Silver Refining Process Without Acids

Рет қаралды 357,868

4 жыл бұрын

In this video, learn how to refine silver jewelry sweeps by smelting and cupelling without the use of acids. The sweeps are separated into a metallic fraction for direct refining with lead by cupelling. The other silver containing material is first smelted down to a metallic button and then further refined to pure silver. At the end of the video the two buttons are combined into one single silver bar.
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Пікірлер: 368

@michaeldenison7339 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for doing this Jason. I decided to keep my pyramid, for now, vs melting it down. What was in this . . . copper slimes from reverse electroplating silver, as well as the silver. Sweeps from a silversmithing class, including filings, snips, and balls. Also . . . a lot of solder chips that are always getting swept up. Plus some contaminated water cast silver with I believe nickle. I removed as much of the magnetic material as possible. Which was from files, broken saw blades, and steel wool.

@uspockdad6429 4 жыл бұрын

You mention slimes from electroplating silver. I always use electrorefining to purify my silver, and often times end up with a bit of PT group metals in the slimes. Have you had the pyramids tested with an XRF to see if there are any other PMs other than just silver? I’d be curious to see how pure this method actually gets silver.

@michaeldenison7339 4 жыл бұрын

@@uspockdad6429 Not electrorefining, though I do want to get a set-up to do that, I love the look of silver crystals. This is just putting silver plated items in a salt bath and hooking them up to a battery charger. It gets messy real fast. Those green clumps in the video are the copper + other base metals slimes, or salts.

@Hartcore11 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for putting out a good stream of videos. They are packed full of information that will save me from making some mistakes in my new hobby.

@shaneyork300 4 жыл бұрын

I gotta say that, that was really cool. I've seen several vids on this before but the silver sprouts was something I've never seen! Have a GREAT Day!!!

@joshp6061 3 жыл бұрын

Your videos are always so interesting, you pretty much never see this stuff from industrial let ALONE hearing a competent explanation of the process

@mikeconnery4652 Жыл бұрын

Great video. Thanks for showing the temperature and a nice explination of how this smelting operation workd.

@silverunicorn2645 3 жыл бұрын

I'm a new subscriber. Really informative stuff here. So cool to be able to see the process and have an explanation at every step. 👍❤️🦄

@dynomania 4 жыл бұрын

The molten flux as it cools is a thing of beauty 👍

@j_freeman3230 3 жыл бұрын

It looks like the sun. The mechanics are the same, too.

@scrotex6592 3 жыл бұрын

@@j_freeman3230 those convection currents!

@j_freeman3230 3 жыл бұрын

@@scrotex6592 very beautiful, from a safe distance(:

@aliwitwit2217 3 жыл бұрын

What is the difference between the gas and the electric furnace

@scrotex6592 3 жыл бұрын

@@aliwitwit2217 you can be more precise with the temperature with the electric

@drennanhutton7864 2 ай бұрын

I’m just now getting into collecting silver and gold , but this right here is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen !!! I’m gonna try it one of these days

@NandiCollector 3 жыл бұрын

*Your videos are so addicting and relaxing mate. Thanks. :)*

@cobaltdreaming Жыл бұрын

I loved watching this simple process, thanks

@Euri_EE 3 жыл бұрын

Really great video! Cool process and thanks much for sharing.

@gingerdude94 4 жыл бұрын

Great channel, keep em coming Jason

@Upde667 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Jason Thank You for you time and share, Gonzalo From Baja Mexico

@guywilson2394 4 жыл бұрын

Really cool your videos are very informative and fun to watch.

@jimbanister1214 3 жыл бұрын

I understand what your doing .doing the basics given a genral idea on what to expect

@sreetips 4 жыл бұрын

Cool video thanks!

@sureshdoshi6021 3 жыл бұрын

@Rudy Zechariah h

@cdevidal 2 жыл бұрын

Actually it was quite hot

@3ATTR1X 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, enjoyed the process! amazing.

@richreynoldsCIT 2 жыл бұрын

Great video and amazing how good your hands look!

@bobcansee 2 жыл бұрын

Well done! Love this stuff!!

@Yodiyst 7 ай бұрын

It’s so nice to watch it cool down in the triangle

@LongTrout Жыл бұрын

I have an affinity for melted metal. Good job.

@Juan_Doooh 4 жыл бұрын

Good video, very informative.

