# Need help identifying!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.



## Jtl1983 (Jun 8, 2018)

Hi. I’m new to the forum. I joined so that I could learn more about precious metal recovery. I have quite a few boards that are from older mri gradient amplifiers and so on. Also a few processors. The photo attached is from some sort of chip. It was soldered inside of a case. It is approximately 1.5”x2.5” in size.


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## Rachello (Jun 23, 2018)

It does, but sadly gold can be spread @ an almost Infinitely large distance & still resemble itself. Usually measured by micrometers in telecom, a card this size, no matter how “shiny” holds very little gold. 

A gram of pure gold would truly amaze me!!

This would fall under class “C” telecom systems with cameras for visual control and analysis systems comm 50 71 . B44 8DU, GB; surge Suppressors Microproject, microprocessor and micro telecommunications equipment. 

Don’t refine it but sell it on eBay for a “pretty” penny  

Rachel


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## macfixer01 (Jun 24, 2018)

Rachello said:


> It does, but sadly gold can be spread @ an almost Infinitely large distance & still resemble itself. Usually measured by micrometers in telecom, a card this size, no matter how “shiny” holds very little gold.
> 
> A gram of pure gold would truly amaze me!!
> 
> ...




Wow, seriously? Your assessment sounds awfully hasty to me! It depends whether it’s thin film or thick film deposition of the gold on the traces for one thing. Also several components have visible gold plating on them. I can see the ends of gold plated pins with what may be gold bonding wires attaching them to pads on the board. There are also bonding wires visible attaching the smaller chip dies to the board. The photo is too blurry to tell if the wires are gold or aluminum, but given the amount of gold visible elsewhere those probably are also. Lastly we can’t see how the top was attached since it’s already been peeled open. If it has gold braze, then that may be worth more than all the gold inside.

Macfixer01


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## Rachello (Jun 24, 2018)

Maybe I was too hasty... if he has the exact card number the piece came from it would help getting a more accurate estimate of the gold value. 

My statements about selling on eBay are because many times similar items to this one sell on eBay for more than the value of gold in them. 

There also has to be a balance between the values recovered and the cost of the materials involved & his time spent actually recovering it. 

Rachel


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## macfixer01 (Jun 24, 2018)

If it was a one-off I would agree with you. It may be worth more on EBay as eye candy, but he’s already kind of missed that boat by tearing it up. Since he said he has a lot of amplifier boards from MRI equipment, he may potentially have a lot of similar multichip modules? He owes it to himself to at least see what they’re worth in recovered PM’s before deciding if they’d sell for more on Ebay.

Macfixer01


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## Rachello (Jun 24, 2018)

I agree with you. If he has a lot of these it is definitely worth it to have 1 processed by a proffessional to get the total values. Once he knows concretely what values the chip holds he can do the math x how many chips he has. 

This is also a benefit to someone just starting out refining. Knowing the exact values in any type of scrap helps for comparison later. That way he has an expectation of what he should get out of it & knows if he is losing any values. 

If all else fails & they are worth more on eBay, take care taking them apart or sell them contained using the pic above as a reference to what is inside. 

Rachel


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## kazamir (Jun 24, 2018)

I buy an resell boards in Nova Scotia, Canada, and would pay 10.00 - 14.00 CDN. per lb.for those. They are not flash plated and am quite sure that the bonding wires that are attached to the the gold plated posts at the bottom and top of the board are solid AU. These are in the exceptional category and deserve a fire assay.


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## kernels (Jun 25, 2018)

They 100% are flash plated, the dies are glued on and the bond wires are Gold. The yield is good, but nothing special.


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## goldsilverpro (Jun 25, 2018)

At today's spot price of $1269, one inch of pure gold bonding wire is worth either 1/2 cent or 1 cent, US, depending whether the diameter is .0007" or .001", respectively.


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