Gekrätz

English translation: dross

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Gekrätz
English translation:dross
Entered by: Marc Svetov

19:22 Aug 25, 2020
German to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Mining & Minerals / Gems / Gold refinery
German term or phrase: Gekrätz
"Ab 1820 wurden Produktionsabfälle, sogenanntes Gekrätz oder Kehrets – das prinzipiell aus allem in der Werkstatt oder an der Werkbank „Zusammengekehrten“ bestehen konnte –, an auswärtige Unternehmen gegeben.
In Paris, Frankfurt und Stuttgart waren nämlich Laboratorien gegründet worden, die Gekrätz billiger und vollständiger scheiden konnten."

Can anybody help? It would be much appreciated.
Marc Svetov
United States
Local time: 11:35
dross
Explanation:
Only medium confidence for this because this is far from a specialist field of mine, but "dross" is, I believe, the technical term for this substance (despite how informal it sounds to a speaker of British English!).

There is an exceptionally detailed article on the subject here (https://blog.c-hafner.de/scheidgut-gekraetz/), in case it's helpful!
Selected response from:

Jennifer Caisley
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:35
Grading comment
Thanks.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2sweepings
philgoddard
5residues
Cillie Swart
3 +1dross
Jennifer Caisley
3scrapings & sweepings
Chris Pr


Discussion entries: 15





  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
dross


Explanation:
Only medium confidence for this because this is far from a specialist field of mine, but "dross" is, I believe, the technical term for this substance (despite how informal it sounds to a speaker of British English!).

There is an exceptionally detailed article on the subject here (https://blog.c-hafner.de/scheidgut-gekraetz/), in case it's helpful!

Example sentence(s):
  • dünne, vor dem Guss abzuziehende Schicht aus Legierungen und Schlacke auf geschmolzenem Metall
  • Dross is a waste product taken off molten metal during smelting, essentially metallic in character.

    https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Gekraetz
    https://www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/1456/dross
Jennifer Caisley
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:35
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Chris Foster: Possibly "sweepings" (Zusammengekehrten)? or "skimmings"
22 mins

agree  Chris Pr: Or slag, or skimmings...I believe that 'Kehrets' refers to something quite different...
8 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
sweepings


Explanation:
I arrived at this via "Kehrets", which your text says is a synonym of Gekrätz.

I'm suspicious of "Kehrets", since I couldn't find any hits for it. It could be a dialect word, or a variant spelling, or something else, but it's clearly derived from "zusammenkehren", to sweep together, mentioned later in the sentence.


How do jewellers capture every last particle of gold dust?
An ingenious industry is turning workshop waste into profit
Hockley Mint, Birmingham, company reclaims precious metal. At Hockley Mint, **sweepings** are turned into gold nuggets...
http://www.ft.com/content/0512638c-b7c2-11e6-961e-a1acd97f62...

The World Market for Gold Waste and Scrap and Metal Clad with Gold Excluding **Sweepings** containing Other Precious Metals...
http://www.amazon.com/Market-Excluding-Sweepings-containing-...

http://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/zusammenkehren


philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Hollywood: I would go with "sweepings"
6 hrs

neutral  Chris Pr: I don't belleve the two terms are synonymous at all...and 'Gekrätz' was the question posed...:) // Remember that 'oder' can be a false friend that sometimes reads as 'and' in English, as illustrated by Alison's on-context ref.
7 hrs
  -> The wording makes it quite clear that they're synonyms, material that's swept up.

agree  Björn Vrooman: https://www.ardmediathek.de/swr/video/abendschau/goldgewinnu... / Sweeps (filings are Scheidgut): https://www.atthebench.com/workshop-precious-metal-reclamati...
1 day 8 hrs
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
residues


Explanation:
The residues or waste that results from production processes in mining.


    https://www.linguee.com/english-german/search?source=auto&query=Gekr%C3%A4tz+oder+Kehrets
Cillie Swart
South Africa
Local time: 18:35
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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2 days 16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
scrapings & sweepings


Explanation:
I think 'scratchings' may be a little too narrow a term to fit here, so have opted for 'scrapings' instead.
This is rough;y what the original, historical usage of terms amounted to [imho], as laid out in Alison's bang on-topic discussion reference...

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Note added at 7 days (2020-09-01 21:02:46 GMT)
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The most relevant historic reference material (in 1820) makes it quite clear that two quite different methods were used to reclaim gold in industrial workplaces:

„Kehrets- oder Gekrätz-Anstalten“ waren einst Werkstätten, die kleinste Partikel und Reste von Edelmetallen aus dem auf dem Boden „Zusammengekehrten“ oder vom Arbeitsplatz „Abgekratzten“ zurückgewannen.
https://evt-gmbh.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EVT-INTERVIEW...

Chris Pr
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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