Assay/Refining Service Recommendation for Gold Plated Patch Panel Pins?

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goldenbuffalo

New member
Joined
Aug 1, 2020
Messages
4
Hi, so I am new to gold scrapping, but I have a few patch panels from industrial automated test stations I was thinking about scrapping. Before I send the whole lot out, I'd like to see if I could send maybe one pin somewhere for analysis. I'd like to have a rough idea what they are worth, so I don't get ripped off, or to know if it is even worth doing. The bag of pins from one of the interfaces weighs a little over 2 pounds, so I think there could be some value there (this thing is at least 40 years old, and from an industry where they spared no expenses when it came to making good electrical connections). That also only includes the pin insert. The contact retaining clips (shown still attached) might have some value too, but they are a bit more difficult to remove, so I haven't done it yet.

I guess my question is can anyone recommend a good company to send a few gold plated electrical connector pins to for analysis? Second does anyone have a place they recommend sending the whole lot to for refining? I've included pictures of the scrap electronics.

https://imgur.com/a/Ild7Jos
 
To recover the gold from the pin it is usually stuck in a sulfuric stripping cell since it is efficient in getting the gold plating off of materials without dissolving the whole pin. A lot of the members here (myself included) are capable of doing this, however 1 pin is unlikely enough to get an appreciable amount of gold since the plating is really thin. I would recommend sending a half pound to a pound to get an accurate estimate. On to your second part you would get more money if you separate the pins from the panel as the other metal is just weighing it down with no value (steel value). It also makes more sense logistically since shipping the steel just seems wasteful.
 
Yeah I would pop those out of the panel if it seemed worthwhile. It is considerably more labor intensive to remove the part still attached, which is why I haven't done so. I wasn't sure if there were reputable labs you could pay like $30-$50 for an analysis of a small quantity, so I had a better idea of what I was dealing with. If I knew the content of one piece, I could calculate a pretty good idea of the whole lot.
 
Nah, your price would be closer to $200 for analysis on something like that.

How many pounds of pins & similar gold plated material do you estimate you will have total? A couple pounds, you send it to whoever offers to do it. 10 pounds plus, you need to be a bit more selective.
 
goldenbuffalo said:
Yeah I would pop those out of the panel if it seemed worthwhile. It is considerably more labor intensive to remove the part still attached, which is why I haven't done so. I wasn't sure if there were reputable labs you could pay like $30-$50 for an analysis of a small quantity, so I had a better idea of what I was dealing with. If I knew the content of one piece, I could calculate a pretty good idea of the whole lot.

It is worthwhile to pop those out of the panel. If the panel is plastic though, it might be easier to just break it up with a hammer. I'd be surprised if they aren't worth at least $300/lb (the pins).
 
If you want a cheap reliable assay use Guardian Laboratories here in the UK, they are a lot cheaper but you will need to sort out how to pay them and ship the item to them, around $25 for a simple gold assay at a guess.
If you want contact details please ask and I’ll post them.
 
Sure, you can post the contact deals for Guardian Laboratories. I don't suppose you know of anyone similar in the US or Canada, do you?
 
goldenbuffalo said:
Sure, you can post the contact deals for Guardian Laboratories. I don't suppose you know of anyone similar in the US or Canada, do you?

No...the UK is traditionally a lot cheaper for an assay.
 
Here’s the details speak to Austin and tell him Nick told you to speak to him he’s very helpful, I’d suggest sending a few pieces but I’m sure Austin will give you the best advice.
Phone number
+44 121 359 8233
 
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