Floor Sweepings You Cannot Collect with a Broom
The meaning of the term “floor sweepings” is pretty obvious, right? You go into an area of a factory where gold, platinum or silver jewelry or other products were manufactured, you sweep them up, and send them to a precious metals refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, correct?
Yes, that is correct. But if you only use a broom to collect powders, you could be leaving a lot of valuable precious metal behind.
Let’s review some of the hidden, out-of-the-way places to look for shavings, powders and other materials that contain precious metals when you are looking in factories.
In Floor Mats
Machinists and other fabricators like to stand on soft mats while they are doing their jobs, because standing on hard concrete is hard on them physically. Those mats are often still in place in factories that have gone out of business. If you find them located near milling machines, lathes, or product-assembly stations, don’t roll them up and toss them. Send them to us for testing. If they contain gold, silver, or platinum, it can be extracted, often by simply exposing the mats to high heat.
Under Floor Boards
Over a period of years, a lot of gold, silver and platinum dust can “fall through the cracks” and end up underneath floorboards, where a broom can never reach it. It’s labor-intensive to get at this stuff – you have to pry up floorboards and use a vacuum to collect the dust and powder. Then you have to bag all that worthless-looking material and send it to us for testing and processing. But make no mistake about it – all that hard work could repay you with a big payout.
In Drains and Drainpipes
If in-floor drains are present in a jewelry factory, get at their contents. Doing so could require breaking a floor and pulling out the entire pipe. But if the users of the factory once cleaned the floor by washing the floor and letting the liquid flow down those drains, you could be looking at a surprise source of plenty of valuable metal.
In Ventilator Filters and Machines
Gold, silver, and other dust often collects in devices that were used to draw the air away from work areas. Sometimes, quantities of metal can even be found in the bottom of old window fans! Remember to check these devices and have them tested by a qualified precious metal refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners.
Little Tiny Bits of Gold, Silver and Platinum Are Worth Collecting!
We are here to test and process dust, muck, grime, and other worthless-looking factory contents that often contain precious metals. To learn more, call our precious metals consultants at 800-426-2344.