999 gold, but I hate giving away money.

That depends solely on you and your contacts.
What is the price if your scrap, what is your chemical costs, how do you price your time and so on.
Can you sell karat higher than bought, can you sell fine Gold at premium prices and so on.

There is little if any PGMs in karat scrap. But Silver may be there in quantity so the Silver price have to be considered as well.

 

[TBoom27]

That depends solely on you and your contacts.
What is the price if your scrap, what is your chemical costs, how do you price your time and so on.
Can you sell karat higher than bought, can you sell fine Gold at premium prices and so on.

There is little if any PGMs in karat scrap. But Silver may be there in quantity so the Silver price have to be considered as well.

Good questions. I only buy scrap directly and 60 -70% of spot (I will not say where as I don't deal with the pubic and want that train to run as long as it can.) I generally can sell at 99% of spot price for refined and karat scrap, no premium as that is not my thing. The 1-2% is what I am wondering about. Does the silver and minimal PGMs in karat scrap account for enough value to generally make it worth refining. I recover a reasonable amount of silver from my gold filled stock and am ok with doing it, if it is worth the cost to get it. I buy chemicals a retail (Duda Deisel) (In a year I have used 20L of Nitric, mostly for Gold Filled, to do today it would be less as I have become efficient over time. My question really for those who have tried. From experience, does the silver and the small amounts of PGMs make that chemicals worth it? Or, from as money viewpoint, is it best just to package it up and sell Karat as is?

 

[TBoom27]

Also, for now this is hobby, I do not price my time as I find relaxation in the process, which makes my real job more tolerable.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Good questions. I only buy scrap directly and 60 -70% of spot (I will not say where as I don't deal with the pubic and want that train to run as long as it can.) I generally can sell at 99% of spot price for refined and karat scrap, no premium as that is not my thing. The 1-2% is what I am wondering about. Does the silver and minimal PGMs in karat scrap account for enough value to generally make it worth refining. I recover a reasonable amount of silver from my gold filled stock and am ok with doing it, if it is worth the cost to get it. I buy chemicals a retail (Duda Deisel) (In a year I have used 20L of Nitric, mostly for Gold Filled, to do today it would be less as I have become efficient over time. My question really for those who have tried. From experience, does the silver and the small amounts of PGMs make that chemicals worth it? Or, from as money viewpoint, is it best just to package it up and sell Karat as is?

As I said, no one besides you can answer that.
On the other hand, you are already refining karat as the Gold filled is karat in a thin layer.
The Silver you recover from Gold filled will for the most part answer your question. Karat will be easier as there is no base metal to deal with.

PGMs can be discounted as there is not any present unless you refine dental or vintage Gold.
Of course if there are a lot of white Gold there might be some Palladium from time to time.

 

[nickvc]

If you can get a good price for your karat scrap as you suggest then why bother refining it as your margin is already very good and no you will not cover the costs of refining .
If you wish to stack some gold for the future then sell enough to cover your buying cost and put the rest away that way you will have your nest egg readily available should you ever need it .

 

[nickvc]

As an aside if you want to keep some PGMs then keep the high karat white gold pieces as many European alloys have 10-15% Pd content , not sure the US alloys do but perhaps you can research that.
Hope that helps with your decision.

 

[Proffshuggarn]

I generally can sell at 99% of spot price for refined and karat scrap, no premium as that is not my thing.

So why not🙂?
A bit of a rhetorical question in my eyes, but maybe I'm misinterpreting as English is not my mother tongue..

I'm at hobby level. The chemicals are what costs a bit for me, but it's important to find a seller as close to the manufacturer as possible so today it doesn't cost that much. And the time it takes to labor is pure recreation.
I have never paid for e-scrap. In the past I used to visit the municipal recycling center and there the rule is that you cannot take anything that has already been left by someone, but if you see someone about to throw away some old electronics or something else exciting and ask them kindly if you can instead that electronics, this is very efficient and that's how I've collected my e-scrap over the years 😏.

And where I live, there are plenty of so-called "flea markets", where you can often find (apparently) unmarked, usually very old jewelry, which still has stamps, although well hidden or none at all, but which after a little practice I have learned to recognize again with the help of a magnet, magnifying glass and sometimes sheer luck. These "toy jewelry" are often sold in bags of several pieces for between $0.5-$1/bag.
And getting stamps (one time purchase) and agreements for random quality checks of what I then sold only costs an affordable annual fee🙂. That’s my way..
/Dennis

 

[Shark]

I get a 4% increase from karat scrap and my refined gold. So if I sell it, I refine it. I may hold it a while, depending of what it is and how nice t is, and try to sell it as jewelry at a little more than the gold value. Then again if what you get paid isn’t a big factor, save yourself some labor.