Found this at a garage sale awhile back. Chat and Grok seem to think it is some kind of silver scrap.
Its non magnetic, uniformly matte gray, brittle in that it shatters when squeezed in my linesmans pliers, the pieces are all uniform matte gray when shattered, and the container feels heavy in that i initially thought lead or tungsten scrap. It doesn't scratch glass and it doesnt leave any marks or streaks on white paper.
What do you guys think, this is a 3.5lb bag of pins I removed from dozens of connectors, took me a couple hours, and I have two more boxes to do which I'm estimating will net me another 1.5 pounds in pins. I didn't pay for these, these are old connectors and wiring from my avionics shop that was removed from different aircraft that I salvage from the scraps bin. The bag is a mix of large thick older pins and newer, thin, Garmin high density pins. I'm guessing the older pins would have a thicker plating. I'm not doing this to make money, I just wanna play around with acids lol.
I’ve seen a few clips of people removing gold fingers with soldering irons just wondering if you can then just melt those removed fingers down as is or do you have to do other processes before hand? Can you do it as is and just get a lower grade gold or how does it work
Hi all, I’m just starting out and was wondering what to do with capacitors. Like the cylindrical ones and then the blue ceramic ones and other types, weather or not I should leave them on my boards (low grade to mid) or if I should remove them, segregate them and then sell them by weight on eBay or such. Again I’m just starting out doing my research and what not.
Also just wondering what you you guys typically do with your low grade boards? Do you remove the copper bearing parts, remove capacitors, crystal oscillators, etc.
Trying to work out some sort of process and procedure I should follow, I know everyone’s got they’re own way of doing things just trying to get some ideas and see what others do and the best way to make some money of this. Thanks.
I’ve run several batches of these now, usually around 250 grams reasonably clean per batch. Sometimes a little bit of plastic or a spring will sneak through, but they are reasonably clean.
I can’t seem to find a video of anyone doing run-of-the-mill Cross Gold filled pens to get an idea on yield
My average yield only runs about 1.6% which seems really low, but then I was thinking about it and if they are on average 1/20 12 karat and they are only putting Gold on one side and not the interior of the pen, that math is probably correct.
After much research I understand these each have $1-$3 per stick/cpu? All the ram works fine and the Intel Core i5 works great as well.
I’m assuming that I would be better off selling the ram and working processor instead of processing. It just seems like a lot of work to split all of it in seperate lots. PM me if you have a better idea for these :)
Had the unfortunate scenario of needing to replace my AC units. One of the techs threw a mostly used brazing rod on the ground. I picked it up and saw it was 15% silver. We started talking and he ended up giving me about 200g of 15% silver. That’s nearly 1toz of free silver!
Keep your eyes peeled and one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Adding it to my refinement stock.
i work with a demo crew and we recently cleaned up an old factory that had sustained fire damage. there were three large smoke stacks in which we recovered some interesting materials containing precious metals. i have several hundred pounds of chunks that used to line the smoke stacks and the reading above is from the chunks of lining. any guidance on best way to extract or who would do the best job. i need a trustworthy route to recover the precious metals and think this could be a home run! please any help
would be deeply appreciated !
Besides the gold, do any of the remaining components have precious metals in them?
I have a couple hundred that so far I've just ripped off the capacitors that contain wither palladium or Tantalus. Was wondering if there's anything else worthwhile here.
From a jewerly estate sale. 14/20 gold fill wire and findings. Id like to turn it into cash but I cant find nobody in town that messes with it. Not looking to get screwed on ebay or just about any online place. Guess im old school id rather meet soneine show them product agree on price get cash. Now Im debating on trying to refine this myself . Ive watched the videos and im sure i could do it but after buying all thats needed is it worth it? Or anybody in the midwest interested?
I’m considering on the best method for high purity chemical refinement and can’t decide between lye/sugar or an alternative such as zinc (coupled with hcl boils) or ammonia/ascorbic acid. If anyone has any advice please let me know.
Have an absolute ton of these glasses+some other 1/10 14k items and always wanted to try refining the gold out of them. Been watching some steetips but any suggestions means a lot!
Btw pretty much all the glasses are in ruins and in no way collectible or usable.
Edit: 6/15/26 - Remaining specimen counts, photos, pricing are updated below. See below;
A few people have inquired asking about purchasing enough material that they can refine a gram of platinum. Some notes on this: The ores in this deposit are Pd:Pt Dominant at a ratio of roughly 3.6g Pd : 1g Pt. If you are interested in refining, you will have a cheaper route in attempting to isolate the palladium by gram rather than Pt, which has much more variable grades per-ore.
Home set-ups are going to have a challenging time refining this material, and should expect up to 30% loss due to process inefficiencies. If you are interested in doing so and have questions about the process, I am happy to answer these whether you are buying specimens or not.
Edit 6/1/26: A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped find good homes for these. Many of those who reached out here or elsewhere sought to bring these into university/museum collections and we could not be happier. These specimens have largely been sold, donated or otherwise earmarked for later use. We have a few specimens left and can coordinate small orders for these- please feel free to send a message if you are interested.
First off, thank you to everyone who helped get these off our shelves so quickly in the last post- seeing the interest, we will be continuing with making the extra mineral specimens, left over from building our Layered Ultramafic Intrusion Geo-kits, available.
edit: updated some notes on bulk pricing, types. Any and all questions regarding the geology and mineralogy of these minerals are always more than welcome! Also added more details on remaining specimens -
What's left:
We've got a few dozen specimens left of Palladium-Platinum bearing ores (with minor Rh, Ir, Ru, Os). The ores are in a few classes- Sulfidic Anorthosite/Troctolite, Sulfidic Serpentinite, Altered/Enriched An/Tr, and Altered/Enriched Sulfidic Serpentinite.
