What You Need to Know about Recycling Alloys of Precious Metals
If you have a quantity of metal that is an alloy that contains precious metal, it’s valuable. That’s the good news. The confusing part is, how much of that precious metal do your alloys really contain? Gold, platinum, palladium and silver are all frequently found as alloys with a variety of other metals. You should call Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners and let us analyze them for you.
Here is some information you should know about alloys.
Alloys Are Not Always Made Entirely of Metals
Liquid, molten gold alloy being poured in a foundry. Find out how much precious metals your gold, silver and platinum alloys contain at Specialty Metals.
A metal alloy is a material that is made by combining two or more elements, only one of which must be a metal. Sometimes an alloy is made of two or more metals, but not always. For example, 18K gold is an alloy that contains 75% gold and 25% percent palladium, copper, zinc… or cobalt. As you can tell, 18K gold that is made of 75% gold and 25% palladium is more valuable than 18K gold that is made of 75% gold and 25% copper or cobalt. It makes sense, right?
Names Can Be Misleading
Similarly, a platinum alloy could be made up of platinum that has been combined with iridium, ruthenium . . . or cobalt. If you have a quantity of platinum thermocouples that you would like to recycle, for example, they probably contain both platinum and rhodium. So remember, names can be confusing – just because you have some “platinum thermocouples,” they are almost certainly alloys that do not contain 100% platinum.
Testing and Analysis Are Needed
As we’ve learned in today’s post, the dollar value of precious metal alloys can vary, depending on the quantity of pure precious metals that they contain. You need a qualified precious metals refinery to do some analysis for you before you can determine just how valuable your alloys really are.
Related Posts:
The Confusing – and Very Profitable – World of Gold Alloys
A Fast, Fascinating History of Metals Like Gold and Silver
Some Fascinating – and Potentially Profitable – Facts You Never Knew about Refining Gold
What Is Karat Gold and How Can You Find Out What Yours Is Worth?