Processing printed circuit board profit??

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kjavanb123

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
1,743
Location
USA
All,

This is really confusing to me, boardsort pays $3.50 / lb of typical computer PCB, now from another post a member posted the result of shipping 2103.30 lbs of mixed PCBs to a refinery called SIPI, now if the same assay is true on mixed motherboards then based on their calculation at today prices, the value of copper, palladium, silver and gold will be at following

gold: $7858.36
silver: $417.26
Palladium: $182.52
Copper: $820.88

Total of $9278.42 which is divided by 2103.30 lbs that is $4.41 per lbs of this mixed batch of circuit boards, now assuming boardsort also adding some profit to that $3.50 /lb they purchase from the clients, then the final refinery would have a small margin of profit per lbs of PCBs, how is this possible? what are the facts in here?

Anyone like to participate?

Thanks and regards,
Kevin
 
Can you direct me to the post? The term mixed pcb boards could mean a whole lot of difference in this industry. Thanks
 
Hi

Please refer to the following post for discussion
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=16671
 
Hi Kevin , that would give a profit of 1,90 us per Kilo , that will go to boardsort and the refinery, looks like a nice profit if one can get enough boards. I dont see what should be wrong , However i do not think all boards would have such a high yield


scm
 
This margin is so small how can it cover their massive operational costs?

Regards,
Kevin
 
the refinery makes most of its money on the metals they don't pay out on... like tantalum, lead, tin, etc... hell, they probably have a place to sell the used green fiber from the boards... these companies squeeze every bit of money out of the material the recover...
 
The margins are razor thin for the middle men (boardsorts of the world). And then you factor in the risk of gold going down, and you're in rough shape if you get caught holding.
 
wrmahaff said:
The margins are razor thin for the middle men (boardsorts of the world). And then you factor in the risk of gold going down, and you're in rough shape if you get caught holding.

I second that motion as a middle, middle man. 8) That's why you have to think ahead and never put all your eggs in the same basket

Cheers!
 
All,

I have talked with an equipment manufacturers in China, and they provided me with the following assay on mixed motherboards,
View attachment Metal percentage analysis.pdf

Also analysis conducted by bunch of American Univ in Sharjah U.A.E, in the first pages of this document,
View attachment E-waste recovery.PDF

This is what Vans Chemistry consultant in Singapore who was the managing director for Cimelia Refining told me in email,
Value of gold, copper, silver, and palladium in 1 kg of PCB is ranging from US$ 4 to US$ 12.

SIPI metals analysis, courtesy of another member here, with the following,
sipi settlement.png

As you can see values for mixed PCBs are different. what would be the average?

Thanks
Kevin
 
Kevin it is very difficult to get an average because there are to many facts being left out. I can see that in the sipi data there was 179.16g of gold but it doesn't reference the type of boards. The Chinese motherboards data has less gold at 100 g in 2010 but the analysis also states it is on the components but doesn't mention the board itself. The only way to truly get the information your looking for is to take 2000 lbs of each type of motherboard and get the data from each load and then you could truly get an average. Anything else is just wild guesses and that could have disaster written all over it. I've read other data that states motherboards are between 300-400 ppm but have yet to see anyone here mention it.
 
Keven - CBentre is absolutely right - there is simply no way to come up with any real average of "what to expect" from a ton of mixed boards - It will depend on whats in the mix

Example - 1 ton of nothing but mixed mother boards (large socket boards, small socket boards, china boards) China boards are the lowest recovery - small socket boards a little better recovery & large socket boards the best recovery --- so what you get out of that ton of mother boards is going to depend on how much of it is what type of boards --- if it has a lot of large socket boards in it the return will be higher & on the other hand if there are a lot of China boards the return will be lower - & that will very based on lb for lb ratio - another words - for every lb of large socket in a ton the yeald will go up & for every lb of China in a ton the yeald will go down

Peripheral boards boards are a catagory of boards that can really throw expected yealds off - thats because there are so many boards concidered in this catagory that they become a real wild card in the mix - some can be real high yeald & others real low yeald - so when you throw pripheral boards in the mix it is next to impossible to come up with an expected average yeald per ton

The best return I have got from sending mixed boards in was 9.54 ozt per ton --- BUT - that load had a lot of telcom - server - large socket & mil spec boards in it --- I expected a high return

The lowest return I have got from mixed boards was 4.84 ozt per ton - BUT - that load had a lot of pripheral boards - trimed finger cards & China boards in it - I expected a low return

So as you can see there is simply no way to put an average expected return on mixed lots of boards - it depends entirely on whats in the mix - & trying to come up with an expected average is like trying to walk around in the woods with no full moon & no flash light - your going to just bang into a lot of trees & end up with a sore head

Kurt
 
"you're in rough shape if you get caught holding."

anyone with any serious volume will be hedging their weight in the futures market and consistently making a fixed spread for their efforts.

Only small and medium businesses get caught holding.
 
All,

So far 4 month after renting the ewaste facilty, the return from scrapping the load there covered the labor cost and rent plus another $400. So I have now over 4000 lbs of mixed circuit boards, from digital phones and TVs home appliences, and 200 lbs of high grade PCBs.

I will be doing some testing on smelting the boards components using induction furnace which will enable me to process the boards.

Regards,
Kevin
 
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