50071

Removing gold plating from a brass ingot

September 16, 2008

I have 98 24K gold plated over brass ingots. Each ingot contains approx. 6 grains of 24K gold plating. Is there some way a novice can reclaim this gold, or is there some place that will buy the ingots for a fair value.
Thanks,
George Roberson

George Roberson
hobbyist - Olive Branch, MS, United States

George,
First let's calculate how much gold you have.

Gold --- $885.00 per troy oz
Per gram ----- $28.45
.065 grams per grain
6 grains x .065 grams = .390 grams
.390 grams x $28.45 per gram = $11.09
98 ingots x $11.09 = $1086.82
There are gold strippers available and most contain cyanide. The non - cyanide strip solutions take longer and it's hard to tell when all the gold is removed because of the similar color of the brass.
Why not contact a refiner that will assay a sample of ingots, and pay you so much per ingot. They should pay you for the brass weight as well. Even if you do strip the parts yourself, you will have the cost of the equipment and chemical, transporting fees, and the per gallon processing fees from the refiner. Try a few precious metal refiners and see if they will do the solid material processing for you. Good Luck!

Mark Baker
Process Engineer - Syracuse, New York