|
|
|
|
 |
Letter 18889 Removing gold from electronics [New York]+++ I need help removing gold from electronics. I am using nitric acid, and I am getting a good amount of what looks like gold. I have unlimited access to old equipment, and I know if I can get some help I can recover a good amount of gold. I need to perfect the aqua regia process and I also want to try the reverse plating process. I also need to get advice on smelting the gold down to a button. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am spending time and money on the trial and error method, and I know I have wasted some good gold. Silver, and other precious metals will be next after I get the art of gold recovery. Thanks very much, Steven Esposito
Is there a safe, simple, and inexpensive way to reclaim gold from a variety of plated pins and connectors used on circuit boards and electronic components? Someone suggested using nitric acid but I am unsure of the procedure to do this. Thank you. Jim Nelson
I need help on how to recover gold from electronics. Huge amount of my money have been spent on it. I have limited information as regard this because no refiner around in my country. Also, I need platinum refiners who are ready to buy my catalytic convertors. ADEYEMI EZEKIEL
I am interested in gold refining and would like to know of a few different sites to looking for purchasing gold refining - or more preferably a system for refining all semi-precious metals. I would like a machine to capability for processing around 10 oz/batch. Any information on where I can look, phone numbers, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Kymberlee Sellwood
+++ Hello, I would also like to know the richest sources of gold in a computer. Jai Trehan
+++ Hello, Like many other people on this site, I too am trying to get good information about recycling computer boards and other electronics for the gold, silver etc. I have good sources with a high volume on hand, so the supply side is taken care of. But I am really having a hard time locating good info. on the processing that is involved here! I would like very much to be able to grow this side line interest into a small venture. Any help out there would really be a HUGE help to me as I have not been able to find much on my own so far... Thanks, Randall Hamby
+++ YOU CAN STRIP THE GOLD BY REVERSE PLATING i.e., MAKING THE JOB AS ANODE IN AN ELECTROLYTIC SOLUTION OF 90%NaCN , 15%NaOH AND 15% SODIUM META NITRO BENZENE SULPHONATE, AND STAINLESS STEEL AS CATHODE. GOLD WILL DEPOSIT ON CATHODE. JUST PEEL OFF THE GOLD AND REFINE IN ACID MIXTURE OF NITRIC OR SULPHURIC ACIDS, OR DISSOLVE IT AQUA REGIA, DILUTE THEN ADD SODIUM META BISULPHITE, PURE GOLD WILL PRECIPITATE AT THE BOTTOM.
+++ Panjala Mukesh, what kind of material we need to put in anode? I mean what kind of metal. It is put the whole electronic board as an anode? Cheng
+++ Would you please help me to recover gold from waste/scrap the complete process at home investing nominal amount? B.Yoganand Patnaik
+++ Dear Mr Panjula Mukesh from India, Can you help me with your knowledge please, to construct an amateur Lab at home in order to strip gold out of electronic equipment. Kitsos Dimitris
+++ I want to find details about gold refining processing by addition of silver dowel weight of gold such as acid concentration, additive materials, or how identify of finishing process, etc.pleas tell me. Thank you. I am waiting for your answer. Salam Farid
+++ I am trying to recover gold from small parts made mainly of gold coated steel, it contain also gold coated aluminium and brass pieces. When I treat these parts with aqua regia, the liquid is so muddy that I can not filter or continue the process to precipitate the gold. Do you have a solution to take off the steel prior to the normal process? Thanks in advance. Joseph Oren
+++ Need info on reclaiming gold thru reverse plating what voltage is used to reverse process could one use a small stainless container AS THE ANODE? Cathy Hubbard
+++ You don't mention whether you are an industrial chemist working in a properly engineered lab, or a hobbyist who is likely to hurt them self, Cathy. If you are a hobbyist, sell your gold plated items to a jeweler; if there is a large volume of them, sell them to a refiner. Remember that you can't plate or unplate gold except in an electrolyte strong enough to dissolve gold (like cyanide or aqua regia), Cathy. So, whether you can use stainless steel as the cathode (not the anode) depends on whether stainless steel is resistant to the electrolyte you choose. The voltage required depends on the conductivity of the electrolyte and the spacing between anode and cathode, but 6 volts is probably plenty. What electrolyte do you plan to use?
