# Is this a good deal?



## Paige (May 26, 2007)

On EBay, under 290 121 536 475, seller is offering 50 pieces of unused PCB (????) for gold recovery. It looks like memory sticks to me. Is this a good deal for the buy it now price ($25???)

Come on, if it is, don't jump in on me.

Paige


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## lazersteve (May 26, 2007)

Paige,

That's way too high for 50 sticks.

Steve


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## mike.fortin (May 26, 2007)

Paige said:


> On EBay, under 290 121 536 475, seller is offering 50 pieces of unused PCB (????) for gold recovery. It looks like memory sticks to me. Is this a good deal for the buy it now price ($25???)
> 
> Come on, if it is, don't jump in on me.
> 
> Paige



Paige--maybe if he was selling 500 or 5000 for $25 plus shipping. It will be interesting to have Chris show up and calculate the amount of gold and its value on those. He seems to have a knack for the gold math. Only missed by 3% on his last estimate as I recall. Mike.


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## Paige (May 26, 2007)

Thank y'all.

Paige


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## lazersteve (May 26, 2007)

Mike,

25 DIMM Memory sticks will produce about 1 ounce of FINGERS. Memory fingers are one of the higher quality fingers yielding about 2-3 grams per pound. Here's the estimated math:

1/16 * 2.5 = 0.156 grams for 1 ounce of memory fingers APPROXIMATE

0.156 * $21 (spot today) = $3.28 gold yield for 25 memory sticks.

Steve


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## catfish (May 26, 2007)

Hey Guys:

Paige, this question couldn’t have come at a better time. I am working with Cris (Silverpro) to come up with a good fast way to determine the amount of gold in certain materials.

This is an excellent case study:

If I understand your question, Is this a good buy? 

I did a fast business case on this eBay item.

Basic assumptions:

Gold price = $655.00 per ounce
One (1) oz = 31.1 grams
One cubic centimeter = 19.3 grams of gold.	
Gold plate thickness is .000010 to .000070 inches on consumer electronics equip. 
Vintage (pre1995) material had about .000025 to .000035 in. plating
Later equip. has less than .000025 to .000010 in. plating

These memory cards are older cards (50) pins and have about .000030 in. average plating.

Synopsis:

There are 50 memory cards of moderately vintage type. (50 pin)

The pins measure 1.5mm x 3.0mm = 4.5 sq mm surface area.

Each memory stick has 50 pins on each side for a total of 100 pins x 4.5 sq mm = 450 sq mm x 50 sticks for a total of 22,500 sq mm. 

Convert 22,500 sq mm to sq inches = 34.88 sq inches.

Now there is two ways to figure this problem:

Catfish’s method:

Determine the square area of the gold on the items and convert to inches.

1.5 X 3.0 = 4.50 sq mm X 100 (both sides pins) =450 sq mm x 50 (50 sticks) =22500 sq mm. 

Convert 22500 sq mm to 34.88 sq inches

34.88 in. x .000030 (gold plate thickness) = .0010464 cubic inches

Convert .0010464 cu in. to .0171 cc or cubic centimeters.

(Remember 1 cubic centimeter of gold is 19.3 grams)

19.3 grams X .0171 cubic centimeters = .33 grams of gold in pins

Current gold price at $655.00 per oz / 31.1 grams = $21.06 per gram

.33 X $21.06 = $6.94 worth of gold in pins.

Silver Pros method:

.655 X 34.88 (sq Area in inches) X .30 (thickness) = $6.85 worth of gold in pins.

Silverpro’s method is the price of gold is $655.00 per oz.

Move the decimal place to the left 3 places. .655 x 34.88 sq in. X the thickness of the gold plating. (.30) = the estimated value.

I like Silverpro’s method best, for the sake of simplicity. My method is a check and balance. Please notice how close we both came to the same estimated value of the gold content in the memory sticks.

Paige, as to your question, this is not a good buy. The bid price is still at open at 19.95 plus 4.00 shipping. This totals out to $23.95. An actual gold content of $6.85 to $6.94. You would loose about $17.00 plus your chemicals and not to mention your time.

I hope to have a tutorial for the folks in the near future. It just takes time.

Lots of luck.

Catfish


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## goldsilverpro (May 26, 2007)

It's amazing that Catfish and Steve came up with essentially the same answers using different approaches. I am really impressed.

Steve's estimate came up about half of Catfish's but Steve used 25 sticks and Catfish used 50. Same ballpark answers.


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## aflacglobal (May 26, 2007)

want to make it simple ? Put it in a spread sheet format.
That way all you do is plug in the numbers. Not all the math.

Just a thought to make it simpler if you are doing multiple formulas
on different items.


Ralph


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## catfish (May 26, 2007)

Raph:

I am doing that as we speak. The problem is that there are many different types of gold bearing items in the computer and each one is different and also not to mention the vintages of Cpus.

I figure there is about 7 to 9 items in a box alone and all have different amounts of gold. I will come up with something. By the way if any body on the forum has any good data on this please hit me on PM. 

I beleive this is something we all need to know, is how to determine the amount of gold in all items before we bid on them. The folks on ebay have went hog wild in biidding the price up on scrap gold recovery items.

I guess they just need the refining experience. It can't be the money.

Catfish


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## jimdoc (May 26, 2007)

If there is a big range of differences or items per catagory,
could you go with low-medium-high,or would that get too 
confusing also? Or just a low ballpark figure and high ballpark
figure?


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## lazersteve (May 27, 2007)

My posted estimate come from actual runs. I keep a spreadsheet with the current spot price figured in. I ALWAYS separate my scrap by quality or grade before processing. I record weights in and yield out.

I will be assisting catfish in this document.

Steve


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## lazersteve (Aug 27, 2010)

lazersteve said:


> Mike,
> 
> 25 DIMM Memory sticks will produce about 1 ounce of FINGERS. Memory fingers are one of the higher quality fingers yielding about 2-3 grams per pound. Here's the estimated math:
> 
> ...


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## Acid_Bath76 (Jun 18, 2011)

Is this document available to forum members, or do I have to purchase this? :?:


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## GoIdman (Jan 21, 2021)

Hi everyone, 

If that spreadsheet will be available, please let me know, i am interested as well.

Pete.


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