silver reclaimers

[Anonymous]

I have come across a silver reclaimer from an old processing unit for medical film. There is what I believe to be silver in the canister and clear fluid, perhaps water or so. Does anyone know the best way to claim the silver in the canister? Can I just remove the silver and heat it up and melt it into little nuggets?
What is the best torch to use for heating the silver and getting the best purity? Would like a little help on this subject, I think there is about 10-15 ounces of pure silver in the canister. Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Your canister when fresh was full of steel wool as the silver ions interacted with the wool the silver precipitated as a black mud.

Because refiners charge by the lb for processing, I opened the can and evaporated the liquid then shipped the lot off to Imperial in Ontario.

Something you should consider should you decide to send the canister for processing. Many of the canisters are privately owned and are routinely maintained by the owners.

Hopefully a forum member more knowledgeable than I can give you the proper advice to reclaim your silver.

 

[Absolutsecurity]

Need to know more about what you have! How about posting some pictures - its really nice when pictures are posted - new guys get to learn visually and people that can help answer your questions dont have to guess as much if they can see also! MAKES SENSE HUH!!

Glynn

 

[Anonymous]

I will try to get a photo this weekend. Thanks for the replies, I'm nee to this and want to have a little hobby with the silver.
What is the best torch to get and where to get it, if anyone has any ideas.

I have been searching on the posts and there is talk about oxy/butane but the Mapp/Oxy bernzomatic is costly to purchase the oxygen tanks at $8.00 a piece and only last a half hour or so, what is the best long term solution for torches. Thanks

 

[Absolutsecurity]

I think I just stumbled into the same deal with film waste water filter containers as you have - I found location that is willing to give me there filters for free - I will post more as it developes!

Glynn

 

[goldsilverpro]

Steel wool cannisters are usually used to remove final traces of silver from waste fixer solutions, after the bulk of the silver has been removed electrolytically.

The steel wool cannisters are not easy to melt, even with a crucible furnace. I think you will have zero success with a torch.

More than likely, much of the steel wool remains unreacted and the steel wool mass is partially intact. This results in very difficult melting and a low silver content.

The best scenario is when all of the steel wool is gone and only a black sludge remains. The black sludge contains silver and is always very high in sulfur, from the breakdown of the hypo. The sulfur must be eliminated. This is usually done in a crucible furnace by the use of rebar. The rebar is cut in about 2 or 3 foot lengths and is allowed to soak, with some stirring, in the melt. The iron from the rebar combines with the sulfur to form an iron sulfide, which slags out and separates from the silver metal, when poured into an oiled or carbon coated cast iron cone mold. The pieces of rebar must be long enough so they protrude well out of the crucible and the furnace vent hole and then they are totally removed, by hand, when the reaction is complete. Borax and soda ash are used for a flux. The slag will generally be thick and will retain many silver BBs.

I don't consider this a process for the amateur. It is quite difficult to get all the silver. Also, there are a lot of potentially dangerous sulfur fumes emitted. You must be set up to do this and, from my experience (I have run, literally, tons of this stuff), a well ventilated gas crucible furnace is a must.

 

[Harold_V]

Nice post, GSP.

I used the same method for eliminating sulfides when I ran my waste materials. Even used lengths of rebar, as suggested. One big difference is my slag was far more fluid, so I didn't end up with any prills. That's the beauty of using fluorspar in the flux. Tough on crucibles, though, but then so is soda ash.

It's very satisfying to pour the heat in a cone mold, where you get perfect stratification. Top layer is slag, middle section is iron sulfide and the values are at the bottom. I single hit with a hammer and the values are free of contamination, ready to be parted after re-melting to make corn flakes (shot).

Harold

 

[Anonymous]

I think I just stumbled into the same deal with film waste water filter containers as you have - I found location that is willing to give me there filters for free - I will post more as it developes!

Glynn

Glynn some pictures would help the rest of us visually.

IT MAKES SENSE HUH!!

Glynn

S

 

[Absolutsecurity]

SMARTASS!

If you read my post I stumbled on to them - I dont have them in my possesion yet and when I do I will post pictures AS I ALWAYS DO with my processes and other posts - view my other posts and stop being a smartass - I am not going to help you now - THATS FOR SURE!

Glynn

 

[goldsilverpro]

Chill! Life's too short!