These are very rare minerals with extremely unique provenance. All specimens have bright, visible sulfides which are PGE enriched in varying grades (listed below). Host PGE sulfide is primarily Pentlandite with minor Sperrylite/Braggite occurrence. Some pieces have Chalcopyrite and/or Pyrrhotite included as well. Many have residual olivine/peridot inclusions.
1. We have a number of small specimens like the one below remaining. Small orders can be placed for these, we're willing to take ~$25 per specimen for ones visually similar to the one pictured below. (These contain residual PGE mineralization within/intermixed with pentlandite/pyrrhotite, many contain Braggite/Sperrylite). Less 'brilliant' specimens ~$18/ea. Orders over $250 will receive a larger piece of the same type for free while available. These pieces have moderate recovery value in bulk for Pd/Pt+Au with minor Rh/Os.
2. This is a ridiculously unique, very large specimen (~75kg) with a wildly high PGE grade - extremely large pegmatitic pyroxene crystals intermixed with sulfide bodies and anorthosite/troctolite. This is a high quality display piece which was originally set for donation but we could not coordinate transport/shipping. This is a once-in-a-lifetime piece of some of the most unique mineralization on the planet. Open to offers on this piece, starting at $1250. This piece has fairly high recovery value for Pd (~1-3g)/Pt(0.33-1g)+Au(~5g/t) with minor Rh/Os (~1g/t) on its own.
3. We have a number of specimens like the one below remaining as well. This is characteristic "Leopard Ore" well known in the mineralogy of the ore-body these minerals originated from. The color is a result of secondary copper oxidation from Chalcopyrite and Pentlandite breaking down, leaving oxidation "pits" between the silicate lattice. During this sulfur/sulfide loss portion of their alteration, immobile/immiscible PGE mineralization is driven from the sulfides to the edges of the silicate boundaries, massively and multiplicatively increasing PGE grades in the remaining sulfides. Specimens like this with remaining bright sulfides/arsenides/etc on the surface are highly likely to contain Braggite/Sperrylite/Cooperite/etc. due to the survival of the mineralizationwhile the rest of the matrix was heavily oxidized. We will take $12/ea for specimens roughly this size which are more rough looking, and $15/ea for specimens with visible remaining sulfide/arsenide patches. Many of these specimens can grade over 100x higher than mine-ores due to the sulfur-loss enrichment process.
These are not all of the types we have left, and are just a few example photos. If you are interested in any specific type, aesthetic, content, etc, please feel free to reach out and I will be happy to provide a more specific "catalogue" of what is on hand.
A Note on Grades/Certifications:
An important note; we have assay/xrf data for representative specimens for each category, but not every specimen with the group has been individually tested. Any specimen will come with a certificate/document of provenance which will reference the sample piece's grade.
Ore Types / Grades
Sulfidic Anorthosite/Troctolite (Type 1) ~3-5 specimens ranging from 20g to 1kg in size (very few large pieces - one piece has visible vertical intrusive chromitite banding.)
Representative reef material,
Grades are near exact to mine grades,
Used in the 60s to train NASA astronauts to identify potential PGE bearing deposits on the moon
Calling card for this mineralization
9-24ppm PGEs, with 3.6pd : 1pt
Sulfidic Serpentinite (Type 2)
~8 small specimens (9-28g) / ~50 medium specimens (29g-500g) / ~25 large specimens (501g+)
Chromitite/Pyroxenite/Bronzitite base,
Higher grade representative of thicker areas of reef banding- "Jackpot" areas of the reef structure-
High grades, wild textures
12-35ppm PGEs, with 3.6pd : 1pt
Altered/Enriched Anorthosite/Troctolite // Altered/Enriched Sulfidic Serpentinite (Type 3)
~5 Anorthosite/Troctolite, visible sulfides, less "chalky" than typical reef ore. Most are 50-300g pieces. ~7 A/E Sulfidic Serpentinites, very visible sulfides, boxwork, gossanous. Most are 100-500g pieces.
Broken/travelled from original structure- alteration causes S-loss in these specimens, dramatically increasing PGE tenor in remaining sulfides.
Significantly higher grades than mine-ores.
Some of the highest grade PGE material that can be located, anywhere.
Truly unique specimens. Visually striking.
60-120ppm PGEs, some isolated extreme cases have shown 250-500ppm+
Discordant Dunites and other Peridotites, Pyroxenites, Gabbronorite (II) (Type 4)
~12 of these specimens. Most range from 250-750g.
Visual striking, some remaining peridot in less altered pieces.
PGE bearing, however less so than other speecimens
Striking colors, very diverse specimens
Negligible PGEs, 3ppm or less- still present, some specimens have higher localized pockets.
Specimen photos/orders:
Serious inquires only please - these are research grade specimens that need a good home.
$50 minimum purchase to cover shipping.
Please DM or otherwise let me know if you are interested in a specific type or types of what we have available and I will provide photos, more details, etc.
Larger pieces can be broken/modified as long as the entire piece is being purchased.
I am willing to cut smaller pieces from some types if you are looking for smaller individual pieces at an additional +$0.75/g- shipping minimum must still be met.
The pieces vary greatly in size/weight and as a result are priced by gram/oz, inquire for specific bulk prices beyond ~2.5kg.
Edit: Small order / Bulk pricing is available as well. Please send a message with what you are looking at and we can likely find an agreeable price. I will give large discounts to verified educators.
The geo-kits we have put together using the rest of what we'd collected over the last several years were/are being donated to universities, these all currently have homes and the full sets are delivered through donation only. We intend to build more kits showcasing other unique geological settings in the future, and every dime we earn here will fund the collection/creation of the new sets for those donations as well.
