The company of Non-Ferrous Metals Recovery Industries, Sanaye Bazyabi Felezat Rangin (SBFR) in Persian, is one of leading companies in Iran in the field of precious metals recovery. Copper anode slime, e-waste, jewelry making residue, and spent catalyst are major materials that were processed at this company for extraction of Au, Ag, and Se as its main products.

My internship at this company was my first presence in an industrial environment, as the same of many students in Iran when they have to find a company to work in their field of studies.

Initially, I had no idea about where to spend this compulsory period. So, I consulted with my professors and they said that it’s the time to find your interest between different branches of materials engineering. After considering different specializations in materials engineering and what I must learn and research toward the future, I found it interesting working on extraction and recycling of elements.

After that, I began to search for companies in Iran working in this area and found this great company that not only had big operation facilities but also was near to my accommodation. Therefore, I made a connection with them and they fortunately accepted me as an intern after an interview.

My duty during internship was preparing a report about the factory based on observations, studies, and Q&As. In summary, gathered information was categorized into following sections:

• Input and output materials
  • valuable raw materials
  • Reactants
  • Products
  • Waste and residues
  • Consumable materials
• Facilities and maintenance
  • Crusher and mill
  • Roller belt and feeders
  • Furnaces
  • Ladles
  • Filtration systems
• Processes
  • Smelting
  • Cupellation
  • Aqua-Regia digestion
• Environment
  • Gaseous pollutant
  • Health and safety
• Development plans
  • Energy resources
  • Equipment
  • Energy efficiency

I did this job for two months fulltime and presented a report to my supervisor at the university and CEO of the company. Some pictures from where I have done my job are showed at the below slider:

In the end, I am really thankful to Mr. Moradi (CEO) who let me spend an internship at this outstanding company.