mixed metal fractions

[gaurav_347]

Can someone please tell me as to how would you separate these mixed metal fractions from pcb? They do not contain any plactics as they are removed.I am Looking for a method where i can process upto 2 tons per day of these mixed metal fractions. Thank you

 

[4metals]

You are a new member here and we assume you have read and understood the forum rules. We do not allow double posting.

Please do not double post! Are you selling this material or asking for help refining it. Your post in "Sell or Trade" has been deleted.

This post comes dangerously close to breaking another rule which is do your research before asking questions, we will answer specific questions about different methods for processing this material and I am sure an interesting conversation could come out of this but give us more details on this material, how it has been processed to this point and what if any processes you have considered.

Welcome to the forum, if you play by the rules you can learn a lot here.

 

[gaurav_347]

Firstly i am sorry for double posting. There is a reason as to why i posted it in sell and trade as well, since I am looking for Refiners who are ready to buy such metals and secondly i wanted to learn as to what can be done after the pcbs are processed so that i could carry out the activities myself.

I own a recycling business based in Central India .We have the capacity to process 3 tons of pcbs per day. We have the technology available to separate the epoxy and metals from pcbs with no metal loss. We have a consistent supply of raw material such as motherboards and other pcbs. We are currently exporting to Japan.

I want to know as to what should be my next step? I know that refineries are quite expensive to setup but what other methods or technologies are available where i can refine these metals in my unit in a small scale and for much affordable way. If anyone can guide me it would be much appreciated.

 

[4metals]

A few questions,

The material you sent a picture of, is that what it looks like when you ship it out?

Do you melt the material to make it homogeneous or do you ship it as a mixed metal fraction and let the refiner melt it?

Do you have any capability to melt this material in house?

Were the analytical results you posted the result of the refiner you currently use?

There are some components of the material, iron, lead, tin, and zinc that would prevent you from straight copper electrolytic cell refining. If it were my material, I would be getting prices quoted for rates from refiners of copper based bullion. Find out their minimum percentage of copper. If the number is close to 60% minimum you can melt in house to add copper and make it acceptable for a large copper smelter. They will receive in the material and melt it and assay it and add copper to make it high enough (>96%) to run in their electrolytic process.

The key for you is melting and sampling the material before you ship it, this way you know what the payable metals are and the rates before you ship. There are some good sized gas furnaces available for reasonable prices that can melt 10,000 ounces of this material in a single melt. At that rate you will do about 3melts to sample a ton.

The techniques used to clean up the copper to a percentage where electrolytic processing is feasible are not cost effective for the quantity you are producing.

 

[gaurav_347]

yes, it looks exactly the same when we ship it out.

no we do not melt it .it is shipped as it is.

we cannot melt this material at the moment

yes, the lab analysis was done by the refiner.

we do our testing before we ship it out to get an idea as to what the prices should be. there are a few labs who do fire assay and our results and the refiner's results do not vary much

thanking you for all the tips and help but what quantity will be accepted for the feasibility of copper electrolytic refining ?

 

[4metals]

Classic electrolytic recovery is best with the copper up in the 98% range. Obviously the more processing needed to get to that purity the greater the cost. Have you looked into Aurubis http://www.aurubis.com

They have capabilities to separate the copper and PM's from the less valuable metals.

There must be some variation in assay on your material as the feed changes, have you experienced any variation? How do you sample your material?