Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


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How do I find a reputable refinery for scrap electronics?

I am a surplus and scrap dealer in Oklahoma and like to deal in scrap electronics for the gold content. I have experimented a little with trying to process the gold myself and find the process far too dangerous for me. What I'd really like is to find a reputable refiner to process for me. I have tried a few refiners and been very disappointed with the results. Fact is I believe they were dishonest and I have done FAR better selling to folks who send to refiners they trust. Still, I'm convinced I'm leaving a lot of money on the table and would appreciate advice as to how to locate a fair refinery to send my electronic scrap to.

James Martin
commercial traders. - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2004

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I suppose everyone who has precious metal scrap has at one time or another suspected a scrap dealer of cheating. Some do, some don't, and it's easy to get paranoid about it. As Pres Regan said "Trust but verify". You should have an agreement with your scrap dealer which describes how your scrap should be sampled, and you should have the right to have a split of the sample which you can send to an idependent lab for verification. The dealer won't agree, find another dealer.

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina
2004