@stansaju4392 3 жыл бұрын

Merry Christmas 🌲Nice video

@markbrown6236 Жыл бұрын

These are great videos, very informative.

@JimNichols 3 жыл бұрын

Amazing video and we are still using chemistry to remove the Ag from the mix, just not HNO3. I love the videos and while I presume I will never use this you have started me on my usual quest for knowledge. I found that Cupellation actually uses this chemical reaction to work Ag(s) + 2Pb(s) + O2(g) → 2PbO(absorbed) + Ag(l) and the first Cupel were made out of bone ashes while the best material was obtained from burned antlers of deer although fish spines could work as well. Amazing to me! Thank you very much!

@EddieVBlueIsland 2 жыл бұрын

I was told the best Cupel materials were made from human bone.

@maxblay6833 2 жыл бұрын

I'm not in the metal refining business but this is a lot of fun to watch

@SquareCoinTalk 4 жыл бұрын

greatvideo Jason Thank you for sharing

@markselten4985 4 жыл бұрын

I liked the sprouts. Good info to have though. One day I'll melt my black sands. Great vid!

@RalphReagan 4 жыл бұрын

Loved the video.

@michealklonowski5267 11 ай бұрын

nice thank you for sharing the adventure and information on this smelting

@BackYardScience2000 2 жыл бұрын

I always thought that the sprouts were from the silver cooling faster on the outside and shrinking while the inside was still a bit molten. Squeezing the silver out as it cools into the sprouts. I know that bismuth does this as well. Copper will shrink inward, I'm guessing because it's such a good heat conducter, and form pits while silver and bismuth form these sprouts. But I never knew that it was due to dissolved oxygen and not from the outside cooking faster than the inside. Very cool! 😎

@akernelofwheat4016 Ай бұрын

Thank you. I came here to understand how God refines His people as silver is refined. Very informative.

@themacz1671 4 жыл бұрын

🤜🤛 thank you for sharing 💪💪

@philais 4 жыл бұрын

Good job!

@matthewsemenuk8953 2 жыл бұрын

watched for the ideas, stayed for the bird chirps

@dilmanabdullah5042 3 жыл бұрын

Nice one. Ho to refine gold from ore with out using acid, can you make a video about that? Thanks

@ProspectorTripp 4 жыл бұрын

Very nice Jason Thanks ✌️PT

@kenbehr5501 3 жыл бұрын

Love your channel please keep them videos coming. Where u buy your melting pots ?

@damianpotter8742 Жыл бұрын

Dude you f----ing rock. Appreciate you so much...

@charlesreeves6766 Жыл бұрын

Outstanding

@janellesonoda7484 3 жыл бұрын

Chemical reactions, cool.

@CuriousEarthMan 4 жыл бұрын

Very interesting! Thank you for creating and posting! I believe you have an xrf, if not mistaken. It might have been cool to read the silver sample at the end to see if it confirms the purity of the silver! (for those of us new to this) I haven't read up on cupelling. Does the lead go airborne, or is it all absorbed into the cup? Also, concerning your cat refining for PGMs, is the xrf any help in reading crushed honeycomb, or is the concentration to small? Did you ever use a LIBS handheld? Are they better for your needs? Thank you!

@livesonjura Жыл бұрын

I like those silver sprouts. I've refined silver and poured small bars but have never seen any sprouts. But when my silver is pure I do see concentric cooling lines that show up on the exposed smooth, shiny surface of the bar as it cools after pouring. I use a torch and borax for melting. Thanks for the many informative videos.

@Kheops. 2 жыл бұрын

7:34 that should be the thumbnail, looks so mesmerizing.

@americanrebel413 4 жыл бұрын

Cool man!

@dopaminedrip 3 жыл бұрын

thank you, sir.

@MagdaleneHenricus Жыл бұрын

Thanks

@jashall3804 3 жыл бұрын

I love Americans he used the .................B.B.Q. Tongs or was it he salad tongs. Great video!.

@derekduval8168 3 жыл бұрын

Hey man, how do you know that stuffs got any silver in it to start with?! What sort of things should I be looking for? That’s a really cool vid, thanks dude!!

@morganandreason 2 жыл бұрын

Silver dissolves less oxygen as you raise the temperature beyond the melting point, so if you want to avoid "sprouting" when it cools, just bump up the temperature at the very end before you terminate the process. Of course, cooling it down slowly also helps, as you did with the second button.

