A Minimal Refining Procedure for beginners???

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C

car

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Messages
13
I am new to this whole idea and am just wondering if there is a minimal method to refining chip-boards and all the other gold-plated things? I'm not thinking of making this an ongoing hobby but i have 3 broken stereos, 2 tvs, a baggie full of old broke down cell phones, a box full of old telephones, a useless computer keyboard and probably some more useless junk, that i would like to disassemble and refine into pure gold over this coming summer. I'd really like to do this and pull together a sum of cash, but I dont want to buy any equipment or chemicals. Is it possible I have the needed chemicals already in my garage or laundry room? Is it possible to do this a Cost-Free way? I saw someone say in another topic say that they're first project didn't cost anything. Is it worth it to do it this way? I'm willing to spend the next few months studying for it, I just want to know if I should even bother, given I dont want to invest anything into it.
Also I named everything I can think of that I have to recycle, how much gold do you think it'll yield? Its a freezer baggie full of broke-down cell phones(probably about 10), also a personal organizer and handheld windows pc thingy, and about 10 old school corded phones and maybe the old corded built-in caller id phone that i dont think is working, plus now that i think of it, a texas instruments calculator that no longer works. I think that's a good load, I'm really tempted to churn the gold from it. What do you think??

Thanks
 
Sell everything you have to a board buyer, you will need to strip it all down to boards with no trash, then use the money to buy a very small amount of gold.
If you aren't interested in investing in equipment and don't want to use any chemicals thats the only way you will get any gold out of these boards.
 
Well the reason I posted this in chemicals is cuz thats the main thing I wanted a way around. But equipment is actually the #1 thing I'd like to avoid, I really dont feasibly see myself ever investing in the equipment, are you saying every one of you is using boughten equipment? There must be some in-between no? I dont want to discourage people from answering(which I'm sure I am doing) but I just wanted to clear a few things up before I delve into all this. Is there really no way for a guy to 'pure-profit' this whole operation from scratch? I'm sure I'll have to give in on a few elements, but could you tell me some short-cuts or tricks for a cheap skater like myself. I would really like to minimalize the whole science lab as much as possible, I'm really very serious about this and am excited to make it work.
Thanks for the response btw
 
Safety gear is your first investment, goggles, gloves, face mask, apron all of which need to be able to withstand chemicals.
Fume hood is essential if you intend to refine indoors.
If you are going to do it indoors then a dedicated building not in your home.
Chemicals, the minimum you will require is hydrochloric acid,for gold, plus household bleach, hydrogen peroxide and sodium metabisulphite.
The rest you could do with odds and sods you can find around the house.

The best investment you could make at this point is investing your time in reading Hoke's book, get yourself a free copy here
http://dominionrefining.com/files/Refining_Precious_Metal_Wastes_CM_Hoke.pdf

Edit to provide download link
 
Scrap the wires, aluminum, and steel, save or sell the boards. Hoard your money and buy only what you need.

You do know you can start very small as with an old glass coffee maker don't you?
 
qst42know said:
Scrap the wires, aluminum, and steel, save or sell the boards. Hoard your money and buy only what you need.

You do know you can start very small as with an old glass coffee maker don't you?
Click to expand...


What about the forum mantra 'Safety first'?
 
Hey thanks man
Very concise, I suddenly feel like I can easily make this work (I'm not doing anything but study until the snow is gone, so hopefully it wont be too scary by then)
I like that I recognize all the names of those chemicals, sounds like something I could find at wal-mart or home depot (am I wrong?)
I actually have a pole building so I'm good on that end, not sure if i should maybe do it behind the pole buiding though? Dont want the farmer to see me and think im making drugs :lol: Some of that equipment seems fishy too, do I need a gas-mask if outside?
 
Most of the chemicals I mentioned you probably will find in walmart, being as I am in the UK I'm not entirely sure.
If you are working outside then you could possibly get away without the 'gas mask' as you refer to it, make sure you are upwind of anything you are doing, but note I do not condone this practice, your health is worth more than Gold.
 
martyn111 said:
What about the forum mantra 'Safety first'?
Click to expand...

But of course, never make coffee in it again. :lol:

You can accomplish much and safely with a minimum of equipment. My last batch was over 3 ounces of gold in an old coffee pot, a Corning pyroceram dish, on a hot plate, with a box fan to ensure ventilation. A fume hood would be nice but it's not absolutely vital.

Added note: This was from jewelery not e-scrap!
 
Oh i see what you mean about face mask
Yeah I'll probably stay outside and avoid the fumes, I think there might be a face shield laying around here somewhere also, if rubber overall water-waders count as an apron I'm all set.

Thanks a lot martyn111, I feel fully equipped for all this now, time to study chemistry

Hah our coffee maker just broke, if i cant get it to work I can at least scrap the timer clock. Definitely gonna study the pseudo equipment options, Thanks!
 
The key to being safe is study and start small. A few test tubes can be a big help to learn the reactions.

Start with Hokes book as a free download here on the forum.
 
