Aussie guy, explaining how to refine silva'... I wouldn't do this at home, but it's interesting to know how it's done... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHm2TdWgiuM (video cannot be played back on other sites, so I inserted the link) I think the entire process is quite complicated and dangerous, not really cheap either.
and if you put all the tailings and rinsings in a container and add salt you will recover more silver. i've found that the copper method doesn't get it all out. i've left the copper in for days until the reaction stops. after filtering the silver cement out i put some salt in the solution out of curiosity and sure enough, silver chloride formed meaning there was still silver in solution after the copper reaction. might as well just use the chloride method.
Iv thougbt bout it. Back in my teens my dad had two computer stores. We looked into pulling the gold and such out of the boards memory and so on. I wish i knew then what i know now we hauled off 2 40 yard dumpsters of computer waste. God knows how much we tossed.
I am only curious about the process and I can't find my way around in chemistry, with chemicals. Acids... better stay away from them. The fumes, the threat of a possible accident, plus: it also costs money