@stephenanderle5422 Жыл бұрын

I think you are wrong. The hotter it gets the more oxygen it absorbs.

@morganandreason Жыл бұрын

@@stephenanderle5422 It's a well studied phenomenon. The solubility of oxygen increases with temperature in solid silver, peaks at just above the melting point, and then decreases with increasing temperature beyond that. At 973°C, the solubility of oxygen is 3050 PPM, at 1024°C it has gone down to 2950 ppm. As the temperature is increased the molecules gain in average energy and so are more able to overcome the attractive potential that keeps them in solution and thus the vapour pressure of the solvent increases and the solubility of the gas decreases. Ideally, of course, you would like to have an oxygen-free environment for a little while at the end of the process, to draw the oxygen out of the silver before it solidifies.

@knallertk8062 4 жыл бұрын

nice video

@paintyouup8247 3 жыл бұрын

Ha hey Jason I was one your field camp at Western with Liz. Fun times. Hope things are well. I think in GIS class I told you to sell your gold at 1k.....hope you held on.

@james.j1066 Жыл бұрын

Awesome

@JOHN-6-45 5 ай бұрын

I would love to see you do a specific gravity test on that

@castaway9214 3 жыл бұрын

Cool.

@trackpackgt877 2 жыл бұрын

That's about 95 bucks of Silver!! Not bad especially considering silver is way undervalued!! Cool video!!

@OneOfDisease 4 жыл бұрын

i wish you would have run a tester on the product you had at the end to give us and idea ho much silver vs other metals were in the block

@michaeldenison7339 3 жыл бұрын

I had it shot with an XRF. It is almost entirely pure silver, with contaminants of mostly lead, with copper, other metals, all less than 1% total. I was hoping it would show traces of gold, as some people work with gold. but no gold popped up.

@denniswhite166 3 жыл бұрын

@@michaeldenison7339 Ive read two of your comments where you used XRF. What does that mean? Google was no help at all.

@kenstockton7793 Жыл бұрын

Neat thats cool an art

@martywebb1487 Жыл бұрын

That's badass tho how the color looks in the flux

@sonalpatel6119 2 жыл бұрын

nice

@user-qn9kz7ox4c 3 жыл бұрын

Cool...

@TheVoiceofKevinC 2 жыл бұрын

Where can I get the equipment to do this myself. ??? Great video. Thanks

@christianfrylandfoss7915 6 ай бұрын

Hey man! Nice vid eo, but one question:) Do I need that magnesium cup or does it still work with a ceramic cofee cup or something?😅😁

@murlbailer3755 3 жыл бұрын

It's easy when you know how and have the resources. Still enjoyed the video.🐎

@larsnielsen4798 Ай бұрын

Looks easy. I haveing lots of silverpeaces can i refinde it to Sterling. Just melting down ? 1 kilo of mix silver stuff from plated silver to Sterling.

@duncanhorne962 2 жыл бұрын

I can't help but like your moulds etc. Yea, I am a newbie to smelting. Thanks for your Information / Is there any way I can make a mould of my fist ✊ as that Is my aim amongst my kith & kin, "BROTHERS"? Thanks again most for the Informative Information. No Mess, No Fuss, Just Pure Impact, In a Great Way & Great tips!

@TrevorHunnicutt-xm6xy 26 күн бұрын

Man that is so cool!!where about are u from?

@crysteliren1536 2 жыл бұрын

Nice video.. i hope i learn... What is the name of that appratus you use in melting silver?

@lancemillward1912 Ай бұрын

114g is about $147 of silver here in New zealand. You can see how this would scale up with a larger quality and be more profitable

@bloomingtonian7529 4 жыл бұрын

Jewelers rarely work with pure silver, but most commonly sterling (.925), sometimes others (.900 and .800) One of the metals used to alloy pure silver into sterling is copper. Thanks for another great video.

@michaeldenison7339 4 жыл бұрын

Much of what is in what I sent him is sterling, with silver solder chips, and some copper and brass, as we work with all. But I also had the slimes and silver plate from reverse electroplating silverware. There certainly is some pure silver in the mix. As most bezels are pure silver, and some jewelry is made with pure silver. We tend to not work in less than sterling.