Car,
When you do decide to begin, I suggest you try processing memory fingers first; this material is easy to work with. And are a good way to get started learning, go to general chat and make a copy of the general reaction list, Go to Laser Steve’s web site, read his documents, and watch his video's, of course reading and studying about the safety of the chemicals and fumes of the acids, and reaction's of acids on metals and the gases produced, while in the safety section read dealing with waste, Hokes book is a fantastic tool for learning about the valuable metals and also the metals that cause trouble in solutions, it is a great tool to learn testing for values in solution, and the basic principles of the way things should be done, as you will see here on the forum this book is always recommended, as understanding what she teaches is very important with any recovery and refining you do, if you only work in electronics’ or with ore, it will not speak much of these, but the principles still apply, also reading the post getting your gold pure and (shinning) you will find Harold wash technique, it will greatly improve the quality of your gold.


Like qst42know, I do not use fancy lab equipment; most of my chemistry set can be found at the second hand store, or in an old kitchen, plastic buckets,
(For fingers a one gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom that sits inside a bigger bucket of HCl/H2O2-H2O or Copper Chloride etching solution, also called acid peroxide solution, you will see this trick when you study Laser Steve’s discussions of this leach), glass canning jars, old coffee pots, electric hot plate, corning casserole dish, coffee filters, aquarium air bubbler, Mapp gas torch, (I also have other torches and furnaces, but you can get by at first without them), well this list goes on but you can set up a lab with very little money invested.

When first beginning do as your doing study a process you plan on using learn every thing you can before beginning, not only will you be able to work better understanding what your doing but you will also know what to do when it does not react the way you expected it to.

Do not just go out and buy all of the things you think you need, wait until you get to the point you know you really need that piece of equipment or that chemical.

Do not expect to make a lot of money or get large bars of gold, expect to spend a lot of time studying working and scratching your head, for very little pay.

Do not just go out and buy a lot of scrap material (E-bay is tempting but you can lose your pants and wallet there), with electronic scrap free is always the best price, learn the true value of what scrap you buy, and also learning to test scrap jewelry is also a must if you work with it.

At first save your most valuable scrap, learn and practice on the lower value or easier materials, until you get some experience.

Study, hard work, dedication, and attention to details makes pretty gold.

Once you have the foils from memory fingers you will also want to use the HCl/Bleach method to put your gold into solution, so you would also need to learn this process.

Different materials will usually use a different process.
And there may be several different processes to learn to get this material recovered and refined from scrap to finished pure melted gold.

Also follow martyn111, advice think safety first.

Welcome to the best place to spend a lot of time learning and then making pure gold.
 
Thanks for that butcher.
I downloaded the ebook as recommended and am gonna have to get around to reading it all, I'm also going to make this site(this project) my main objective until I feel ready to start. All of that is really sound advice, I'll have to look into everything you mentioned. I think I have a good load already, and I'd hate to screw it up, I've just been hoarding this junk for no real reason and now I'm realizing the real value of it.
I have some cell phones, some old corded phones, 2 tvs, 3 stereos, 5 disk drives, 3 old school(smaller) disk drives, a broken computer keyboard, a broken mouse, a texas instruments calculator and believe it or not 5 older model dish boxes(which I may or may not try and sell). I'm excited to turn it all to gold, but what should i start with? Given its all about the chip-boards I'm not really sure. Or should I just study and decide after I see it all dismantled?

Thanks for the support :)
 
Of the materials you have named only the cell phones contain a notable quantity of gold, the keyboard silver on Mylar. And cell phones aren't the best items to start on. The rest are pretty slim odds you will find much so keep gathering while you study.
 
qst42know said:
Of the materials you have named only the cell phones contain a notable quantity of gold, the keyboard silver on Mylar. And cell phones aren't the best items to start on. The rest are pretty slim odds you will find much so keep gathering while you study.
Click to expand...

Well that's a bummer, I am still finding cell phones the more I look though.
But I heard old telephones are more of a gold mine than a computer board, the term was "very old telephones", I took this to mean corded phones and not cell phones. Can anybody clear this up?
Sorry for doubting you qst42know, my hopeful thinking is getting the best of me :mrgreen:
 
good advice, I noticed that also when I tried doing a search on them, didn't think to check the prices though. Wish they had chunks of gold in them, I have nearly 15.
 
Very old phones does NOT mean corded telephones. People are referring to the old phones from the 1940's and before. If you had a magic machine that could somehow squeeze every fraction of Gold out of the items that you mentioned, I doubt you would have much more than 1/2 of a gram. At today's prices that is less than $25.00. The chemicals to start with are probably going to cost you that much. :|
 
If you are thinking there is a gold mine in electronics, your thinking wrong, yes there is some gold and valuable metals, yes you can get these metals out, it is not easy, and there really is not that much gold in them, otherwise gold would be very cheap, or they would not be throwing electronics in the trash.

my suggestion if you want to make money find a job at Mc Donald’s hamburger joint they pay a better salary, and do not expect you to work so hard and learn so much.

If you want to learn a very challenging subject, spend your time studying, working hard, and messing with chemicals and metals for tiny amounts of gold, and then this is for you.

yes you can make some money from doing this, but you can also spend many hours for no pay, and possibly cost you more money than working at McDonalds and buying gold with the tips you get from customers.

I really do not know how to explain this their is money recycling trash, and you can probably make just about as much money recycling aluminum cans from trash as you can from recycling circuit boards for gold. You can also make some money (usually with higher value scrap like karat gold), but as with any business how you work has a lot to do with whether the business makes money or goes broke.

From your description it does not sound like you have much material to start with yet.
Think tons of that stuff, for grams of gold.
 

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