Gold and Silver Smelting Services for Religious Artifacts

Question
We are gathering gold and silver at my church for a new Paschal Candle holder. The artist that we are using for the project needs the silver and gold smelted, and purified. The company that he usually gets his material for,will not deal with the small amount that we have for this project. Many companies, will take the material, weigh it, and give us the equivalent in ingot. We would like to actually use the material we provide. The idea is the sentiment behind the artifacts. Might you know of any place that would be able to do this work for us?

Answer
Sean,
First i understand the  sentiment  attached  with desiring  the metals collected to be used in the vessel- and the processes involved in refining, designing and  fabricating the piece. I must say that  it is true that the great majority of  large scale refiners and metals dealers will not process  your materials and guarantee it is the same stock returned as settlement ( there is one  in New York wherein you can actually watch your lot  being processed on-site start to finish  but that is not the  standard).However the artist that you are dealing with  , if  even moderately experienced in  metalsmithing or jewellery making should be able to  do the job in studio  from refining the metals  collected to  fabricating them  with  very little effort and  a basic studio set-up. I would not personally  consider going forward with the  artist you have commissioned based on the metals  dictate alone: any jeweler, art jewelry maker or  metalsmith should have the skills and  materials with which to  simply cut out the soldered  joins, and  place the materialis into separate piles  relative to the karat  and colour of golds and  fine or  sterling silver (.999 , and .925 respectively) then  melted and poured  into ingots or rods to be rolled into wire, sheet or shaped stock as the group's design specifies. I would question an artisan that  says they need the metals pre-fabricated into purified millwork-that sends a red flag up in my mind It sounds as though  your small quantity as  you said, is not that small. It would seem you have at least 5-10 ounces of  metals  which is a lot that  is quite  valuable  even if the bulk of it  is 14kt. bringing the karat up is  a matter of purchasing an amount of casting grain to both yield enough  material for  further  millwork  and  in the needed  colours and  karats to finish the  vessel. If it is ti be cast  then  the  milling step is virtually eliminated as  the metals can be  cast  directly from the same crucible melted in  provided all  solder is removed and a good stir with a graphite rod has been applied to the molten mass. If the artisan  cannot cast with  his/her own poured  raw materials yet another reason to look further.
If the artisan has  said that  his/her refiner regularly used can't  or wont do the job given the situation  that sounds to me  knowing what I know of the  majority of metals dealers in the US and UK, that there is not much of a relationship- as over time one comes to know staff, management etc  when dealing in precious metals and the various stages and states of  materials  being dealt.My personal favourite in the US is Hoover and Strong in Richmind Va- given the  situation they would surely  process the metasl for you and return a lot of the desired stock and cash if an overage is  refined.It would take one call to Stewart Grice and the job would be  done ( though an additional  fee would be appropriate) to my specifications. It should follow that if your artist has been doing business regularly with any firm they would respect the sanctity of the  job and  do it as a favour for a valued customer- one time..However there is no reason  your metalworker  should not be able to  do the entire operation in  his/her studio. Again that red flag of erring on the side of  best juddgment goes up and  questions the experience in reality  compared to the artist's stated  level of skills..It is a job that  i could do in half a day and then begin the actual metal forming based on the design you  have come up with collectively and whether or not it is to be hand fabricated , cast or  die-formed using a hydrualic press, or least  desirable : fabricated with the aid of CAD?CAM equipment.
If I knew where you  are I could perhaps recommend a colleague  that could do the entire  job start to finish using the community's materials, or at least agreeable to precessing the metals required. If you care to enlighten me  I will do that for you, and barring any other options would offer to  process your materials myself. So i invite you to reply  with your locale and requirements from which i can make recoendation based on the location and design
brst regards, ARI