Blue-collar detecting paying the bills like nobody business.

[tigerbeetle]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=U02MGGBjUJc[/video]

Like all detectorists, I live for the finest finds – and I’ve scored some winners during my nearly 50 years of detecting. But, I now want to offer a video look at what finds are paying for my machines – many times over. This is my most recent load of detected blue-collar metals; pushing 150 pounds. I suspect I’m easily approaching $2,000 in scrap therein – and every single piece was found by my Fisher CZ-3D. I've already reached $4,000 in previous sales of my “highly mature” scrap. And there’s nobody doubting I got my metal fair and square. One look says there’s no funny business with this guy’s scrap. Note: This is an entirely different hunting technique than coinshooting and such. I hunt any and all trash areas, especially construction debris, where I sometimes find pounds of copper and/or brass in one swoop. Also, I hunt already dug bottle dumps where diggers ignored metal goodies.

 

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[Tenspeed]

I have a copper bucket at home and have 60+ pounds. I always keep copper and brass of any kind I find in my hunting.

I have to get a permit from the Sheriff to sell scrap in my county, but eventually I will get permit, sell, and get my return.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

$2,000.oo for 150 pounds. Over $13.oo/pound Is very optimistic to say the least.

New metal prices.

Nickel $ 7.35
Copper $ 3.01
Lead, Zinc, Aluminum about $ 1.00 each
Kitco - Base Metals - Industrial metals - Copper, Aluminum, Nickel, Zinc, Lead - Charts, Prices, Graphs, Quotes, Cu, Ni, Zn, Al, Pb

Scrap dealers need a profit to stay in business, and pay less than that.
I'm sure some are better than others, but this would be "typical"
Scrap Metal Prices Per Pound- Rockaway Recycling

Clean copper is stated at $ 2.65, which would be a very reasonable by price as only 0.36 cents less than new.

 

[leafsforever3]

Last time I turned in copper it was around $2.70 a lb , maybe you have lots of silver ?

 

[Plumbata]

Probably meant 200.00 for the lot, unless he's got a bunch of scrap silver/mercury dental amalgam in there or something.

 

[voodoo]

nice trade in metal for sure. How long does it take to get a permit? (or are you just waiting until it's worth your while to do so?)

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Well now I feel better about detecting the furnace clean out, derbies filled play fields here! I found a piece of very thick old copper pipe that must weigh at lest 3 lbs. and I know there's more! There's so much metal that it's hard to ground balance on the field! .....PAYDAY!!! Yeah!

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Probably meant 200.00 for the lot, unless he's got a bunch of scrap silver/mercury dental amalgam in there or something.

Typo did cross my mind, but clearly a comma after the 2
" 150 pounds. I suspect I’m easily approaching $2,000 in scrap therein"

and further down the post mentions thousands again.
"already reached $4,000 in previous sales "

 

[Gaspipe]

Yeah I need to go to his junkyard!

 

[Plumbata]

Yeah, I was hoping to give the benefit of the doubt, but those deliberate commas are hard to justify. What is the agenda here?

I used to scrap regularly several years ago, but my method involved extensive hiking along creeks, ravines, and hillsides in search of old dumped metals/pipes/appliances, both ferrous and nonferrous. Sometimes I'd luck out and find an old pile of illegally dumped car batteries. As a bottle digger, this exploration yielded both new dig spots for the hobby as well as a decent scrap metal income. I averaged around 17-20 an hour, but my best 7 hour day (start at 8 or so and be at the yard by 3, before close) netted 364.00 from a ravine loaded with copper, brass, and aluminum. It's hard and dirty work, but while unemployed it sure beats being unproductive, and the common justification that it's "good for the environment" can't be denied when you're pulling lead-acid batteries and whatnot from creeks. The folk who just drive around alleys wasting gas so they can collect cans and an occasional appliance really don't know how to do it right, and the thieves who destroy properties for plumbing fixtures and wiring are just downright despicable.

 

[Tenspeed]

nice trade in metal for sure. How long does it take to get a permit? (or are you just waiting until it's worth your while to do so?)

I don't think the permit process is very demanding, probably something like a background check, so it shouldn't be too much work.

When my wife fusses at me for cluttering the garage is probably when I will get my permit and move all the material. I think that will come soon with the spring cleaning.