# Averege yield per 100g of fiber CPU pins ~?



## DuckTheQucker (Feb 4, 2014)

How much Au can be recovered from 100 gramm pins from fiber cpu's, all kind mixed up small ones, big ones, AMD, Pentium e.t.c... 
Already washed out from tin.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 4, 2014)

Another question to u forum. 
Are those dots and lines on RAM slots gold plated ? 
Or only fingers ?


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## goldsilverpro (Feb 4, 2014)

On the pins, it would nice to see a clear closeup with a ruler next to it.


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## bmgold2 (Feb 4, 2014)

I'd say the dots and lines look gold plated also. I'd scratch off some of the solder mask over the leads (lines) on the circuit board and check if the whole board might be gold plated. Probably isn't but only takes a second to check. If it is, try searching this forum for solder mask removal.

Keep in mind that the I.C.'s (black rectangle pieces in your picture) also contain gold. Again, search this forum for methods to recover it. Should be worth saving.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 4, 2014)

goldsilverpro said:


> On the pins, it would nice to see a clear closeup with a ruler next to it.


20 gramms on this picture, wos 22 with tin.
5 Green fiber AMD big 
1 Green fiber Pentium big
4 AMD small 

Best to do, practise on a low yeild cpu's before u do the big thing ceramics. :mrgreen:


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## bmgold2 (Feb 4, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> goldsilverpro said:
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> > On the pins, it would nice to see a clear closeup with a ruler next to it.
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You did read the forum rules didn't you? Hate to see you kicked off before you even get started.


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## goldsilverpro (Feb 4, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> goldsilverpro said:
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> > On the pins, it would nice to see a clear closeup with a ruler next to it.
> ...


As long as you are going to do a small practice lot, why not blend them well and then weigh out a sample. That way, you'll know what value to expect when you run the rest of them.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 4, 2014)

bmgold2 said:


> I'd say the dots and lines look gold plated also. I'd scratch off some of the solder mask over the leads (lines) on the circuit board and check if the whole board might be gold plated. Probably isn't but only takes a second to check. If it is, try searching this forum for solder mask removal.
> 
> Keep in mind that the I.C.'s (black rectangle pieces in your picture) also contain gold. Again, search this forum for methods to recover it. Should be worth saving.



Thanks for advise, i tryed scratchng them, plastic.
What about I.C's from mainboard's their legs looks silver or palladium to me.


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## bmgold2 (Feb 4, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> bmgold2 said:
> 
> 
> > I'd say the dots and lines look gold plated also. I'd scratch off some of the solder mask over the leads (lines) on the circuit board and check if the whole board might be gold plated. Probably isn't but only takes a second to check. If it is, try searching this forum for solder mask removal.
> ...



I'm just getting started on the whole refining game but I've been saving ALL of the I.C.'s I find. I'm up to a little less than 2 pounds so far. From the little bit of testing I have done it looks like most of them have some gold hidden away inside. You have to incinerate or crush them to get to the gold but it is there. Might not be visible since they are VERY thin but every little bit adds up.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 4, 2014)

goldsilverpro said:


> DuckTheQucker said:
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Im planing to make home made fumehood with filter, not practising with out it. :mrgreen:


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## jimdoc (Feb 4, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> What about I.C's from main board's their legs looks silver or palladium to me.



You can't tell silver and palladium from just looking at them. You need to learn how to do some testing.
Silver may tarnish and give itself away on some things. You will be disappointed later if you keep thinking every silver colored metal is silver palladium, platinum or rhodium. 

Jim


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## bmgold2 (Feb 4, 2014)

Good catch Jim, I missed seeing that part when I answered.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 4, 2014)

jimdoc said:


> DuckTheQucker said:
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> > What about I.C's from main board's their legs looks silver or palladium to me.
> ...



Grey metal plated on copper base. Im shore its precious.


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## goldsilverpro (Feb 4, 2014)

bmgold2 said:


> Best thing too do practise on a low yeild XXXXXXXX ones before u do the big thing.





> You did read the forum rules didn't you? Hate to see you kicked off before you even get started.


bmgold, 

On each post, there is a big red exclamation point, (!). It's main purpose is so the members can tell the moderators that there is some problem with that particular post. After clicking on it, you will get a chance to state the problem as you see it. The red (!) will then show up in that post and in the menus, but only is seen by the moderators (as I understand it). A moderator will then solve the problem. That's OUR job.


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## nickvc (Feb 4, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> jimdoc said:
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I hate to burst your bubble but it's more likely nickel, manufacturers don't waste precious metals especially at today's prices.


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## goldsilverpro (Feb 4, 2014)

The only white (gray) precious metal I have ever seen on the board, itself, was rhodium plated fingers on some Xerox boards from the 70's, which are as rare as hen's teeth. In modern boards of the "green" age, you might find a little silver in the solder. On the board, itself, you're looking for yellow gold. White gold isn't used on boards. Neither is Pt, Pd, Os, Ir, or Ru.

