==<!--11.4-->Refining Costs==

Melting costs are only charged for re-meltable scrap and are based on the gross weight of scrap delivered, as well as on the type of precious metal to be recovered. The processing required for palladium containing scrap is, for example, significantly more complex that the one for silver containing metal scrap.

Preparation costs are only assessed for the refining of low grade (sweeps) scrap and are grouped into quantity breaks. They cover all processing steps such as burning, shredding, milling and blending, up to the point of sampling.

Fees for the cost of content analysis vary by the type of precious metal and the form of the sample. Ash samples require significantly more work than pure metallic materials due to their high content of mineral substances.

The actual cost of refining includes all separation steps and processes required to recover the precious metals. They are grouped into two sub-categories:

These include all processing steps for the actual refining of the different metal components included in the scrap. The are charged according to the starting gross weight or the scrap weight after melting.

This amount contains the costs for transforming the refined metals into the required grade of purity, and also the cost to convert the end metal product into a commercially re-usable form such as for example ingots or granulate.

==<!--11.5-->Precious Metal Crediting Options==