@pedrocoelho469 3 жыл бұрын

I don't understand why when you put this vids don't you tell the people how much that worth it!!!! Gosh!!!

@prospectvic 2 жыл бұрын

Very informative ty, can I refine .500 silverware the same way to get pure silver? I love the simplicity of your way, I am sooo scared of using acids. Cheers mate

@sparksmcgee6641 Жыл бұрын

He has one on Sterling

@ManMountainMetals 4 жыл бұрын

That's great. I'd shoot it with the XRF gun.....mainly cause I like watching you scan thing with the XRF gun and then I look up the weird impurities ❤😂

@michaeldenison7339 3 жыл бұрын

I was hoping he would do this as well. I had someone locally use their XRF. And it is quite pure. Largest contaminant is lead. Still at 99.5%.

@firoozehtorki4608 4 күн бұрын

Thanks for your video. I have a question. What is percentage of this purification method if Ag? Is this purification for Juewlery aims?

@PurpleJeep 4 жыл бұрын

So what is the next step with the “buttons”? Is there a way to separate the gold from silver? I don’t do any mining or refining but I do find your process and videos highly interesting. Keep up the great work.

@spiderdude2099 3 жыл бұрын

Yes, if an alloy is mostly silver with 25% or less of gold, the alloy is treated with nitric acid which will leave the gold and dissolve the silver. The silver solution can then be filtered off the gold and precipitated into silver chloride with HCL or sodium chloride and reduced into pure silver metal with potassium hydroxide and sugar. The gold can be melted too. Then you end up with the silver and gold separated

@DryLakeMiningCo49 2 жыл бұрын

You could also leave silver chloride in sun outside to reduce to silver metal without sugar potassium hydroxide

@SilverMac47 4 жыл бұрын

Thus outta be good 💪 pretty cool stuff brother. I’m doing the acid extraction right now. Then I run it through my silver cell and get beautiful crystals.

@uspockdad6429 4 жыл бұрын

I just finished putting 1.5 kilos through my silver cell, and will have another 2 kilos to run in a few weeks. Have you had yours tested? I’ve been getting .9999 purity after running through the cell.

@katana1960 4 жыл бұрын

@@uspockdad6429 I just ran about 20 lbs of silver through my silver cell. I ran it a second time to come up with high purity. It took a month or so to do. Have you had your silver assayed to see it is really .9999? I plan to do it once I get some melted into bars. I've read that once silver is refined to a very high purity, there will be crystalline structures visible in the ingot. Have you seen this? I believe it would have to be five 9s or greater, because Maple leafs are four 9s and you don't see the structure it them.

@yeukaimutusva1356 4 жыл бұрын

Silver Mac how do you do the acid extraction looking for a safe method I can try out in the lab

@xmachine7003 3 жыл бұрын

@@yeukaimutusva1356 Watch Sreetips on YT

@rogerreiner1846 Жыл бұрын

@@katana1960 Acid extraction, silver cells, etc. -- you guys need to do your own instructional videos! This is very interesting stuff that people want to know how to do, and that you then can also earn a bit of advertising income from. I once inquired about the Maple leaf's four 9s purity and was told that 99.99 was four nines, 9.999 was four nines, 9999 was four nines and .9999 was four nines. Of course you and I know better, but I would not trust that the coins are 4 nines fine unless I could get a better answer to the question.

@muddyrudder 3 жыл бұрын

How low of a temp did you let the furnace get before you removed the larger button out of it, to not get the silver sprouts?

@markangus1515 Жыл бұрын

Hi mate just wondering if you next time buy super wool and not Kaowool because better and safer love the silver

@jakertheelaborater2573 7 ай бұрын

What do you do with the slag? Is it reusible as flux or can it be refined further or make good landscaping rock.

@Rusvi1 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the video dude, I never did any kind of smelting. So, can you price out how much money you can get from those silver "buttons" you extracted and how much money you spent on the smelting process (heat, lead, other additives, etc.)? Excluding equipment ( because it's the initial investment ).

@ZachsYTUBE 2 жыл бұрын

Do you think it would be possible to use pewter scrap? Or would the tin pollute the final product?

@marioprovidel290 2 жыл бұрын

greetings from Chile...great job....by the way ...do you ´ve some involving silver chloride treatment?

@rogerreiner1846 Жыл бұрын

Search for the Karo syrup process.

