Cape Precious Metals is one of only a few refineries in South Africa that handles the recovery of Platinum group metals from waste material. The list of items we refine includes sweeps, polishings, filings, sludge and old solids like jewellery, trophies, cutlery and tea sets. By utilising modern techniques we ensure maximum recovery and returns, and all gold, platinum & palladium refined at our facilities has a purity of 99.99%.
“Refining is a precious responsibility that has been entrusted to us. Our clients are welcome to arrange with us to be present while we prepare, melt and scan their material”
~ Sharon Eades, Managing Director
We have preparation/melting stations and assay facilities in Germiston, Durban and Port Elizabeth. Our Head Office in Cape Town houses our full refinery and has a division that extracts silver from redundant X-Ray film, generating 999 silver, which is alloyed, and beneficiated into ready-to-use products for jewellers.
We also offer CAD design, wax model and casting services as well as in-house assay facilities.
Various kinds of Refinery
Click on the headings below to read more about the services that we offer.
-
Bench Sweeps
Description:
Jewellers Waste from the jewellers bench containing sandpaper, bits of slag, cotton wool, saw blades.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
Bench sweeps contain a higher concentration of more easily refinable precious metals that yield much higher returns than floor sweeps. Make it a habit to regularly sweep your lap tray as well as your bench.Ask your CPM Sales Executive for free packaging. We supply free plastic bags or jars to our clients for Bench Sweeps.
Refining turnaround time:
- Turnaround times for Bench Sweeps: 3 – 5 Days
- These are working days and don’t include time spent in transit to our Cape Town refinery.
Refining Payment Options
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- Precious metal filings are calcined to remove organic matter and impurities.
- A magnet is then run through the material to remove iron filings and sawblades.
- Flux is added to melt the filings into a button or bar.
- The button is then drilled, assayed and sent to the laboratory for recovery.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
-
Carpets
Description:
Carpets that has been down in your workshop under benches or casting areas. Carpets are the lowest grade of refining and very time-consuming to refine.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
Ask your CPM Sales Executive for free packaging. We supply free boxes to our clients for Carpets.
Refining turnaround time:
- Turnaround times for Carpet: 15 -20 Days
- These are working days and don’t include time spent in transit to our Cape Town refinery.
- Please allow for longer turnaround if the job is extremely large
Refining Payment Options:
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- This process is different and more time-consuming than the previous two.
- The carpet is cut in to small pieces for processing
- The material is incinerated, calcined, milled and sieved leaving us with a fine powder.
- A sample of the powder is sent to an independent assay laboratory.
- Flux is added to the powder which is smelted in our gas furnace and poured into an ingot . This is drilled for assay and sent to the laboratory for refining.
- The precious metals recovered must be equal to the expected yields calculated from assay.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
-
Clean Filings
Description:
Clean Filings swept from bench containing NO sandpaper, saw blades or tissue paper.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
Ask your CPM Sales Executive for free packaging. We supply free plastic jars to our clients for Clean Fillings (Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium).
Refining turnaround time:
- Turnaround times for Clean Filings (Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium): 2 – 3 Days
- These are working days and don’t include time spent in transit to our Cape Town refinery.
Refining Payment Options:
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- Precious metal filings are calcined to remove organic matter and impurities.
- A magnet is then run through the material to remove iron filings and sawblades.
- Flux is added to melt the filings into a button or bar.
- The button is then drilled, assayed and sent to the laboratory.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
-
Polishings
Description:
Polishings are dark thick black partials that are recovered from your polishing machines “socks” and is high grade refining as this is where most of metal will be present, that was “lost” in manufacturing.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
Where possible, polishings should be kept separate from sweeps and any other low-grade refining, so keep separate containers for polishing waste.
Ask your CPM Sales Executive for free packaging. We supply free plastic bags or jars to our clients for Polishings.
Refining turnaround time:
- Turnaround times for Polishing: 10 Days
- These are working days and don’t include time spent in transit to our Cape Town refinery.
Refining Payment Options:
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- The polishings scrap is spread out in a large tray.
- Full descriptions of the contents are recorded and the polishing dust is photographed.
- The material is incinerated, calcined, milled and sieved, leaving us with a fine powder.
- A sample of the powder is sent to an independent assay laboratory.
- Flux is added to the powder which is smelted in our gas furnace and poured into an ingot. This is drilled for assay and sent to our laboratory for refining.
- The precious metals recovered must be equal to the expected yields calculated from assay.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
-
Sludge
Description:
Sludge is recovered from Sink Traps – it’s a bad smelling black mud looking compound.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
The goop that collects in sink traps, wastewater treatment systems and ultrasonic jewellery cleaners is an overlooked category of refinable material. If you’re not collecting sludge, you could be pouring substantial amounts of money down the drain. This is an easy DIY installation that CPM is happy to advise you on.
Refining turnaround time:
- Turnaround times for Sludge: 15 Days
- These are working days and don’t include time spent in transit to our Cape Town refinery.
Refining Payment Options:
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- Sludge is spread out on to trays and dried
- Flux is added to the powder which is smelted in our gas furnace and poured into an ingot . This is drilled for assay and sent to the laboratory for refining.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
-
Solids
Description:
Jewellery, bars and buttons.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
Solids: Collect, label and store any large pieces of metal, from wire and plate leftovers to whole unwanted jewellery pieces. These scraps give the highest returns.
Ask your CPM Sales Executive for free packaging. We supply free plastic jars to our clients for Solids.
Refining turnaround time:
1 – 2 days if pay on assay else 3 days
Refining Payment Options:
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- The Clients metal is weighed in and a job card prepared.
- A magnet is run through the material to detect non-precious metals.
- The metal is homogeneously melted and drilled for assay.
- The drilling is sent to our assay technician for analysis.
- The material is then sent to the laboratory for refining.
- Gold is oxidized by chemicals and dissolved as gold chlorides.
- Nitrogen oxide is removed and the fumes neutralized by means of a scrubber. Base metals are dissolved leaving the precious metals in solution. Each metal is then selectively precipitated.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
-
Sweeps
Description:
Sandpaper, tissue paper, polishing wheels, cotton pieces, plastics, vacuum dust.
How to look after the various jewellers waste:
Floor Sweeps are low yield material, which necessitate a more involved precious metals extraction process and longer refining times and should be stored separately to bench sweeps.
Ask your CPM Sales Executive for free packaging. We supply free buckets to our clients for Sweeps.
Refining turnaround time:
- Turnaround times for Sweeps: 15 Days
- These are working days and don’t include time spent in transit to our Cape Town refinery.
Refining Payment Options:
- Payment via EFT or Cash
- Payment return of 100% of your fine gold/silver/platinum/palladium, whereupon you will be charged a refining fee
- We can credit your Customer Account at CPM
- Consider options to receive investment bullion gold/silver – speak to your CPM Sales Executive in this regard
How we refine your precious metals:
- This process is different and more time-consuming than the previous two.
- The sweep is spread out in a large tray. A full description of the contents are recorded and the sweep is photographed.
- The material is incinerated, calcined, milled and sieved leaving us with a fine powder.
- A sample of the powder is sent to an independent assay laboratory.
- Flux is added to the powder which is smelted in our gas furnace and poured into an ingot . This is drilled for assay and sent to the laboratory for refining.
- The precious metals recovered must be equal to the expected yields calculated from assay.
Please don’t send the following, as we DO NOT refine:
- Plating Solutions, Silver Nitrate, Mercury, Computer parts, Stainless Steel, Amalgam
- Please remove all precious stones from refining beforehand as we do not sort/remove these
