Last Friday I was previewing an auction and noticed a bunch of chemicals and powdered metals with no lot numbers. Powdered metals sell for $10 per pound and up on ebay so I asked about the powdered metals. Auction rep said they weren't allowed to auction the chemicals and a company rep standing there said if there was anything there I wanted I could have it for free. Ah o-k-a-y? Free? Yep! They were going to have to pay to dispose of everything so anything I took saved them money.
When I started boxing up the powdered metals it went from "Who said you could take that?" to "There is a drum with 50 pounds of powdered copper in the hall, do you want that too?". When I took a can with about a pound of powdered magnesium they asked "You will take powdered magnesium?" Sure I said. "Follow me." Outside to a locked building where there was a 55 gallon drum, 300 lbs net weight, of powdered magnesium. That is a lot of magnesium. Only thing I could think of to use that much is to slip it into the bonfire at burning man. Told them I would let them know in a couple days, time to ask more questions.
Will the scrap yards take powdered magnesium? No and hell no!
Can I sell it on ebay? Maybe, but nobody is. Solid magnesium yes, but no powder.
Can it be shipped? Yes, but it is DOT 4.1 flammable solid. To ship it you need to register as a hazmat shipper (and pay a fee to register). Plus it ships as hazmat so it won't be cheap. Plus your customer also has to be registered to receive it.
What is it worth? I found one place selling 2.5kg (5.5 pounds) for $1048. At that value it is a bit over $57k.
Final answer - I will pass. It is worth a bit, but I see no way to profit from it. If anybody comes to a different answer and can pick it up in Tucson by Thursday (13 Dec 18) I know who to call.
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