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Treated Indoor Range Lead won't melt
Came across a barrel of around 400lbs of lead that was from an employee of a gun makers indoor test range.
It appears they treated the indoor range with a greyish chemical and collected all the stuff off the floor. It is (was) mostly lead, just based on how heavy it is. It will not melt. If I put a torch to it, as shown in photo, it turns brownish yellow. Wait long enough and I do see a couple shiny silver drops, but that's at over 1800F.
My hope is that there is an easy fix like put in large pot, add water, heated water seperates the crap to surface and dissipates, then left with something useable (LOL). Zero chance of that I'm guessing. Looking for some quick answers before I dispose of it. Maybe add other chemical to separate safely?
Thanks!
All that lead & I can't get to it!
Oxidation forms a shell around the metal, the metal on the inside is not affected once the oxygen is removed. With steel the oxidation layers break free exposing fresh steel to the oxygen and the oxidation process starts over again & again until the steel is all eaten up.
With lead and it's components I haven't a clue about the oxidation process other than it forms a protective cover on the lead fragments, don't have any idea whether or not it ever comes off exposing more lead to the air?
I have waited too long to make ingots of my range collections and have regretted it because all the thin fragments seem to be completely oxidized from all sides.
With an enormous amount of heat and time & with the pot covered in several inches of sawdust with a lid on the pot...I got back maybe 10%.
The dross is thick, clumpy & heavy...I know there's got to be some fresh lead in there but I haven't a clue as how to economically get it back out of the oxidation.
My solution is to collect my range lead every 2 months and the melt goes much better. I also keep my collection bucket covered so the sprinklers don't add to the oxidation problem.
This may be a total loss...
https://i.imgur.com/BeEcusb.jpg
If there was a way to grind this up and expose the encapsulated lead the outcome might be different but...I wouldn't want to be around the process, grinding is going to make a heck of a cloud of oxidized lead dust.