What, if anything, is a 'reasonable' offer on this?

[MMFJ]

From one of my flyers, I just spoke with a guy that had some old military scrap pieces containing gold, silver and copper.

Now, if he would have brought it to me FIRST, I would know just what to do, but, unfortunately, he and his buddies decided to MELT it all together, using a kiln.....

I have not seen the mess, but he told me at one point he took it to someone that tested it and it was "less than 10K" (not surprising). In a way, he already did some inquarting, though without any ratios, is all we have a worthless blob?

He's bringing me some sterling (tea sets, flatware and such) and old jewelry that he wants to sell as well, and he also wants to sell me the 'bars' of the mix he made.

I told him my price on the sterling and that I'd ask on the forum about the bricks, but my idea on it is that the most I could likely offer is $3/lb on the bricks as that would be my 'safe' method, should it be mostly copper.

My question is two-fold;
- Can a refiner (knowing that I do not deal with the chemicals) take these blocks and do anything with them or is it too much work (reading on the forum, I have seen it said time and again that it is bad to do what he did, but haven't found much definitive on 'possible' or what it would really take)
- What is a reasonable price to offer the guy - presuming the blocks do contain gold and silver as well as copper, yet test out as less than 10K??

(of course, I'll get pictures once I see them, but not sure when he's bringing them by and wanted to get an idea first - I think this is something that many would like to know about as I'm sure there are many people that melt first and ask questions later - I know I was nearly one of them before I found this forum!)

 

[Harold_V]

My opinion?

Unless you intend to process by melting and pouring shot, then digesting with nitric, don't get involved. Melting such material isn't wise unless it can be parted by a copper cell. I'm assuming that no lead and tin are included. If they are, I'd steer clear in any case. I'm basing my opinion on the idea that these pieces were plated, not solid materials, and could have been stripped by some means. Once melted, that can no longer happen.

Harold

 

[acpeacemaker]

I think I read that right, but could be wrong. Why would you invest in a mess that you wouldn't be refining? That makes it that much harder for you to get rid of onto someone else. If you were doing the recovering/refining, I would work with a percentage of the outcome not money upfront.

 

[patnor1011]

Only assay will tell. There may be so much of metals involved that not even % will make you profit as you may spend a lot on acids.

 

[MMFJ]

Guess it is a lot like my Mom used to tell me - "Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it has been!" :wink:

Such a shame....

I'll try to at least get a picture.

Thanks for all the input!