Refining Services
When your scrap comes to Abington Reldan Metals for processing, we take special care to make sure
your material is prepared properly and appropriately. To learn more about the various process methods,
please see the list below.
- Roasting
- Melting
- Mechanical Reduction (Milling and Screening)
- Chemical
Roasting
To begin homogenizing scrap that contains precious metals mixed with inorganics, the process of roasting
materials to an ash inside a furnace is used. Once materials are ashed, they are moved to the mechanical
reduction equipment or melting area.
Potential losses that can occur during roasting include running the furnace at too high a temperature
or allowing too much free oxygen into the furnace. Both errors can result in blowing precious metals
up the stack.
Melting
Scrap metal mainly comprised of metallic or ashed material from an after-roast will be loaded into a
crucible and heated in either an induction furnace or gas-fired furnace. The melt is then fluxed with soda
ash and borax to form a slag. The slag will scavenge the impurities and leave behind pure metallic slurry
that is then sampled and poured into bars.
During this process, potential losses can occur due to the migration of precious metals into the slag or
if the furnace temperature is too high, blowing the precious metals up the flue.
Mechanical Reduction (Milling and Screening)
Ceramic scrap or scrap that has been ashed is treated in a pulverizing process. This technology
reduces materials to a dust that, after additional screening and blending, becomes homogenous.
Two lots emerge from this process:
- Oversize
- Sweep (dust)
Potential losses in this process include the escape of uncontrolled airborne dust particles containing
precious metals during screening and ballmilling, and the failure to evaluate the oversize for
further processing.
Chemical
Materials are dissolved in solution and then metals are precipitated out using various gasses
and/or chemistry.
Potential losses in this process could result from not properly analyzing residues.