@lonjohnson5161 4 жыл бұрын

I wonder if we might see a video of when it's worth trying to recover silver, copper or other metals. Maybe it might even be interesting to see when it isn't worth trying to recover gold or platinum.

@michaeldenison7339 4 жыл бұрын

I would like to see what it cost him to do this. With the cupels, the brand new crucible, the fuel and power used. The silver itself, right now, comes to about $65. I could have just picked out the larger pieces that I knew were silver and used them in my jewelry making, which would mean a much smaller yield. But I included them to be certain that it was all silver in the end. Removing the larger pieces, that would leave the filings, the solder clips, the reverse electroplated silver. I doubt it would be worth it to refine without those other, larger silver pieces. As for copper, nah. I don't think it will ever be worth it to refine on such a small scale.

@rossm412 Жыл бұрын

Hello. Will this process work with a graphite crucible? If so, what the formula for material to lead? Thank you for your time.

@dzmecanic5157 2 жыл бұрын

I use torch (propane +air compressor)

@dr.codydees719 10 ай бұрын

This may be a really dumb question, but can you coupel or smelt the solder out of "C-grade" jewelry scrap (silver powder and solder dust from a jeweler's bench)?

@TheMontyYoakum 4 жыл бұрын

Would the flux recipe change because you're not having a deal with sulfates/sulfides?

@jimbanister1214 3 жыл бұрын

I have a 10 oz bar mixed aluminum and some silver is there a easyer way to separate it

@azzakean 2 жыл бұрын

Have you ever tried to seperate sliver from carbon? I would love to see a video about this, it doesn't seem to be a common process I've found in my research.

@matthewmartinez1091 Жыл бұрын

There's a video on KZfaq about some youngster who separates silver from graphite pencils. 🤔 You might want to check that out that's pretty close to carbon

@davidbarnett5931 4 жыл бұрын

It would be really cool to watch you melt down a roll of war nickels. I'd like to see the 35% Ag content validated.

@davidbarnett5931 4 жыл бұрын

I'd be happy to donate the roll as well.

@spiderdude2099 3 жыл бұрын

You could determine that with a handheld x ray spectrometer. They’re expensive but it can tell you the metal composition of a sample without destroying it

@JemSquash94 3 жыл бұрын

But the nickels are worth WAY more than the suggested Ag

@rogerreiner1846 Жыл бұрын

Shoot off an email to the mint or large coin dealers and they will verify and validate this -- these are standards that have been known and used for over 8 decades, and the coins are collectible and worth much, much more than the silver within them.

@patmccrady6063 4 жыл бұрын

What furnace and cupellation cups do you use?

@matthewmccarley9621 2 жыл бұрын

What purity of silver can you expect to get after cupelling until the cupel cannot hold anymore base metals?

@MooseBme Жыл бұрын

!(: PRETTY COOL, THANKS ;)!

@mychicosocial 10 ай бұрын

Can u possibly do a video refining silver from lead free solder dross

@alabonga 4 жыл бұрын

I've been playing with acid but I'd like to give this a try, have any idea on the purity?

@chouseification 3 жыл бұрын

If you already know the acid process, stick with it, as your recovery rates are astonishingly higher and your waste is much less. This process is meant to be used to understand if there's anything good in a _sample_ from a potential mine, but is not used to extract metal commerically, as it misses a lot and most importantly you need to add all that lead (and deal with cupels soaked with lead oxide afterwards, not counting however much you breathed in).

@kaiseredge 4 жыл бұрын

I was told to add potassium nitrate to purify the silver further with the same fluxes from a older gentlemen who used to do refining, I may be wrong but it seemed to work last I tried but I was working mainly with sterling and coin silver.

@rogerreiner1846 Жыл бұрын

Me too, I actually still have this flux that has 20% potassium nitrate in it -- works great.

@mouradkara3152 4 жыл бұрын

Welcome to Algeria, my country has many resources, but I lack experience

@rogerreiner1846 Жыл бұрын

So do most people everywhere.

@harryjackson4832 Жыл бұрын

Curious. I have tons of waukesha88 metal at my job the boss gave to me because our local scrap yards refuse to take it It has mostly nickel and some tin iron bismuth and chromium materials in it I want to seperate the nickel from it do you have any ideas I checked out the Monds process but it looks very complicated. Any suggestions. Please help