# Process for a mix of precious metals in e-waste



## mr.data (Aug 25, 2021)

Hello everyone,
I just signed up hoping to find an answer for an idea I have. 

We get a lot of electronic scrap that we bring to a recycler but I want to do this process myself. 
I have found a lot of information about different chemical processes for different kind of metals but not exactly what I was hoping to find.

I was wondering if it would be possible to shred everything in a mix and then desolve it through aggressive chemicals.
If this is possible then we would end up with a liquid full of different kind of precious metals. 
With electrolysis, can we filter out the different metals? 

Is something like this even possible, maybe very inefficiënt?


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## nickvc (Aug 25, 2021)

Welcome to the forum.
I’m sorry to tell you but your idea isnt the best way to proceed in the recovery of your values.
Most of the money in e scrap is in the base metals not the precious metals hence the reason that most large recovery operations melt the shredded e scrap after sorting and send the bars to a copper refiner. To do this you need proper fume extraction and large Kant to shred and sort, all very expensive.
Most members sort and cherry pick what they process to make the recovery more economically possible and simpler, it’s still not easy but it can be done with plenty of study and the right equipment.


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## mr.data (Aug 25, 2021)

Thanks for the information, this makes the search to profitability a lot easier. 
The best way to preceed then would be to pick out a specific type of scrap and focus on the process of extracting the PMs inside them. Perfect the process and then add another type with different PM in them. 
Meanwhile, what we do not process is getting sold as ewaste to local recyclers. Does this make any sense?


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## nickvc (Aug 26, 2021)

Do your research here on the forum to find out what others cherry pick to process, some stuff is obvious like fingers and pins but there can be more values hidden in chips than in obvious plated materials so learn what to harvest and what to simply sell on, this will take time and plenty of reading but it will pay you if you process decent quantities.


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## tinrat (Oct 28, 2021)

nickvc said:


> Do your research here on the forum to find out what others cherry pick to process, some stuff is obvious like fingers and pins but there can be more values hidden in chips than in obvious plated materials so learn what to harvest and what to simply sell on, this will take time and plenty of reading but it will pay you if you process decent quantities.


I see and understand the cherry picking process and hope to gain through this separation. I have an idea I need input on. After the “pick” harvest, could one use electrolysis to dissolve other remaining metals off the boards or wire or what have you in leftover scrap? Then that could be slowly processed to separate the copper; silver; and other presious metals?


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## Jado (Oct 29, 2021)

Recommend to stick with a single process and keep it as simple as possible. You’re dream could potentially be possible with flash gasification (pure vaccuum at insane temps) and catalytic deposition, but it’s not feasible in any way.

If you’re after gold, that’s easy. Heavies should be sold to a reputable recycler in whatever form you get them in (Tantalum Caps, etc) for both safety reasons and cost effectiveness. Keep everything as clean (unmixed) as possible, and remember tin solder must be removed. Bonus points if you can get fewer dioxin & carbon emissions than the corporations.


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## au-artifax (Oct 31, 2021)

tinrat said:


> I see and understand the cherry picking process and hope to gain through this separation. I have an idea I need input on. After the “pick” harvest, could one use electrolysis to dissolve other remaining metals off the boards or wire or what have you in leftover scrap? Then that could be slowly processed to separate the copper; silver; and other presious metals?


When the largest value item is recovered, copper, it is done using equipment that grinds up the material to a very small scale. Then using a variety of extraction processes, like magnetic recovery of ferrous materials, air/water removal of plastics and other lighter materials, gravitational separation, etc... the NON copper elements are removed. They don't remove the copper out of the scrap... they remove the scrap out of the copper. That is the process for the most part with e-wasye recycling. You cherry pick the items you know have precious metals, and you remove the "burden" from the precious metals. As a head starter, don't waste money and time on green wafer chips... there is zero precious metals in them.... the manufacturer's way of doing the same thing for less money. Remember this, that manufacturers spend as much if not more research dollars on how to make things cheaper VS better. If you have questions about particular items from this point just ask.


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## jadedalex (Oct 31, 2021)

In the spirit of au-artifax's comment, it all about REFINING!!! The more pure your charge, the less impurities you have to contend with. Always remember: garbage in, garbage out. Safety before anything else. Think about what you're trying to do and try to think of a SAFE way of doing it. If you need help, visit the Library on this site. If you can't find your answers there, query the Mods, they have experience that you CAN'T find anywhere else...


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