EWolfe Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 When I was working in West Virginia, a fellow woodworker-type told me this one (true, by all accounts): A few years back (early '90's), an old church in Europe suffered some damage from a wind storm, including damage to a 150-year-old copper roof on the building. Since it was an old roof anyway, the church decided to take bids for replacing, rather than repairing the roof. So the ad went out. Five or six bids came back for this large job. There were many considerations that indicated an expensive replacement: steep pitched roof, high elevation roof on uneven ground requiring extensive scaffolding work, and the sheer weight and labor of replacing a large church roof. Materials would be provided by the church, so the bids were labor and disposal of the old roof only. The bids came back and they were all pretty close: $130,000; $150,000, and a low bid of $110,000. A few days passed by as they checked out the companies, and reviewed bids - then they got a call from a fellow in Texas who only asked when the original roof was put on. They told him it was 150 years old, and he said: "I will do this job for free if you let me have the old roof". The church officials told him that removal was part of the job bid, and the Texan said again: "I'll do the job for free". Needless to say, they were reluctant to believe that a foreigner was going to fly in and do the job for nothing, but upon checking the credentials of this individual were convinced that the work would not only be top-notch, but done in a timely fashion. The superintendant for the church was particularly curious about this Texan, and how he could afford to do this job gratis . The offer was accepted, the team of 10 flew in, tore out and replaced the roof in short time, impressing all with the quality and speed of their work, and finally started packing up the old copper into crates to be shipped back to the states. The superintendant got an idea, but it still didn't make sense, so he approached the Texan and asked him: " I can see you are shipping the copper back home, but how does that help you recoup your labor and travel for this job" The Texan responded as they packed the last of the copper into the trucks: "150 years ago, they hadn't figured out how to smelt gold out of copper - I estimated that there is at least $700,000 of gold in this copper to be smelted out. Goodbye" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 You CAN'T 'smelt' gold out of copper. No way to do it. It's an element. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Sphinx said: You CAN'T 'smelt' gold out of copper. No way to do it. It's an element. well, i thought this story "smelt" fishy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 another goddamn urban legend, eh Cheesehead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Sphinx said: You CAN'T 'smelt' gold out of copper. No way to do it. It's an element. Sqhinx is right. One can not SMELT gold out of copper, but not for the reason he states. (Smelting is a heating/melting process that relies on a difference in melting point temps of the precious metals being refined. Gold and silver melt at temps too near that of copper to be extracted from that type of process.) BUT........ gold, silver, and platinum CAN be extracted from copper using an electric current and additional refining processes. One refiner estimates that for every 1,600 pounds of copper produced by them, their precious metals refinery recovers about 1 ounce of gold and 7.5 ounces of silver. Depending on the weight of the copper roof and the price of gold at the time the work was done, the story could be absolutely true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 technically they are not refined or extracted from the copper rather the copper is not pure copper but contains impurities of other metals. it is these impurities which are extracted during the process of refining the COPPER however: $700 000 of gold at ~$300/oz = 2333 oz of gold. 2333 oz * 1600 lb. Cu/1 oz Au = 3, 700, 000 lb. Cu that's a fuckin heavy roof! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 Dru said: technically they are not refined or extracted from the copper rather the copper is not pure copper but contains impurities of other metals. it is these impurities which are extracted during the process of refining the COPPER however: $700 000 of gold at ~$300/oz = 2333 oz of gold. 2333 oz * 1600 lb. Cu/1 oz Au = 3, 700, 000 lb. Cu that's a fuckin heavy roof! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 It comes down to your definition of a metal. Technically speaking, Sphinx is right that one can not extract any gold from pure copper. But we all commonly call our 14k gold rings "gold" even though they are only about 58% gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 (edited) nevermind... Edited August 22, 2003 by Thinker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 why were all the bids in US dollars rather than in francs or marks or pounds sterling or whatever??? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bird Posted August 22, 2003 Share Posted August 22, 2003 This story requires little detective work. If the following is true it is an urban legend regardless of how plausible it might sound. 1. The person who tells the story is only a few people removed from the person it happens to. 2. There is the telltale plot build up to the one sentence plot solution at the end. Any story with these two elements is an urban legend and never happened… period. Whoever tells this story should be shamed mercilessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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