Raw Gold

Hi all,

Well, chatted with Kitco.com the other week. The man in customer service said that they do not buy raw gold.

Does anyone know if that is true???
 

In the chat room someone said that we need to bring it to a refiner and have a melt done and then we will be able to see it to the companies such as Kitco.

Has anyone sold gold to Kitco or a similar firm?

Would like to get some discussion about forms of gold and how best to sell for the closest price to spot price of gold.

Thanks

I think they only buy refined gold, like bars It's hard to put a value on raw gold because it's hard to tell exactly how much gold is in it. You need to send your nuggets/ore to be refined at a place similar to this:

http://www.midwestrefineries.com/

Thanks for the url site.

Makes sense about having to refine the gold prior to selling it.

I think I will need to start a new post regarding "loot" in general. The best places for the best prices for the various types of goods found.

Thanks.

    I don't think that Midwest buys raw ore, but they do buy nuggets, flour gold and various types of scrap gold.

There are also people on this forum like myself who buy frequently who are not some faceless corporation.
And have the ability to accurately test scrap. And pay based on the results of what is there.
As well use it towards a good cause, it ends up in peoples wedding rings.
I am always looking for good quality USA gold so it can be used to make %100 American made and originated Gold items.

Keep in mind, the best way to see if a refiner is honest or being accurate is to take a bar of your melted material, Cut it in half. Sent a piece to one refiner and another to another.
Wait for the results and be amazed at the differences.

There are some small scale refiners such as myself who do not charge a refining fee either and pay 90-95% even on small lots. (ounce or less)
This way you can test what you have an get an accurate result on what you have. Send a couple grams to me and a couple grams to someone else, try this Midwest place that some people pimp who have never used them.

I think you will be surprised when you find out that these big corporate places do make some good money on the deals that are just too good to be true.
I have seen adds and tried many different refiners that advertised they are large and can make money at offering 98% to 99% of spot for gold...No Business, and I mean no business at all can make a profit yet alone operate at a %1 to %2 margin. Particularly if they claim to have been around for years, and have a staff of people etc.
Example Gold at $300 a few years back, paying 98% This means they are buying at $6 under spot per ounce.
Gold at $900 means they are buying at $18 under per ounce.
How do they pay for there staff, building, supplies etc.
Easy, Fees and skewing. Hidden fees/charges will stack up after you make delivery, or the results come in under whats really there. And on something like raw gold dust/nuggets etc. Unless you get an independent assay from someone else. They can take you for a lot and play you like a fool.
Placer gold dust I have tested has ranged from %55 to %95 pure. RARELY is it in the upper end.
It is easy for a refiner to get in gold that is say %87 pure, process it and say it was 71% Yes there is some loss in melted as sand/quartz, black sand mercury and other alloys in it. But Most guys when they send in send it all in.

In this senerio lets say its someone who worked hard for a summer and sent in 5 ounces. Lets say the yeild would have been 87% pure after refining at $900 per ounce. This would be $3915 spot market value, Id buy it at $3719, yes, I would make $195 but I still had my time tools and expertize tied up. I also make gold into jewelry directly so thats were most of my profit comes in.

Lets say you sent it to a dishonest refiner. Instead of it being say 87% they figure, We probably wont see this guy again, this is all the gold he has etc, he probably does not know the refining biz or the purity of the ore.
Lets pretend they say its 72% This would be a theoretical value of $3240 thats an extra $675 they made right off the top, Lets add in the extra %2 margin they "make" and pay on $3175 So they make only $65 and tell you what a good deal you got by not paying a refining fee and you got close to spot for your gold.

Reality, they walk away with $740 "profit" and your none the wiser! Looks like they can keep paying the staff, building and lifestyle they have become accustomed as this happens every week on gold sent too them.

I do a lot of prospecting my self and I hate seeing people who dont know being taken advantage of.
Be very careful when selecting a refiner and feel free to ask for advice, tests etc. Do the half trick where you send one half to one guy and the other to another, or just a part, If you tell them you did this, it keeps them honest, if you dont, you can know who you can trust and who you can not. Some gold is richer and poorer than others. But having that piece of mine is important. 

try this Midwest place that some people pimp who have never used them.

I enjoyed reading your post. Just wanted to clear something up here, I've never used Midwest and wasn't recommending that the poster use them. I just used the link to show a site to a refiner. I hope in no way anyone construed that as an endorsement of any type. Again I've never used them so I don't know anything about how they operate.

When I need some gold refined I'll be sure to look you up

There are also people on this forum like myself who buy frequently who are not some faceless corporation.
And have the ability to accurately test scrap. And pay based on the results of what is there.
As well use it towards a good cause, it ends up in peoples wedding rings.
I am always looking for good quality USA gold so it can be used to make %100 American made and originated Gold items.
In this senerio lets say its someone who worked hard for a summer and sent in 5 ounces. Lets say the yeild would have been 87% pure after refining at $900 per ounce. This would be $3915 spot market value, Id buy it at $3719, yes, I would make $195 but I still had my time tools and expertize tied up. I also make gold into jewelry directly so thats were most of my profit comes in.

Lets say you sent it to a dishonest refiner. Instead of it being say 87% they figure, We probably wont see this guy again, this is all the gold he has etc, he probably does not know the refining biz or the purity of the ore.
Lets pretend they say its 72% This would be a theoretical value of $3240 thats an extra $675 they made right off the top, Lets add in the extra %2 margin they "make" and pay on $3175 So they make only $65 and tell you what a good deal you got by not paying a refining fee and you got close to spot for your gold.
I do a lot of prospecting my self and I hate seeing people who dont know being taken advantage of.
Be very careful when selecting a refiner and feel free to ask for advice, tests etc. Do the half trick where you send one half to one guy and the other to another, or just a part, If you tell them you did this, it keeps them honest, if you dont, you can know who you can trust and who you can not. Some gold is richer and poorer than others. But having that piece of mine is important. 

Man, I DO like your style. Keeping it made in the U.S.A. AND paying more than fair prices for gold.
Honestly loved reading what you wrote.

~Nash~

Thanks Nash,
Its important that we watch out for each other...Americans in General and just good people in general. Amazing what word of mouth advertising can do.

Dave my partner sold some gold to a pawn coin shop and got ripped off. I told him not to do it but hes got a hard head and didnt think. Because of the price of things today looks like i have to sell some gold....aa

Hi Dave,

Thanks for posting, this is really good info.

When I start my detecting and get raw gold, or even jewelry I will let you know what i find.

Would the site let you put up an ad, or maybe a banner link? I think many people would like to know about you and what you do.

Jim

very interesting..............good info.

db