 

[Absolutsecurity]

Chris,

I am and was chilled out - the guys a SMARTASS so whatever! I won't help him he burned that bridge allready.

My previous post asking him to post pics was in everyones best interest and that's how it was intended - his post responding to my statement that I was blessed with several similar photographic solution filter was just letting him know I'm in the same boat as him and that I would assist after I got mine - like I allways do on this forum with plenty of pictures and questions and answers to help my project and assist others with similar problems or processes RIGHT!
So I don't help Smartasses and I'm pretty sure you don't either. If you do your a better man than me! LoL!

G

 

[aflacglobal]

It's in the water. :lol:

 

[Absolutsecurity]

Smoking!
:lol:

Glynn

 

[Absolutsecurity]

Qoute from his PM to me a few minutes back - very paranoid fellow - HMMMMM!

"Glynn help from you is the last thing I would expect, you have been rude to me from the beginning.

Regards
Gill"

Smoking!
:lol:

Glynn

 

[Absolutsecurity]

gustavus

WOW! you are a real trip - I just figured out that you werent even the person that should have been commenting. This post bs wasnt even related to you - you just jumped into someone elses posts and started poking for no reason - your a trip bro!

I was asking the original poster for pics in my first response and then hours and hours later after returning from a meeting with a School district I was blessed with reclamation filters from their film studio when they need changing and I thought that was such a trip I posted another post saying I would post more as it developes.

You combine two different posts qoutes and trip out with a PM on the sly too! TRIPPER YOU ARE!

LATERs

Chill Glynn CHILL!!! :wink:

LOL!

G

 

[Harold_V]

Patience, folks, and keep a good thought about our fellow readers. There's a lot to explore and learn, and each of us contributes something in our own way.

Please do not let misunderstandings spoil what has been, thus far, a very good forum for everyone.

A suggestion for everyone:

When you post comments, it is always a good idea to direct them to the proper individual, so misunderstandings like these do not occur. It helps to quote part of their comments, so your response makes sense, or at least make mention of any given question, so others understand why you are posting the information you are.

All of us are guilty of assuming the other guy understands our intended message, but try to remember that many read those comments, and often they are not well directed. It's easy for the wrong person to take offense when it doesn't concern them. It's human nature to strike out when we think we've been offended, I think you'd all agree.

To quote a famous (or is that infamous) man, "Can't we just get along?"

Harold

 

[Anonymous]

I am the guy with the first post looking for some help on the reclaimer, thanks to all for your advice, I am an amateur, and don't plan on any rebar and all that, but I did experiment with the silver and it seems to be pretty pure.

I tried this outside with a benzomatic mapp/oxy torch and here are some of the results. I have a small crucible and a melting cup. Let me know what you think of the results. I can see the silver buttons forming with the torch in the crucible and I even experimented with a cold water 12 inch pot to pour some of the melt in to try to make shot. I will post some of the results.

I am using borax as a flux and I am getting some black residue on the silver. So I am guessing it is the impurities from the sulfur and the steel wool exchange that is remaing in the mix.. All and All I am not disappointed with the results, but after all this is a hobby and not a profession.
I am trying to send pictures but I don't know how to change the size of the file to send, the attachment allows me to send 800 x 600 and my image is 2304 x 1700 Here is the best image I have, I will try to post more, thanks

Any other suggestions you may have is always welcome, thanks
Adam

 

[Harold_V]

I am the guy with the first post looking for some help on the reclaimer, thanks to all for your advice, I am an amateur, and don't plan on any rebar and all that, but I did experiment with the silver and it seems to be pretty pure.

The recommendation to use rebar, or other scrap steel, is not for purity, but for full recovery. The material you have contains considerable sulfur, which will have formed a compound with some of the silver. When you melt it, it does not reduce to silver unless you give it cause. The addition of scrap steel (iron) is that cause, unless there is a considerable amount of steel wool left in the canister from which the sludge was recovered. The added steel liberates the silver from the sulfide compound, which then forms a bond with the dissolved iron. All of the silver should be collected by this method. If you are content to leave some of your silver behind, it is not a necessary step.

You likely understand that this operation should be carried out in a furnace, using a crucible. The heat should be held for a time, while the conversion takes place. You can tell when it has concluded in that the dissolution of your rebar stops.

