copper yeilds more than gold???

Originally Posted by NobleMetalWorks

If the gold plated connectors are the type that are encased in plastic then yes, they are going to pay less for them, of course. Think about it from a business point of view.

Copper wire still sheathed is easy enough to deal with, you just simply run it through a stripper, or you incinerate it so that you burn off the shielding. The end connectors cannot be processed in the same way. End connectors cost more to process, and produce different types of by products or gas. As well, part of the end connectors weight is that same plastic. So far as separating the gold from the copper if they are plated, that's fairly simple. They are melted into a bar and then processed via an electrolytic cell. Even still though, they must be clean. If any plastics are transferred to the copper cell, they may interfere with the refining process.

So much more labor intensive, thus the price difference.


Scott

I get there is a process difference and the ease of processing the wire. As a fairly new escrapper I was really shocked in the begining to learn about the "gold connectors" I woud hit yard sales and load up on those old school printer cables where the end weighted in a about a pound for .10-.25 cents. Its not much but if im making 12-15 bucks going out and doing what I enjoy it was just as you say "icing on the cake." There are some ends that I save still as there are some I break down. But for most usd and phone ends that I run across I now no longer save them as my yard will take them as is for more than the gold ends catagory is paying me at the moment. Hope the price goes up sometime as im horde is sitting there gathering dust.