Link to WW compostion test

[trooperdan]

Hi Guys,

A poster on the CMP site had one of his ingots of WW tested by his girlfriend..What a gal! Here is a link to the results. I was a bit concerned about the amount of Cadmium!

http://www.thecmp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13801

[cbrick]

By X-Ray Fluorescence test.

Lead - 93.180%
Antimony - 2.134%
Tantalum - 1.411%
Tin - .929%
Cadmium - .802%
Erbium - .704%
Holmium - .689%
Iron - .132% ( I assume this is residual from the steel clips )

No doubt there is some variation from manufacturer to manufacturer and in different parts of the country but this is probably a reasonably close average, at least close for boolit making.

I blend the ingots from different batches of WW together to make as large a batch of consistent alloy as possible. When I add 15 or 20 pounds of alloy to the 40 pound Magma pot I have a fair degree of confidence that the alloy in my pot didn't change much.

Rick

[ph4570]

I was surprised to see the tantalum and at such a relatively high percentage. That stuff is not cheap. Wonder why it is in WW.

[GLL]

I find the testing results VERY curious !

The high % of tantalum, holmium, and erbium make those wheel weights a great mining source !!! :) :)

Those elements are rare in the earth's crust and the Rare Earth Elements are expensive !

Forget the tin, antimony, and lead ! I want a mountain of those WW for the "etc." though!

Jerry

[cbrick]

Jerry, pretty doubtful that those elements were put in the alloy for the benefit of wheel weights but rather in whatever scrap metal the weight's were made from.

That's why I said "variation from manufacturer to manufacturer and in different parts of the country".

I'm not a metalurgist and I know nothing about an X-Ray Fluorescence test but that sounds like as good a SWAG as any.

Rick

[rhead]

Why didn't the refiner remove them the wheel weight would rival a car in value. Where is the tin. There is usually around a half percent. My guess is the PHA and SC wavelength reset was overdue.

[cbrick]

rhead, the tin is there at close to 1%, just what is usually reported in WW. (.929%)

Again, I'm not a metallurgist but it's possible the cost of removing the other elements could cost as much or more effort, time and money as the material is worth, Also possible is that the company that cast the WW didn't test the alloy for such things.

Rick

[GLL]

I figure there is about $700 worth of Holmium and Erbium in less than a bucket full of those WW ! :) :)

Jerry

[MtGun44]

My guess is that it is in the natural ore and costs a lot more than $700/bucket to
extract or somebody in China or somewhere would be doing it.

Also, some rare metals may have a VERY shallow market. Bring an extra 20 tons per year
to market might half the price if there isn't really a big demand.

[acl864]

Where's the arsenic? I thought wheel weights contained that too.

[chris in va]

I think arsenic is in lead shot IIRC.

[randyrat]

Normally there is 1/4% of arsinic in WWs. Thats wiered batch of WWs.
Was the stick-ons melted with the clip on Wws?

Like it was said before the cost of retreiving some of those metals, elements or compounds was not economical at the time/ place they were made. Too bad.

[JIMinPHX]

I think that someone needs to run a few more random ingots & see how different the results look. that sounds like a strange mix to me.

[DLCTEX]

Those WW may have had some salvaged battery lead in them to account for the cadmium.

[sqlbullet]

I posted this at the CMP too.

I bet they tested to 'top' of the ingot...the side that was up as it cooled. XFA only tests a few microns deep, and dross will float to the top. I bet the non lead/tin/anitmonty constituents were artificially high because they were all in the top few microns of the ingot.

They need to repeat the test, testing on the sides or bottom of the ingot. When I tested mine by XFA this made a HUGE difference in the outcome.