The black material that is included on your silver is likely of value. Should you run the material in a furnace, as suggested, the conversion will liberate all of the values from the black material, yielding relatively clean silver and a sulfide layer that is barren of silver. Poured in a cone mold, the flux will be the top layer, with an iron sulfide layer beneath that, and the values on the bottom. Using a cone mold makes it dead easy to separate the sulfide and flux from the resulting silver button. Not so easy otherwise.

You asked about posting large pics. They are not permitted because they spread text on the screen, causing readers to scan side to side to read posts. All posts in a given thread are effected, so a maximum size of 800 pixels in width is permitted. 750 is more desirable. Remember, many of the readers do not have high speed connections, myself included. Try to keep file size moderate. Excellent pictures in the 60 kb range and below can be posted and will serve their purpose adequately.

If you do not have means to manipulate your pics, here's a link to a very good photo program, and it's a free download.

http://www.irfanview.com/

Harold

 

[Anonymous]

From Harold: The addition of scrap steel (iron) is that cause, unless there is a considerable amount of steel wool left in the canister from which the sludge was recovered. The added steel liberates the silver from the sulfide compound, which then forms a bond with the dissolved iron.

There is a signif screen left in place which I can see, I will send photos of the bucket I dried the powder in and you can see the rust in the silver. I realize I need a furnace and was planning on buying a little one from one of the sites recommended on this forum.Small investment for the fun. Any recommendations on the Type of cone mold to get and crucible? Is there a link to look at? Thanks again, do I need to add borax to the furnace or is the iron enough?

I will use the infranview going forward, I think I figured out my camera, hope the photos were good enough, let me know

I will search through the tutorials and see if there is one on the issues unless you can kindly lead me to them on the site, Thanks Harold on all your sage advice.. Adam

 

[Harold_V]

There is a signif screen left in place which I can see, I will send photos of the bucket I dried the powder in and you can see the rust in the silver.

It's possible that any remaining wool and other iron has oxidized. I don't believe it will serve to reduce the material, but I could be wrong. It's easy enough to add a piece of waste material while you have it all molten, for it does no harm. Any excess is found in the sulfide layer, it will not combine with the silver.

Any recommendations on the Type of cone mold to get and crucible?

These objects should be sized to the furnace you choose to buy. You will need a cone mold that is capable of holding the contents of the crucible you decide on-----or several small ones. Assaying suppliers sell a nice small cone mold, which is used in assaying. I had one of those, one with two cavities, and it served me very well for small lots. I made a pattern and had a larger one cast for use with my crucible furnace, which was sized appropriately for a #8 crucible. That's a lot of silver, easily a 200 ounce lot can be melted and poured. The benefit of larger and larger crucibles is the extended life you can expect. Fluxing is very hard on crucible life---often liming one to only a half dozen heats or so. Small crucibles are much thinner than the larger ones, so you'll have to give all these things some consideration. If you feel you might like to pursue this venture into the future, I am of the opinion you would be well served by a furnace that would accept a #8 crucible, and a #6 isn't unreasonable. I don't think I'd recommend one much smaller, for it takes too long to melt quantities. Once the newness of running a furnace wears off, it's nothing but a job you have to do. The fun tends to go out of it quite quickly

Is there a link to look at?

Not sure what you wanted to see. Can you please clarify?

do I need to add borax to the furnace or is the iron enough?

Borax is very much a part of the process. You might find you can roast the lot with the iron submerged, then add borax towards the end, to limit the time it has to destroy your crucible, but not using any would not be in your best interest. It is, more or less, the soap that cleans the molten material, for lack of better definition. Depending on what you're melting, you might even want to include soda ash, or even fluorspar, both of which are all the more hard on the crucible, but serve a good purpose, when needed.

hope the photos were good enough, let me know

If you mean the ones you already posted, yes, they are fine.

I will search through the tutorials and see if there is one on the issues unless you can kindly lead me to them on the site, Thanks Harold on all your sage advice.. Adam

Silver hasn't received nearly the attention it deserves (on the forum), but folks that refine E scrap don't encounter it the way those of us that refined for the jewelry trade do. Considering the recent price rise, that may change. It should attract more attention. It's a lot of fun to refine, although I preferred gold, platinum and palladium.

Harold

edit: corrected typo