Recycle 800 silver into pure silver

THE’silver is a precious metal malleable, it is necessary to bind it with another metal (copper is the most used metal) to increase its mechanical resistance.

THE’800 silver it is the poorest alloy entitled to the term solid silver. Its shine is not comparable to that of sterling silver (or 925 silver) or that of 950 silver.

Beyond 800 moneythe problem of recycling arises for all silver alloys, residues from the processing of silver jewellery: dust, shavings and pieces of silver to be soldered that are found on the jeweller’s workbench.

Recycling starts with recovery

So recycle these silver residuesthe artisan jeweler collects all the residues in a container which will contain silver dust and debris of different purities. He can melt them down to make a single nugget of poor silver, or store them in a container.

Deposit extract pure silver from these residues of silver alloy, these metal pieces must be dissolved in concentrated nitric acid. This process generates toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) fumes, so it’s important to do it outdoors or in a well-ventilated area.

The metallic silver then became ionic, in the form of AgNO3 dissolved in the acid solution. This is diluted with distilled water then we incorporate a clean copper tube, which through an oxidation-reduction reaction will cause thepure metallic silver. This, denser than the solution, falls to the bottom of the container and can be recovered by filtration.

The silver recovered in this way is contaminated with acid residues, which is why it must be washed with distilled water (see video below). It is then dried and melted to produce a large nugget of nearly 98% pure silver.

Video showing the process of recycling poor silver into pure silver

Obtain pure silver

(Eleven Silver 99%)

If we want get pure moneyit is necessary to process the silver previously obtained by electrolysis. Thus we immerse our nugget in a silver nitrate solution, it will serve as an anode and under the action of the current it will transform into Ag+ ions. At the same time, a silver cathode will allow the silver ions present in the solution to crystallize. The result is 99.9% pure silver crystals.