Quiz: Do You Know What a Smelter Does?
In “What Is a Smelter” and other posts we have published in the past, we have explained what a smelter is and what a smelter does.
So what do smelters do? The quick answer is, smelters smelt things. In general, that means heating up piles of scrap and powder and chemicals that contain metal. Once that “stuff” reaches the melting point of the metals it contains, those metals melt, clump together, and can be separated from surrounding materials.
Okay, that is a quick overview of what smelting is. But despite the simplicity of the concept, lots of people still misunderstand the term. Maybe that’s because the term “smelting” sounds a lot like the word “smelling,” which is confusing. Granted, a pile of stuff that is being smelted usually does smell bad (which is why we perform smelting operations in carefully sealed, protected equipment in our precious metal refinery), but in reality, smelting and smelling are not the same thing.
What other misconceptions exist about smelting? We thought it would be fun to let you test your smelting knowledge by taking the following True or False quiz. Ready to test your smelting IQ? Great, please get started.
True or False: Smelting Has Been Around Since Prehistoric Times
Answer: True!
In virtually all parts of the world – Africa, Asia, Europe – archaeologist have found sites where smelting was done during prehistoric times. In many cases, our ancient ancestors piled up copper and iron ore from mines, heated it to high temperatures by burning charcoal that surrounded it, and waited for metals to separate from the surrounding material. So true, smelting wasn’t invented yesterday, or even a century ago. It’s an ancient practice.
True or False: Smelting Separates Out All the Different Metals that Are Contained in Smelted Substances
Answer: False!
It’s complicated. If you are smelting a bunch of ore that contains only silver (and no other metals), the silver will be separated from the surrounding “stuff.” But if you are smelting a bunch of material that contains bronze (which is an alloy made up principally of copper and tin), you are going to separate bronze from its surrounding material; the copper and tin will not be separated from each other. The same is true if you smelt a pile of scrap that contains steel, which is made up of iron and other substances that could be carbon, chromium, and nickel. So the fact is that smelting is not a technique that necessarily separates all the metals that are contained in a pile of scrap. It’s a bit more complicated than that.
True or False: Smelting Is Used to Separate Precious Metals from Liquids
Answer: False!
Here things get even more complicated. If you have a quantity of an ink that contains silver, you will separate it by introducing certain chemicals into the ink that cause the silver to precipitate out. (In other words, to fall to the bottom of the vessel in which the ink is being processed.) That sounds like smelting. But in the truest sense of the word smelting (which is used to describe situations where heat is used to separate metals from surrounding materials), you are using a chemical separation process, not smelting.
True or False: Smelting Is Now Being Replaced by More Advanced Technologies
Answer: False!
As we noted above, our prehistoric ancestors practiced smelting. But that doesn’t mean that smelting is outdated and being replaced by more modern technologies. Smelting is just as effective today as it has ever been. One difference is that our cavemen ancestors practiced smelting in open outdoor fires, where noxious gases, soot and other pollutants were released into the atmosphere. That doesn’t happen today, at least not in modern countries like the U.S. and Canada, which enforce strict environmental laws.
True or False: You Can Practice Smelting at Home
Answer: True!
If you really want to, you can pile up charcoal in your back yard, toss in that pile of scrap that contains one or more precious metals, throw in a match, and stand back while the smelting happens. But the fact that you can do that doesn’t mean it is a good idea. For your safety, and for the wellbeing of your family and neighbors, do-it-yourself smelting is not a good idea.
True or False: You Can Process Catalytic Converters by Smelting them Yourself
Answer: False!
You could pile up a lot of catalytic converters, cover them with wood or charcoal, and try to smelt out the platinum and other precious metals they contain. The only problem is, it won’t work. The precious metals that cat converters contain are shielded by steel housings. So no matter how hot you can get them to be, those precious metals are not going to separate. A similar observation can be made about smelting electronic devices like computers. You could pile them up and try to burn them, but the result will only be a charred pile of plastic and other materials; the gold that was in them will still be there, but it will be only a small part of the mixed-up mess you created. So if you have catalytic converters or electronic devices, call our precious metal consultants and let us tell you how we can separate the precious metals that your cat converters, computers and other devices contain.
True or False: You Can Smelt People
Answer: False!
This isn’t the most pleasant topic. When human bodies are cremated, precious metals sometimes are separated and become part of the resulting ash. One example? If a body that contains a pacemaker is cremated, that pacemaker (which probably has a platinum casing) might become easily obtainable and therefore available for recycling. (As we just noted, this is not a pleasant topic.) But the term “smelting” is not applied to this kind of situation. Cremation and smelting are different processes, no matter the similarities.
Want to Know How to Use Smelting to Extract Gold, Silver, Platinum and Other Precious Metals from Surrounding Scrap?
Call our precious metals refinery to learn how we use smelting and other advanced technologies to separate precious metals from the scrap you have. Whether you have collected bench or floor sweepings, piles of dental scrap, or other materials that contain precious metals, smelting is one technology we offer. Call us at 800-426-2344 to learn more.