I am looking for ways to dissolve precious metals from electronic scrap and then separate them from each other for purpose of recovery. Is there an alternative to using acids? If so how do I separate each metal so that I can smelt them in to ingot molds? Mike Brown
Hi everyone, my company is doing recycle . We recycle about socket e.t. contact finger , socket , contractor . We coated the socket with a chemical (PDR) a layer of wax that provide more conductive and prevent it from losing the layer of gold plating on top when contact . (in the socket pin it contain a layer of alloy , iron and gold) .We are finding a solution how to extract the gold out from it without other forms together , and insect it back to the socket pin again . Can anyone tell me the solution in doing it , I will be grateful to him/her . Chin Wing Wah
+++ To Joseph Oren. Add Sodium Bisulfite to precipitate the gold out of solution. Pour off solution. Add borax to the black mud, melt with torch, y voila. George Bernard
+++ I have access to aircraft vanes and other aircraft parts proposed to be contain gold brazing. Anyone with suggestions on testing and recovery / refining of this gold? Tim Cooper
++++ My goal is to recover gold from computer scrap. I separated the gold with nitric acid, but a grayish sludge, insoluble in nitric, comes off as well. I dissolved the whole mess in aqua regia, and precipitated with sulfur dioxide without first boiling out the nitric acid. I got a black precipitate, unlike the brown I've seen reducing gold chloride in HCl solution. When settled, the precipitate had a blackish brown color. What impurity am I dealing with here, and how can I get rid of it, or am I just seeing very fine gold particles? Will it help if I boil out the nitric from the hydrochloric in the aqua regia solution before I start the reduction with sulfur dioxide? Douglas Drake
++++ Aqua regia ... sulfur dioxide .... boiling nitric acid.... hydrochloric acid ... hobbyist. I just hope you're doing this in a properly equipped and fully permitted laboratory :-)
++++ Few is relative, Abhishek. Judging from the volume of inquiries submitted here, it seems like every 2nd hobbyist has decided that recovery of gold from electronics is a road to riches.
++++ I am a scrap metal dealer and have gotten into recovering and melting aluminum, lead and lead/antimony, brass, copper, and bronze. I am also a machinist at a farm equipment manufacturer. I am looking at expanding what I can redirect away from the landfills such as wood waste, and E-Waste. What I would like to know is how to remove all the chips from circuit boards and then recover the gold from them. Do all boards have gold? Thanx in advance, Brent Stumph
++++ Hello, I am going to have to agree with some of the things that have been said in this post in reference to the "hobbyist" and chemicals and the inherent danger involved in these processes. That said, it can be economically viable to process SOME electronic scrap utilizing a variety of different methods. In answer to questions relative to the quantities and types of recyclable materials from electronic scrap: One ton (2000 lbs) of "average" circuit board from modern computers and electronics generally yields (in a very good system) between 8 and 11 troy ounces of 24k gold. This gold is found in a number of places, including the plated gold leads referred to earlier, on plated pins inside the connectors and on the board in a number of places and on and within the ic (integrated circuits) on the board itself. In addition, there will generally be around 10 to 20 times this amount in silver from the solder and other components (although depending upon the method of recovery, this yield may not be reached). Some types of electronic board have greater yields of silver and almost no gold; this is generally the board without connector ends and major ics. There are also minute amounts of palladium, platinum and other pgms (mostly in certain capacitors, but also in some chips and connectors). Your highest yields of gold in computer scrap especially are rarely from clipped plated leads, but from the processor/cpu, memory and other ics (which can yield 2 gm/lb or more, depending upon the type and age). Many of the older electronics and early computer equipment will be much much higher in volume, while the newest (97 and newer) I would surmise would be lower, although I have not processed enough to tell you for sure. There are, of course, many other places (like automotive catalytic converters) where you can find precious metals that may be recycled, but the scope of this section seems to be on electronic board/PCB so I will stay on that subject. There are several ways to process these materials. Personally, I have used an electrolytic method utilizing cyanide leaching and Aqua Regia methods with success. I am still relatively new to the electrolytic method and have been using some cyanide alternatives recently, but with varying success and without much yield in silver. With Aqua Regia processing, you are able to process out each material by selectively precipitating from solution after absorbing in the acid. AR is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid; it may also be manufactured using sodium nitrate (nitrate of soda available as a fertilizer) and muriatic acid (used as a concrete cleaner among other things). I first burn the materials, then crush them and dissolve in the acid and then let settle, filter, precipitate and then refine my metals. THIS IS DANGEROUS. DO NOT DO IT UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY, UNDERSTAND THE DANGERS AND HAVE THE FACILITIES. Certainly, never try this in a confined area or around open flame AND DON'T GET ANY OF IT ON YOU and don't breathe the fumes. Also, you have to be careful about how you get rid of the afterproducts. If you really want to get into that, you can check out some info at shor.com's website and there are other resources as well if you do a search on the net. For most of you, THE DANGERS WILL GREATLY OUTWEIGH THE BENEFIT if you don't have SIGNIFICANT KNOWLEDGE and quite a bit of common sense. A little bit of AR on you (or fumes in your lungs) and you will wish you had never heard of gold (or at least that you had taken your stuff to a refiner). That is, of course, if you have any wishes left. Because I don't believe most of the posters here are fully ready for this process, I have purposely left out the details on how to mix the chems, but I wanted to point out that there are significant quantities of precious content in these items