___________________________________________________________


A story. In the 70's, memory disks were standard on big business computers. These were set on stacks, not unlike records stacked up on a record changer. Some of these were as large as 48" in diameter. They were made of about 1/4" aluminum. A magnetic layer of electroless cobalt (usually) plating was laid down and a fairly heavy layer of some precious metal was laid down on top of that, to protect the magnetic layer. They usually used gold but they would have liked to use one of platinum metals because of their hardnesses.

The biggest thing going on in the memory disk industry was rhodium. Rhodium's properties were perfect. Better than sliced bread. A man that eventually became my partner in another venture was the leader in this. He had the world's largest rhodium plating bath. I worked for the company that sold him the rhodium solution and that's how I met him. It was a huge sale and I spent several days helping to set it up and we did lots of experiments to perfect it.

All went great for a few months and then they started have reading problems on the disks. In seems that pure clean platinum group metals tend to polymerize organics from the air. It was like strong rubber cement. Under the scope, I watched him roll it around in little brown sticky balls with an X-acto knife. It was so thin you couldn't see it just by looking at the disk.

In other words, it would be a mistake to use any of those metals for, say, fingers. The only other white PM is silver. It isn't used for fingers because it tends to form crystals that migrate on top of (or, through) the board material from one finger to another, connecting them.


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## gold4mike (Feb 4, 2014)

goldsilverpro said:


> bmgold,
> 
> On each post, there is a big red exclamation point, (!). It's main purpose is so the members can tell the moderators that there is some problem with that particular post. After clicking on it, you will get a chance to state the problem as you see it. The red (!) will then show up in that post and in the menus, but only is seen by the moderators (as I understand it). A moderator will then solve the problem. That's OUR job.



Thanks GSP - I've been on the forum a long time and never noticed that doodad hanging out at the bottom.


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## macfixer01 (Feb 4, 2014)

gold4mike said:


> goldsilverpro said:
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I've never seen the red exclamation point either, and still don't for that matter (other than where GSP explicitly inserted into his reply). Apparently it may only work in certain browsers? I have no idea either what the reason is why bmgold2 was threatening another member with expulsion? Didn't we just get past another one of these incidents? Parts of this group are sure turning into a bunch of elitist nitpickers!


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## jimdoc (Feb 4, 2014)

macfixer01 said:


> gold4mike said:
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He was warning about the texting lingo.

Subsilver 2 board style is not the default style, but most members find it to be the best. I think everyone should check it out and give it a try. It does get confusing when all members don't see the same thing.

Jim


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## bmgold2 (Feb 4, 2014)

macfixer01 said:


> gold4mike said:
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I'm sorry I posted that but it is done now. No deleting allowed either. I wasn't threatening him just trying to warn him. I won't do it again since that is not MY job. We have a good, clean forum and the language wasn't needed in my opinion. Doesn't really bother me but...

As to the red exclamation point, it's right beside the quote button. It turns red if you mouse over it.


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## macfixer01 (Feb 4, 2014)

bmgold2 said:


> macfixer01 said:
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Oh, I see it now. Well it's so tiny even on my 27 inch screen that I can barely tell it's an exclamation point? As you say it also only turns red if I hover the mouse over it. This cleared up my other confusion also, since looking back now I see what had already been edited out before I read Duck's posts. Only in GSP's quote of the un-edited original post do I see the "U" slang and the other offending word. My apologies to you bmgold2. This is what happens though when people edit their own posts, then others come later to the party.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 5, 2014)

bmgold2 said:


> I'd say the dots and lines look gold plated also. I'd scratch off some of the solder mask over the leads (lines) on the circuit board and check if the whole board might be gold plated. Probably isn't but only takes a second to check. If it is, try searching this forum for solder mask removal.
> 
> Keep in mind that the I.C.'s (black rectangle pieces in your picture) also contain gold. Again, search this forum for methods to recover it. Should be worth saving.



Wires between IC's , fingers, capasitors and lines are also gold plated. 
Recommending to cut fingers first, cos boards got lots of tin in it, will be difficult to recover.

What about capacitors on the Ram sticks, Ceramic's and Black with 220 written on it. 
Is it true that they contains platinum ?


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## solar_plasma (Feb 5, 2014)

> Is it true that they contains platinum ?



the black with numbers are resistors, the chocolates are mlcc's...now you should start using the search engine... :roll:


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## g_axelsson (Feb 6, 2014)

White metal on component legs are most commonly (by far) tin plating. On surface mounted component I would almost say it's the only metal, but there are always a few exceptions.

Then there are some components that have gold flash or thin silver plating on the legs.

A quick test for tin plating is to rub a piece of paper against it, a grey streak means a soft metal and that's tin.

Göran


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 6, 2014)

solar_plasma said:


> > Is it true that they contains platinum ?
> 
> 
> 
> the black with numbers are resistors, the chocolates are mlcc's...now you should start using the search engine... :roll:



Cant find info on black resistors, looked every where. 
I also find black ones with serial number 2A2, 560, 095, 470, 272


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## bmgold2 (Feb 6, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> solar_plasma said:
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> > > Is it true that they contains platinum ?
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http://lmgtfy.com/?q=smd+resistor+site:http://goldrefiningforum.com


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 6, 2014)

bmgold2 said:


> DuckTheQucker said:
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thanks 

Are they worth saving up?


