Hi Peter:
Is this just now becoming an issue in Australia? In the US we have had to dispose of cupels as hazardous waste for at least 20 years. We had two options:
1) send to a lead smelter
2) send to hazardous waste land fill (they would stabilize with concrete and bury)
We had to use a lead smelter in Canada, as US smelters could not accept hazardous waste. For either option we would need to have the material tested and classified.
If this was too much of a problem you could always switch to bismuth oxide fire assays rather than lead fire assays.
Is this just now becoming an issue in Australia? In the US we have had to dispose of cupels as hazardous waste for at least 20 years. We had two options:
1) send to a lead smelter
2) send to hazardous waste land fill (they would stabilize with concrete and bury)
We had to use a lead smelter in Canada, as US smelters could not accept hazardous waste. For either option we would need to have the material tested and classified.
If this was too much of a problem you could always switch to bismuth oxide fire assays rather than lead fire assays.
C
I would sell the lead to a recycling company. It can be recycled into quite a range of products so it's better to keep it out of the landfill. This site in the US recycles lead - you can get an idea of what it can be made into:
http://www.maycoindustries.com/lead_scrap.htm
I'm sure there is a similar business in Australia that can do this sort of thing for you.
http://www.maycoindustries.com/lead_scrap.htm
I'm sure there is a similar business in Australia that can do this sort of thing for you.