What type of scrap is not worth processing

[NobleMetalWorks]

I have seen a lot of posts on what type of scrap has the highest yields. I thought it would be interesting to start a thread on the types of scrap that are not good to process because of either low yield or difficulty recovering the PMs.

So...

I'll start it off with a few things I personally stay away from.

Hard drive platters, worth between .01 - .05 each. You would spend more money processing than you recover.

Fiber CPUs, although there seems to be many people who like running this type of material, I stay away from them because I feel that the labor involved would be better spent on things with better yields. And the way the pins are removed, I feel causes gases that are full of PCBs

This should have read poisons, not PCBs. PCBs have not been in use in the US since the 1970s.

(if you are taking the pins of via a torch) not to mention the cost in fuel/gas.


I welcome any comments or discussion on the two I posted, but I am more interested in seeing what other people think are not worth processing, and the reasons for them not being desirable.

Scott

 

[goldsilverpro]

In my opinion, if you can't figure out a way to make a profit on it, it's not worth processing. There are many variables involved in this, including your labor. Before making a decision, you must know your values and you must know all of your options. It's all in the numbers.

 

[philddreamer]

In my opinion, if you can't figure out a way to make a profit on it, it's not worth processing. There are many variables involved in this, including your labor. Before making a decision, you must know your values and you must know all of your options. It's all in the numbers.

I agree with your opinion, Chris! There's a lot of material that I won't process for that reason.
In my case, for example, I don't process black chips nor flatpacks, (at this point in time), because I'm not set up properly for processing them. The smoke created when pyrolizing would get me in seriuos trouble. On the other hand, I process fiber cpu's. I just place then in used AP, and let them sit for many days; I'm mainly processing pins, fingers and ceramic cpu's, so the fiber cpu's are in the "back burner" for when I don't have much to process. They're like a bonus; the caps have copper, too!

Just my dos centavos!
Phil