and that it can be economically viable. So, for most of you, you will want to sell your whole populated computer board to a recycler or, if you have large quantities, think about a refinery. Currently, 486 and older processors should bring at least a buck each, pentium and newer scrap processors at least .65 each, assorted clean plated pins 15.00 and up per lb, clipped plated connectors at least 12.00/lb. Whole pcb (not clipped or cleaned of pins) should bring at least .60/lb. These are prices selling to a reputable recycler, who will take bulk to a refiner. You won't get the maximum profit this way, but it is safe and pretty easy. If you go to a refinery, you should get higher returns, but bear in mind that there are additional costs and really check out the refinery you will use. In order to make it worthwhile at a refinery, you should have at least a couple of tons of material (10-15,000 lbs would be best) and you will be expected to provide transportation of the materials to the refinery and, generally, pay between .10 and.50/lb for the refining expenses. The refinery will do an assay or assays of your scrap and will pay you out based on those assays, so your materials should be sorted by the type of material to maximize your profits. Generally, you will be paid for between 90 and 97% of the gold, silver and maybe platinum/palladium depending on the refinery, based on the assay. You have to look for a good refinery, as many are less scrupulous than others. I have found that a refinery usually pays me out based on about 90% of what I would have been able to recover had I done it myself. I figure this is probably due to filter loss and a variety of other factors and not due to their being inherently dishonest, but you should keep these numbers in mind when figuring out what is the best method for you. One more note on the automotive cats, there are a ton of buyers for these and, if you have 20, 30 or more, they will come to your door and pay cash. Prices range from 4 or 5 bucks for an aftermarket to 50, 60 or more each for certain imports, with an average of around 20.00 for most types. Pre-converters have pgms too, so don't forget about them. Other types of gold plated materials (like jewelry, old medals, and many others) vary greatly in their yield, but most have some value. Gold filled materials can be a great profit maker too if you can pick them up cheap. Okay, so that is my little bit of info. on this area of interest. Like I said, processing yourself can be dangerous; I hope I haven't made too many of you want to go that route, as it is easier and can be just as profitable to use recyclers and refineries (you have more time and less expense). If you have any questions, excepting exact methodology for processing yourself (as I don't intend to help anyone hurt themselves), I will try to help. Richard Alcorn
++++ Thank you, Richard, that was quite an exposition.
++++ Hello, Hey I have a follow up question. I have found an amazing source for plated gold PCBs and was wondering how I should separate them before I bring them to the refinery? Also I was trying to put metal plated copper in a bowl and torch them but all I get is black 'slag' for less of a better word. Is this worth anything? Peter Couture
++++ I'm looking for instruction on how to extract gold from old electronic components that I have piled up. Is there a DIY method of extracting the gold from these components ? And while we're at it, the pins at the back of pentium chips are all solid 24k gold.. right ? Thank you. Gan Kiat Chiang
++++ Here's a little follow up info for people. I hope this helps people who also have a small box of junk scrap and like me found this website listed in the top three of google. I am sad to say I thought I would make some money from these 50 old cell phones by recovering the scrap material. Boy I wish I had researched more before I started to take them apart. I would have found that I can make more money selling them to companies that sell them off to other countries. Everything I write here is of my own conclusions of the research I've found. I am writing this to help people save wasted time trying something dangerous that probably will cost you more then you get back. I've broken it up into different sections. The first of which is if you should actually scrap the item or not. 1.) - First before you start taking your old electronics apart STOP. Look up what your selling on the internet and see if there are people that will buy it and USE it still. Here are some tips Computers: 486 processors and below = SCRAP No one uses 486's anymore so if you have them consider them scrap Cell Phones: Analog = SCRAP Analog cell phones are a thing of the past and will never come back. If you have one of the first Digital cell phones (Most of them were dual band Digital/Analog) scrap them too. Electronics: Its hard to judge what is still used and what should be scrapped. I would say judge for yourself and see if there is a need for the product, not only in your region, but in the entire country. Gold Plated Items: This is up to you to decide. 2.) How to sell your old electronics. Electronics & Computers:
EBAY EBAY EBAY Cell Phones: If you search online your going to find a TON of companies that with buy cell phones for around $5 a piece. Some even if the phone is broken. www.cellforcash.com 3.) Why try to sell instead of scrap? If comes down to cost/profit. The amount of money your going to need to invest into reclamation technologies is not worth it to the every day person. Unless you have a very LARGE amount of scrap on hand as well as having a constant flow coming in, your not going to see the money you would expect. I would say knowledge and safety is another factor. The knowledge comes from, knowing how to scrap an item and properly handling the equipment needed (I.E. shredder, CHEMICALS!!!!). I'm kinda of worried about people throwing the Aqua Regia word around. This is a highly corrosive and dangerous substance that should only be done in the proper facilities. When I checked up on using this for myself I was asked what type of filter hood I was using. I had no idea what he meant and was told to go read up before I kill myself. People just talking about doing it in a ventilated don't seem to mention that all the off gas has to be processed through a filtration system and the pictures I've seen of people doing it are wearing full chem suits with the WWII style gas masks.
1 2 3
Dear Reader: please choose what you want to do.
 |
Save
This Page (why?) - Home - ©1995-2008 finishing.com