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## bmgold2 (Feb 6, 2014)

*Please see this link http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8522&start=40#p204352 This type of resistor can (and most likely does) contain ruthenium oxide which is highly toxic and volatile. Best to avoid processing these parts.*




DuckTheQucker said:


> bmgold2 said:
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That all depends on you. How much it costs you to recover and refine the silver and palladium. How long it takes you to remove the parts. Silver has been staying right around $20/ Troy Ounce so you will need to recover quite a bit to make any money with it. Palladium is worth much more but probably takes more work and expense to get it. I am just going on what I've read and the few tests I've done but it looks like quantity is the key to all of this refining from scrap.

Here's another link to drool over. http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=9131&hilit=resistors

He's processing 100 Kilos a day or over 220 pounds of these parts. Just a guess but I'm thinking over 2 pounds of these parts to get an ounce of silver. If your acid and other supplies cost more than $20 to process that amount of material, then you will be in the hole. If your time is worth anything, add that to the calculations.

I plan to save them as well as the surface mount capacitors but I'm still doing/trying this as a hobby and we all know hobbies COST money.

Edited to add: Keep in mind these are just my untried estimates and my numbers could be off


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## bmgold2 (Feb 6, 2014)

g_axelsson said:


> White metal on component legs are most commonly (by far) tin plating. On surface mounted component I would almost say it's the only metal, but there are always a few exceptions.
> 
> Then there are some components that have gold flash or thin silver plating on the legs.
> 
> ...



This quick test sounded like a great idea so I tried it with some known materials.

Here's what I got:




The tin was from a roll of lead-free solder, the silver was from a .999 silver round, the nickel (which didn't really make much of a mark) was from a nickel welding rod, the copper was from a wire, and the aluminum was from bar stock.

I tried gold plated pins and also a 14K gold ring. The finger gave a very light grey not very visible and the ring gave a grey similar to silver but not as dark.

All except the copper and nickel were similar enough that you might have a hard time telling the difference.


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## bmgold2 (Feb 6, 2014)

I edited my above post but thought I'd add another post here to repeat the edited information about the SMD resistors.

Please see this link http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8522&start=40#p204352 
This type of resistor can (and most likely does) contain ruthenium oxide which is highly toxic and volatile. Best to avoid processing these parts.


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## g_axelsson (Feb 7, 2014)

How hard did you have to push to get the different streaks to rub off?
Try the same comparison on a soft paper, for example a page from a daily paper or a tissue. White glossy papers often contains a large portion of filler in form of lime stone (CaCO3) and that is a lot harder than the paper fibers.

Göran


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

Found a bit of gold under this chips. 
Rest of mainboard not worth refining, only in big amounts (tones)


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

My friend told me that this yellow capasitors have Tantalum in them.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

What about this ones ?


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## g_axelsson (Feb 21, 2014)

DuckTheQucker said:


> My friend told me that this yellow capasitors have Tantalum in them.


That is correct, and the big Rockwell chips probably have most of the gold on that card. In the form of bond wires.

No obvious tantalum capacitors on the other cards as far as I can see.

Göran


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

g_axelsson said:


> DuckTheQucker said:
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> > My friend told me that this yellow capasitors have Tantalum in them.
> ...



What about silver?


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

I cracked few RAM I.C.s no visible gold in there. 
Possible silver.


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## jimdoc (Feb 21, 2014)

Did your friend ever tell you about the search box?

Jim


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

What about this cpacitors on CPU's? Do they contain Palladium?


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## bmgold2 (Feb 21, 2014)

Try these links:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ram+chip+yields+site:goldrefiningforum.com

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mlcc+yield+site:goldrefiningforum.com

At the top left of each page on this forum is a Google Custom Search bar that will search just this forum for about any information you want.

here's a link for a searching tutorial by LaserSteve. I think it is using the search box and advanced search in the upper right of each page.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=38519#38519

One tip for you and anyone else that might not know. If you get a page that says:

Not Found

The requested URL /phpBB2/viewtopic.php was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Just change the phpBB2 to phpBB3 in the url. Some of the links for earlier posts haven't been changed.

One more link:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=12183

In the first post at that link there is a PDF you can download that really helps use the advanced search tool on this forum. TBarrow did a great job with that tutorial and I recommend anyone that hasn't seen it yet to check it out.


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## DuckTheQucker (Feb 21, 2014)

bmgold2 said:


> Try these links:
> 
> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ram+chip+yields+site:goldrefiningforum.com
> 
> ...


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## boyzee (Apr 13, 2014)

Hi, I'd like to post my yield from 290 grams cpu leg pins only.
Removed capacitors from from bags of purchased cpu pins, added some pins of my own cpus also.
Pins were from cpus mixed batch whatever cpus would drop their legs from torch application.
The pins had some solder, some garbage from burn't fiber in the batch to cook.
Some pins were copper based and mostly were iron/kovar based.

I played around with my process of washing and cleaning, 2 weekends and a little bit during the week.

1.4 grams total yield. 

Thought this information might be of use.
Not happy with the result and I'm highly confident that I got all the gold available with no losses.


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